(London, Ontario) – On Thursday night, the Fanshawe Men's Basketball team (12-4) moved into third place in the OCAA West Division with a 103-69 home win over Mohawk (5-9).
The Mountaineers came out strong to start the game, going up early on the Falcons. Fanshawe got a couple of buckets from Hanani Ujullu (Kitchener, ON) and free throws from D'Andre Austin (Toronto, ON), but found themselves down 23-11 at the end of the first frame.
The Falcons stepped up their game in quarter two by getting stops defensively, including a huge block from local forward Alfred Johnson. Fanshawe started getting to the rim offensively and scored six straight points. Austin then drew an offensive foul that gave the red and white momentum. Chris Parker (Toledo, OH) hit a deep three that got the crowd on their feet and gave the Falcons the lead. At the halftime break, Fanshawe had shook off the slow start and led 42-41.
The Birds were in full flight in the third frame as they opened with an 11-2 run and would continue to separate themselves from then on. Johnson was firing on all cylinders, dropping ten points in the quarter. Moses Orozco-Rayo (London, ON) found Zach Soltis (Cambridge, ON) in transition to end the quarter with another bucket. The Falcons outscored the Mountaineers 28-9 in the third to carry a 70-50 lead into the final frame.
Ujullu excited the home fans with a dunk to start the fourth quarter. Fanshawe's Mohamed Alor (Winnipeg, MB) and Salim Bagabe (Kitchener, ON) also contributed points to stretch the lead. Kuek Duol (London, ON) and Soltis would then knock down a pair of triples to put the game away. The Falcons would go on to complete the season series sweep of Mohawk with a 103-69 win. Johnson had a double-double in the victory with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Soltis and Parker added 22 and 21 points respectively.
In only his third season with the Falcons, Parker now sits in third place on the Fanshawe Men's Basketball all-time career scoring list with 951 points, nearing the 1000 OCAA career points mark.
Fanshawe will now visit Lambton (8-8) for a game against the Lions on Tuesday, February 5.