(London, ON)- On Sunday afternoon, the Fanshawe Men's Basketball team (2-2) was triumphant against the Canadore Panthers (0-4). In front of the home crowd, the Falcons won 103-76.
Second-year Luka Philavong (London, ON) opened the game with a drop step to the bucket and gave the Birds an early lead. To put the Falcons up 7-0, Philavong drained a beautiful shot behind the arc. Fanshawe began to pressure the visitors and executed a full-court trap where Blake Roy (Springfield, ON) stole the ball, then he passed the ball up to Aidan Whalen (Cambridge, ON) who drew the foul and finished at the rim. With the score standing at 15-9 in Fanshawe's favour, Terence Williams (Windsor, ON) scored off a gorgeous floater in the middle of the key. Later in the quarter, Azad Chahal (London, ON) knocked down a triple. After the first, the Falcons had a 33-15 advantage over the Panthers.
In the second quarter, Eli Caron (Winnipeg, MB) made a diving cut to the basket and easily laid the ball in the net with his left hand. To put the Birds up 53-25, first-year Joey Gerosavas (London, ON) made a sweet pass to Caleb Labelle (Sharon, ON), who converted on the play. The Falcons were on a roll. Scoring his 15th point of the game, Whalen swished a three-pointer and Fanshawe was up 60-35 at the half.
In the third, Philavong stole the ball from the Panthers and cashed in on an assist to Chahal. Up 70-39 with seven minutes left in the quarter, the Birds continued to control the game. Chahal scored his 20th point of the game on a picture-perfect fade-away three, over the Canadore defender. On defense, fifth-year William picked off the ball from the Panthers and finished on the other end over two of his opponents. Near the end of the quarter, Edge Capuno (Winnipeg, MB) ripped the ball from the Panthers and dished it to Labelle for the layup. The Falcons led 90-52 to go into the fourth.
During the final quarter, Caron drove to the bucket and recorded an and-one. The Panthers made a valiant effort at the end of the game, but the Falcons prevailed and won 103-76. As a team, the Falcons had 31 assists on 39 made field goals and shot an impressive 58% from the field and 52% from three point range. Whalen and Chahal led Fanshawe in scoring with 26 and 22 points.
Fanshawe's next game will be at home on Saturday, November 11 at 3:00 p.m. The Falcons will go head-to-head against the Niagara Knights (2-2).
