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Colts Squeak By Panthers

Game Leaders

Canadore
Pts: Daniel Smalling - 21
Reb: Daniel Smalling - 13
Ast: 4 Players (#0, #4, #8, #21) - 2
Centennial
Pts: Jahshua McFarlane - 21
Reb: Bailey Burton - 17
Ast: Kendell Wilson - 7

Team Stats

Canadore
Centennial

Field Goals

(29-72)
(31-86)

Field Goal %

40.3%
36.0%

Rebounds

49
48

Assists

10
18

Turnovers

36
21

Pts off Turnovers

12
17

2nd Chance Pts

9
8

Bench Pts

34
15
full stats
Colts Squeak By Panthers
Posted: Feb 17, 2018

Kajan Thiruthanikasalam (Sports Writer, Colts Athletics)

SCARBOROUGH, ONT.- Saturday's game at the Athletic and Wellness Centre between the Centennial Colts and the visiting Canadore Panthers proved that regular season records should not be overlooked.

Fortunately, for Centennial (13-6), they came out on top, as they beat Canadore (6-14), 80-76, in a tightly contested battle, overcoming a nine point second half deficit. The Colts had not played since losing, 80-71, on Feb. 7 against the George Brown Huskies.

"I think our guys overlooked Canadore because of their record," Colts head coach Trevor Challenger said. "At halftime we changed up a few things and they came out with energy and more intensity."
 
The leading scorer of the OCAA, Daniel Smalling, finished with a team high 21 points off of the bench for the Panthers but took 21 shots to get there and went 33.3 per cent from the field; Smalling also finished with 13 rebounds. David Okoroafor finished with 17 points while Cadeem Campbell had 14. D'Shawn Johnson and Rasheed Smith each had a game high two blocks for Canadore in defeat.
 
"Daniel (Smalling) is just a crafty scorer that scores in so many different ways," Challenger said. "I thought we did a good job limiting his touches by defending him closely."
 
For Centennial, they were led by Jahshua McFarlane, who finished with 21 points on nine of 17 shooting from the field; the Colts point guard also created havoc on the defensive end, committing a game high six steals.
 
"He is our starting point guard (and) the team needs him to be aggressive at all times," Challenger said.
 
Bailey Burton and Kendell Wilson each finished with 17 points. Burton finished with a season high in rebounds with 17 while Wilson dished out a career high seven assists.
 
"I mentioned to Bailey to continue being a low post threat and secure rebounds," Challenger said. "Although Kendell is a good scorer, his unselfish play showed today."

Centennial started the game on an 8-2 run but Canadore managed to chip away at their lead and were only down, 20-18, after one quarter, despite Hussein Madhi starting off strong, scoring six first quarter points.

In the second quarter, a three point play from Ryan Roelcke gave the Panthers their first lead of the game as that kickstarted an 11-2 Canadore run. Okoroafor and Smalling each had six in the quarter while McFarlane and Wilson each had five as the Colts were down five (40-35) at the half.

Canadore extended their lead back to nine to begin the second half after Campbell hit a pair of threes with a pair of free throws from Jason Dennis sandwiched in between. That's when Centennial ratcheted up its defensive pressure as they went on a 24-8 run to close out the quarter, forcing turnovers leading to easy baskets. McFarlane was the key beneficiary during that run, scoring 10 third quarter points as the Colts took a 61-54 lead, heading into the final frame.

The Panthers would not go away, however, as they retook the lead after a Smalling triple capped off an 8-0 run to start off the quarter. It took over four minutes before a layup from Dennis gave the Colts their first points of the quarter. After a pair of baskets from Okoroafor to give Canadore a 66-65 lead, a layup from Burton gave Centennial the lead fro good.

Smalling had a chance to take the lead for Canadore with two minutes to go, down one, but had his three point attempt blocked by Dennis as Walshak Yusef and McFarlane followed up with a layup each to extend the lead to 75-70. Smalling then hit a pair of free throws to cut the Colts lead to 78-76 but two free throws from Burton closed out the game; both players each had eight fourth quarter points.

HIGHLIGHTS
 
Centennial won decisively in the assists and steals department, dishing out eight more assists (18-10) while committing 22 steals, forcing Canadore into 36 turnovers, despite shooting 36 per cent from the field and 18.2 per cent from three.
 
The Colts also took 14 more shots than the Panthers and had a 16-13 edge on them from the charity stripe. Canadore had the edge in blocked shots (8-3) and shot 40.3 per cent from the field.
 
The Panthers ended the regular season on a six game losing streak.
 
WHAT'S NEXT FOR CENTENNIAL
 
The Colts close out the regular season at home on Tuesday Feb. 20 at 8:00 pm but will be in tough as they face the Durham Lords, whom they have been in a battle for third place in the OCAA East for a large portion of the second half of the season.
 
"Durham is (a) tough team, especially with shooting guard Brandon Halliburton and power forward Funsho Dimeji leading the attack," Challenger said. "We will utilize all of (our) team fouls and do the best we can to slow them down."
 
Despite the regular season finale, it is confirmed that Centennial will be hosting a crossover playoff matchup. Their opponent, though, has not been determined yet.