(London, Ontario) – The Falcons Men's Basketball squad moved to 5-3 on the season on Saturday afternoon with a 88-74 home win over the University of Toronto Mississauga Eagles (3-6).
A Lex Van Iperen (Englehart, ON) layup opened the scoring for Fanshawe. UTM kept up with the home team, scoring a pair of buckets of their own. Chris Parker (Toledo, OH) then hit a deep three, followed by a layup from Alfred Johnson (London, ON) that would give the Falcons a 19-14 lead after the opening quarter.
In the second quarter, Fanshawe guard Salim Bagabe (Kitchener, ON) drove and found an open Matt Hall (Penetanguishene, ON) for the finish. The Falcons extended their lead on a dunk from local rookie Kuek Duol (London, ON). At half time, the score was 40-30 in favour of the red and white.
Duol continued where he left off in the third frame, knocking down four 3-pointers to excite the home crowd. A strong take by Carter Hawthornthwaite (London, ON) stretched the Falcons lead to 64-50 going into the fourth quarter.
The Eagles would attempt a comeback in the final frame, however Fanshawe would hold their ground. The Falcons had back-to-back layups from Duol and Hawthornthwaite and a pair of made free throws from Xavier Ellis (Hamilton, ON) to maintain their lead. Fanshawe defeated UTM by a score of 88-74. Duol had a career and game-high 26 points. Hall led the Falcons with nine rebounds and Parker added six assists. As a team, Fanshawe shot a solid 49% from the field in the win.
The Falcons will battle for second place in a competitive OCAA West Division on Friday, November 30 when they face Niagara College (5-2) in Welland.