WELLAND, ON: The Niagara Knights men's basketball team (9-9) hosted the Fanshawe Falcons in a Valentine's Day matchup.  The Knights took down the Falcons 66-64 in their final home game of the regular season to finish in 6th place in the OCAA West Division. 

This game started off scrappy and was a physically demanding matchup for the entire 40 minutes of play.  A strong start to the game for the Knights saw them hold the lead until just before the 3-minute mark when the Falcons were able to go on a 9-2 run to end the 1st quarter.  The 2nd quarter was another close affair where the Falcons outscored the Knights by only 1 point but were able to carry an 8-point lead into the half time break. 

The 2nd half of this game was a much different story for the Knights as they were able to get their offense going and score some points.  They outscored the Falcons by 10 points in the 2nd half to win this one by a mere 2 points.  This was a very physical game, and both coaches might argue that neither team took care of the ball very well.  This game was tied 7 different times, and the lead changed 6 times.  The Knights were able to force 24 turnovers and score 24 points from those turnovers while they turned the ball over 13 times, giving up 16 points. 

2nd year guard Chris Spann provided a great burst of offense for the Knights in the 2nd half as he scored 12 of his 20 points in the final two frames.  In addition to 20 points, he added 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 8 steals.  1st year guard Joseph Buckley also contributed 20 points while adding 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 steals, and 1 block.  1st year forward Difference Igbinehi had his 3rd double-double of the season, tallying 15 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal. 

When asked to reflect on the final home game of the season, head coach Lequan Hylton said that he is "very proud and happy to close out the regular season with a win over a scrappy and well-coached Fanshawe team".  He added that "we got off to a really slow start offensively and were able to pick it up in the second half with our execution and finishing". 

The Knights will turn their focus to the playoffs as they head into the crossover round, playing the 3rd place team in the East Division standings – the Durham Lords.  The Knights will travel to Durham next weekend with the game scheduled for 4pm on Saturday, February 21st.  If you cannot follow the Knights to Durham, you can catch the action live on ocaalive.com. 

For more information on the Knights' teams, please visit us at www.goknights.ca