The Humber men’s basketball team took down the Redeemer Royals in the North campus Hawks Nest on Feb. 4.
The win keeps Humber second in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Western Conference standings with a 13-2 record, while Redeemer remains in ninth with a 3-13 record.
Before the game, the Hawks were honoured for raising $2,000 for “Rec in da 6ix,” their special initiative during Black Heritage Month. Rec in da 6ix is about empowering the next generation, and the donation from Humber will provide access to resources, mentorship and opportunities outside of basketball.
During Black History Month, the goal is to unite communities and celebrate culture.
Hawks head coach Omar Miles said before the game he was hoping to see the Hawks get their bounce back after their recent blowout loss to Mohawk on Jan. 31, followed by a tough week of practice to prepare for the Redeemer matchup.
“Playing well with each other and everybody doing their job, so every individual when they get on the floor does their job,” he said. “It was war, everyone had to battle because you know we’re coming down to the playoff stretch and everyone has to step up.”
The Redeemer Royals head coach, Steven Hopkins, had his team coming off a win against Canadore, but said he knew that a quick start and physical play were needed for the tough battle with the Hawks.
“We just need to come out with a good amount of energy. We can’t get flat just because we’re at Humber,” he said. “Keep playing as a team, we want to make sure we’re executing our plan.
"We just want to make sure that we’re putting the Humber players in tough spots and making them take the more difficult shots,” Hopkins said.
With the Royals looking to play the spoiler role, the game started with Redeemer needing to take the first timeout of the game after Hawks point guard Isaiah Brady-Clarke opened the scoring with a three, followed by back-to-back Benni Kazadi threes.
The time out did not help the Royals, who could not stop the scorching three-point shooting of the Hawks as star Malik Grant extended the lead to 12-0.
Redeemer guard Jason Usuomon got the Royals on the board with a three of his own, but this was followed by the fifth straight Humber three-pointer.
The Royals brought it within reach at the end of the first quarter after guard Jackson Thackwray’s buzzer-beater three, making it 24-20.
In the second quarter, Humber kept the momentum, bringing the score to 50-34 at the half
Humber built their lead to 19 going into the fourth quarter. In the middle of the fourth quarter, the bench players took over, and the game finished with Humber, making it 87-71.
Malik Grant said he was happy with the win and is ready to continue to drive toward the playoffs.
“Just on the defensive end, offence is going to come, but we really have to key in on the defensive end and hold teams to under 80 or 75 or whatever the case is. Because come playoff time, it’s not going to be an offensive match, it’s going to come down to the defensive end,” Grant said
Grant praised the Hawks squad for making every day together enjoyable and is hopeful for a strong playoff run.
“Just having them in practice man, competing against each other, because if we compete against each other every day, then that’s our toughest opponent because we know what we do, everybody knows what each other does, and we’ll just go out there during playoff time and get the win,” he said.
