Jan. 22 Niagara College sports report
The Niagara College Knights women’s basketball team remain unbeaten in 2024 with a pair of victories last week.
Niagara defeated Redeemer 72-65 on the road and then recorded a 68-59 victory over visiting Humber Saturday.
“In a big game coming off a short week, I’m really pleased with how keyed in we were defensively to our game plan,” Niagara head coach Chris Rao said after the Humber game. “We had to overcome a lot of adversity with foul trouble and in spite of that I feel we stepped up and handled it well. It wasn’t our best game start to finish but there was a lot of good to build on.”
Top performers for Niagara against Redeemer (2-9) were: Taryn Mitchell with 21 points and 11 rebounds; Janee Harrison with 13 points and eight boards; Jamira Rousseau with 11 points; and, Molly Taylor with 10 points.
Leading the way for Niagara against Humber (7-4) were: Mitchell with 19 points and nine rebounds; Harrison with 15 points and nine boards; Taylor with 14 points and eight rebounds; and, Destiny Osadebamwen with 13 points and 11 boards.
Niagara (9-3) is at Mohawk (9-3) on Wednesday.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Niagara men’s basketball squad also continued perfect in 2024, dumping Redeemer 85-65 on the road and plucking the Humber Hawks 102-77 at home last Saturday.
Playing well against Redeemer (2-11) were: Raheem Dennis with 18 points; Riley Bleich with 12 points; and, Khayden Stewart and Ethan Alino-DelaCruz with nine points.
“Very proud of our guys as they played with high energy and remained composed to close out the game,” Niagara head coach Phil Molsey said after the game. “We received balanced scoring and our team defence continues to be our strength and team identity.”
Filling up the stat sheet versus Humber (8-5) were: Reggie Williams with 20 points; Dennis with 15 points; Mark Taylor with 12 points and five rebounds; Stewart with 10 points; Alino-DelaCruz with 11 points and five assists; Simon Ricketts-Ewan with 10 points and six boards; and, Bleich with nine points and six rebounds.
For his play, Williams was named Niagara’s Male Athlete of the Week.
“This was a very big team win for us. Humber is an excellent team and program and our guys rose to the challenge. We shot the ball with better efficiency and our defensive system was very effective,” Mosley said. “Reggie Williams had a great overall game scoring and playmaking and Khayden Stewart continues to impact games with his defensive intensity as a lockdown defender.”
Niagara (9-4) is at Mohawk (8-5) Wednesday.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Niagara’s women’s volleyball squad improved to 8-6 in Ontario Colleges Athletic Association action with a 3-2 victory (19-25, 25-22, 25-17, 21-25 and 15-12) over Conestoga (8-6).
Playing well for Niagara in the victory were: Emmah Gmoser with 12 kills, seven digs, three service aces, an assist and a block; Montanna Taylor with 26 assists, 11 kills, six digs and two service aces; and, Tess Kelly and Kyleigh Baxter with a combined 24 digs, 14 kills, six assists, three blocks and two service aces.
For her efforts, Kelly was named Niagara’s Female Athlete of the Week.
“Really nice getting that first win of the second half with these ladies. You can see their hard work and effort is paying off,” Niagara head coach Steve Stone said. “That’s a strong team in Conestoga and beating them in five shows a lot of mental toughness. Happy with how the ladies battled and extended rallies.”
Niagara hosts Redeemer (8-7) Wednesday at 6 p.m. and is at Fanshawe (3-11) Saturday.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Niagara’s men’s volleyball team fell to 8-6 in OCAA play with a 3-1 loss (23-25, 26-26, 25-19 and 21-25) to Conestoga (10-3).
Top performers for Niagara were: Carter Thurman with 25 assists, 11 digs, four service aces, two kills and a block; Liam Marchetti with eight kills, a block and a service ace; and, Micah Nieuwets with seven kills, five digs, a block, an assist and a service ace.
“Tough one for the guys. The compete and effort was never in doubt and with that mentality we’re going to be alright,” Stone said. “We need to make some better decision on the offensive side of the ball and know when to extend rallies and when/how to terminate a rally. We’re in a good place but we need to execute better to finish.”
Niagara hosts Redeemer (4-11) Wednesday at 8 p.m. and is at Fanshawe (10-4) Saturday.
