Feb. 10 Niagara College report

The Niagara College men’s basketball team split a pair of weekend home games against the Sault College Cougars, winning the opener 97-69 and losing the second game 87-83.

The Sault came into the weekend games with just two wins this season, both coming against Canadore College (0-17) while the Knights were coming off a big win over Fanshawe.

Leading the way for Niagara in the victory were; Rahim Bardi with 18 points and 21 rebounds; Kennon Larmand, 17 points; Johnnie Richardson, 15 points and five rebounds; Lequan Hylton, 13 points and 11 assists; Sterphone Augustin, 12 points and 13 rebounds; and, Reese Radobenko, 11 points.

“This was a solid team effort, which was anchored by solid team defence and a great transition game,” Niagara Head coach Phil Mosley said. “We had six players in double figures and received contributions from the entire roster.”

Performing well for Niagara in the loss were: Daniel Lokole with a season-high 24 points and six rebounds; Hylton, 15 points; Augustin, 15 points and 14 rebounds; Richardson, 11 points; and, Bardi, eight points and eight rebounds.

“We came up very flat and were unable to match the intensity of a team with nothing to lose and everything to gain from a road victory,” Mosley said. “We will regroup, focus on our remaining games and learn from this loss.”

Niagara (6-11) is at Canadore (0-17) Sunday at 1 p.m.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Niagara’s women’s basketball team had its most successful weekend of the season, recording 67-41 and 75-50 victories over the visiting Sault College Cougars.

“Obviously it was great to come away from a weekend with two wins,” Niagara head coach Chris Rao said. “I am incredibly happy with our effort and attention to detail these two games. We continued to get better executing on both ends of the floor and got some great individual performances within our structure.”

Top Niagara performers in the 67-41 triumph were: Terin Hultink, 20 points and 14 rebounds; Kaisen MacKinnon, 17 points; Francine Smith, 12 points; and, Leanne Dekorte, nine points and 10 rebounds.

Playing well in the second victory were ; Beth deBoer, a season-high 18 points and six rebounds; Hultink, 17 points and 16 rebounds; MacKinnon, nine points, nine steals, seven assists and seven rebounds; and, Smith, eight points.

Next up for Niagara (3-13) is a Wednesday, Feb 19 home game at 4 p.m. versus Redeemer (2-14).

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Niagara’s men’s volleyball team improved to 10-6 in Ontario Colleges Athletic Association action with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-19 and 25-21) sweep of the Sheridan Bruins (7-10) Sunday afternoon.

Sam Otten led the way for the Knights with 18 points and 13 kills while Elijah Bugiardini had 14 points and 10 kills.

Earlier in the week, Niagara defeated the Redeemer Royals 3-1 (21-25, 28-26, 30-28 and 25-21). Top point getters for Niagara in that match were Otten (24), Bugiardini (11) and Colin Prelaz (9).

Niagara concludes the regular season with home games Saturday at 8 p.m. versus Cambrian College (0-16) and Sunday at 3 p.m. versus Boreal College (2-14).

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

The Niagara College’s women’s volleyball squad pushed its OCAA record to 10-6 with a 3-0 victory (25-22, 25-20 and 25-21) over Redeemer and a 3-1 victory (16-25, 25-20, 25-17 and 25-15) against the Sheridan Bruins.

Head coach Steve Dow didn’t like his team’s slow start against Sheridan, but liked how it rebounded to record the victory.

“After a very slow start and poor adherence to the game plan, we had a serious wake-up call getting picked apart in the first set,” he said. “I was impressed that the girls decided to turn their mindsets around and start competing. Sheridan came out ready to play and we did not. With that being said, we did turn it around.”

Top point scorers for Niagara against Redeemer were Kristen Oudman (10), Victoria Golebiowski (10), Natasha Desjardins (9) and Tamara Edwards (9).

Leading the way for Niagara versus Sheridan were: Oudman, 12 points and 11 kills; Desjardins, 16 points and 12 kills; and, Edwards, nine kills and a .667 hit percentage.

The Knights host Cambrian College (3-13) Saturday at 6 p.m. and Boreal College (0-16) on Sunday at 1 p.m.