Humber men’s basketball team nets NCAA win

Oct 12, 2012 | Sports

Humber Hawks fight for pre-season win against the Quincy Hawks Thursday. COURTESY HUMBER ATHLETICS

By Sasha Ramnarine

The Humber Hawks men’s basketball team came back from a ten-point deficit against a NCAA team Thursday night at North Campus.

The Hawks brought home a 63-57 win against the Hawks of the University of Quincy in Illinois.

“We executed our game plan defensively and making some key shots on offence I thought gave us a little bit more energy on defence to execute at a high level,” Shawn Collins, Humber head coach, told Humber News.

Humber forward, Ancil Martin said Collins wants the team to focus on defence.

“He wants us to be a defensive-minded team. I think that’s definitely number one for him.  And I think he wants us to be a structured team . . . he also wants us to be an aggressive team,” said Martin, 21, a second-year general arts and science student.

After the win, Martin spoke highly of his team’s hopes for the OCAA competition in February 2013.

“I say we can actually win.  We have a very strong team.  These wins have to replicate what’s going to happen in the OCAAs.  That’s why we just need to keep getting better and better.”

Veteran shooting guard Troy Roberts gave credit to the coaching staff for the win.

“The coaching staff has done a great job, keeping us in shape and motivated . . . it feels good that all the hard work is paying off,” said Roberts, 25, a third-year sports management student.

This was Humber’s first home game and serves as a solid indicator of more wins to come.

“I really kept an open mind with having so many new players and having five players return that are looking for bigger roles on the team,” said Collins.  “It’s really almost 15 new players and trying to bring them together.”

Collins added, “the OCAA West is a very difficult conference and I think we’ll have to play very well every night in order to be successful.”

Collins told Humber News this is the first time his team has played a NCAA division two school or any American school in October.

Humber athletics manager Jim Bialek said Quincy chose to compete against the Hawks for experience.

Bialek told Humber News NCAA rules allow a team every four years to travel out of state for exhibition games.

“It’s a great win, it’s a great experience. You see the Humber side of this. The Quincy side . . . win, loss aside, their coaching staff are just excited about the opportunity to travel and play, especially in Canada,” said Bialek.

Humber’s next game will be Tuesday Oct. 16, at 8 p.m. in North York against the Seneca Sting.