By: Julian Orlando
Reporter

Mohawk Mountaineers men's basketball made a late comeback push but ultimately fell to the Niagara Knights 88-82.

Niagara jumped out in front 28-18 after the first 10 minutes. Mohawk would respond with a 23-11 second quarter to go into the break leading by two.

The first half was led by guard Rommel Calura (Hamilton, ON) and forward Matt Foster (Burlington, ON), who scored 12 and 11 points, respectively.

It was a completely different ball game in the third quarter as the Knights erupted for 26 points and took a nine point lead.

While Mohawk continued to score well in the fourth quarter, the Knights answered the rest of the way with their own offense.

"I think it is a matter of the effort side of the game," said Calura. "We ran our sets right, everything went good, but Niagara imposed the game in terms of effort and rebounding."

The Mountaineers shot 38.2 per cent from the field while Niagara was a 37.9 per cent team.

Despite the loss, Mountaineers guard Daniel Graham (Hamilton, ON) highlighted the qualities the team demonstrated.

"We made the right reads and decisions we needed in certain situations and getting out of roll," Graham said. "We made sure we kept going and moving forward from this."

Calura and Foster finished the game with 18 points each, and Emanuel Otong (Cambridge, ON) scored 16.

Mohawk (1-3) will next play on Feb. 25 at home versus the Canadore Panthers at 8 p.m.

As of right now, no spectators will be allowed for all Mountaineer home games. All games will be streamed on OCAA Live.