Shooting woes ends Men's Basketball title hopes

NANIAMO B.C. – No. 7 Humber men's basketball fell to the No. 8 VIU Mariners, 81-60, to play in the bronze medal semifinal game on Friday, March 20. Nathan Savage stood out for the Hawks, recording 14 points, four rebounds, and two assists, while Isaiah Brady-Clarke recorded 10 points and five rebounds of his own.

Game Recap

Coming into the national semifinals, Humber was just one win away from securing their ninth CCAA title in program history.

Right from tip-off, the Hawks were off to a slow start, getting four points in the first three minutes of the matchup, after many missed opportunities at the net. Luckily, their offence picked up a bit in the back half with Adrian Aluyi, Kwabena Antwi and Dwayne Burke working to close the gap. By the end of the first quarter the three of them racked up two, two and three points respectively for seven points altogether.

But even with their efforts, Humber continued to struggle on their offensive end as time dwindled down, only letting in five shots until the buzzer sounded.

Heading into the second quarter, VIU led by five points, 19-14.

Into the next frame the Hawks' sloppy offensive play continued well into the opening minutes, with Humber only scoring five points compared to the Mariners' 11. In that time the Hawks could not find a way to finish on their rebounds in the first half, recording 14 as opposed to the Mariners' 23.

Those struggles then continued in the back half as Humber found themselves down by a dozen points before head coach Omar Miles called the second timeout for his team with 4:12 on the clock. That timeout wouldn't do much though, only allowing Nathan Savage to bucket a layup before halftime. Through two quarters Savage led the Hawks with seven points, going 3-9 from the hardwood.

Heading into the break, VIU outscored Humber 21-9 to enter the break on a 17-point advantage.

After the break, it was the same story for the Hawks who didn't see points on the board until 8:17 when Malik Grant put up his first few points of the game. By the end of the third Grant had six points while going perfect from the three-point line.

From there on out Humber slowly closed the gap on the scoreboard, doing most of their work in the back half. In that time Aluyi, Grant, Benni Kazadi, and Victoire Ndongo worked to accumulate a dozen points with one quarter left to decide who will play for gold.

After 30 minutes of play, the Hawks finally outscored the Mariners 18-16, but their efforts would not be enough to take the lead.

In the final quarter Humber found their rhythm to slowly chip away at the Mariners' advantage. Through the first five minutes the Hawks accumulated 13 points with the most help coming from Benni Kazadi. By the end of the fourth, Kazadi bucketed four points, to bring his total to eight by the end of the game.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the court VIU accumulated only 10 points due to poor decision-making, with Winston Cole making the biggest contribution for his side. In the opening minutes he scored four points and had five altogether by the end of the quarter.

As the time drained from the clock, Humber continued to make more of an effort in the back half as Savage and Aluyi racked up four and two points each for six points collectively.

But even with the late surge, the Hawks would miss out on their chance to win back-to-back titles for the first time since the 1990s.

At the buzzer, the Mariners beat Humber 81-60 to advance to the CCAA gold medal game.

With the loss, the Hawks will play in the bronze semi-final game on Friday.

Game Notes

• The 21-point loss was the second-largest in program history (24 - against VIU in 1994). Humber is 16-9 all-time against the PACWEST).
• Humber was held under 30 per cent shooting for the second time this season.
• The Hawks are now 13-8 in the CCAA semifinal round.
• Humber is now 2-3 against VIU at nationals, and 6-4 against the host team.
• The last time Humber faced the VIU Mariners was in the 2015 CCAA gold medal match. The Hawks won nationals that year, 68-62.
• The Hawks will now be in pursuit of their third consecutive CCAA podium finish.

What's Next?

The Hawks will face the No. 5 Camosun Chargers in the CCAA bronze semi-final game on March 20. Tip-off is scheduled for 10 p.m. EST and will be streamed live on CCAA Live.