The Fanshawe Falcons bench celebrates during a game against the Lambton Lions.
Courtesy: Matt Hiscox
The Fanshawe Falcons men’s basketball team used a strong fourth quarter to prevail over the Lambton Lions 96-90.
“It wasn’t pretty,” said Falcons Assistant Coach John Caulfield after the game. “The rebounding was a big issue for us today so that’s something that we have to clean up. At the end of the day, we just have to get wins in these games and we did.” The Falcons were out-rebounded 58-51 and gave up 24 offensive boards.
After setting a new school record with 16 three-pointers in their previous game against Redeemer, the Falcons did not fare nearly as well from behind the arc. They relied on their forwards to finish close to the basket, picking up 62 points in the paint. Hanani Ujullu and Alfred Johnson combined for 42 points and 19 rebounds for the Falcons
“The bigs came up big in the second half,” said Caulfield. “Alfred and Hanani came up big especially on the glass, big time with points. They were important. Alfred had a lot of big hoops down the stretch and he’s the heart and soul of the team.” 15 of Alfred Johnson’s 20 points came in the second half.
Fanshawe trailed the Lions by four points after three-quarters of play. They began to utilize Johnson and Hanani Ujullu’s size to wreak havoc down low. The Falcons only took three three-pointers in the fourth quarter, shooting 50 per cent from the field.
The Lions shot 43 three-pointers in the game, hitting 13 of them. Caulfield chalks that up to the 24 offensive rebounds that the Falcons surrendered. It allowed Lambton second and third chances to get points during possessions. Despite that, the Falcons still pulled out the win.
“A lot of times, you’re not going to play well every night. So, if you don’t play well, you want to be able to pull out the win. And that’s a hard thing for a young team so we’re proud of them for that,” said Caulfield on his team’s determination.
Marko Maletic had a scorching hot start for the Falcons, dropping 16 points in the first half. He cooled down in the second half, adding just three more points. Those three points came off a shot from behind the arc that put the Falcons up 87-84. It energized both the bench and the crowd. Maletic – who is Fanshawe’s leading scorer averaging 24 points per game – finished with 19 points off 7-14 shooting and three three-pointers.
The win is the Falcons’ fourth in a row as they improve to 5-2 on the season. It temporarily bumps them up to third place in the OCAA West standings.
