Mohawk College Newsroom

JillianneJourno

Thu, 05 Mar 2015 16:25:08 -0500

Mohawk's Lamar Barr (with ball) and Jeff Hunt. (Picture courtesy of Durham College Athletics)

OSHAWA, MARCH 8, 2015: For the first time since 2012, the Mohawk men's basketball team is the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association champion. The Mountaineers defeated the Humber Hawks 84-74 in the gold medal game at the 2015 belairdirect OCAA Men's Basketball Championship at Durham College in Oshawa Sunday.

Mohawk came storming out of the gate to take a 9-0 lead before Humber discovered their game, but still trailed 19-14 after the first quarter.

The Mountaineers, getting some timely three point shooting and strong work on the boards, increased their lead to 44-31 at the half. They led by 19 points (65-46) after three quarters and when Jeff Hunt sank a big three-pointer to start the final period to put his team up by 22, it really looked like they would coast to victory.

However, the Hawks would have none of that and with an 11-0 run and forcing the the Mountaineers into several turnovers and mental mistakes, Humber whittled their deficit down to seven points (77-70) and the game was suddenly up for grabs. But Mohawk finally recovered and kept their lead in double digits pretty well the rest of the way. This despite the fact the Hawks outscored them 28-19 in the final quarter.

Statistically, Championship MVP Matt Fennell had 26 points,11 rebounds and came up with five turnovers for the Mountaineers. Matt Savel had 21 points, six assists and three turnovers. Andrew Cicuttini scored 14, added eight boards and forced five turnovers. Lamar Barr scored 10 points, contributed nine rebounds, had three assists, five turnovers and three blocked shots.

For Humber, Kenny Ejim scored 22 points and Junior Davis had 20.

Both teams will represent the OCAA in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association National Championship at Mohawk College March 19-21.

Host Durham College won the bronze medal, defeating St. Lawrence-Kingston 66-51.

As an added bonus, the Mountaineers will compete for the national basketball title at the the 2015 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) National Men’s Basketball Championship, which is being held at Mohawk College's Fennell Campus next week.

Eight teams from all across Canada will be competing in this year’s tournament. The first game will be Thursday, Mar. 19, 2015 at 1 p.m. in the David Braley Athletic and Recreation Centre at Mohawk College. The complete game schedule is available on the CCAA’s website. The tournament is open to the public. Tickets can be purchased at the Athletics office in R105 (David Braley Athletic and Recreation at Mohawk College’s Fennell Campus). Adult tournament passes are $30, student/senior passes are $20. Full and part time Mohawk day students are free with a One Card. Single day passes are $10 adult, $5 students/seniors. The event is presented by Budds’ BMW of Hamilton.

Fennell named Championship MVP. Andrew Cicuttini makes All-Star Team

Mohawk All Canadian Guard Matt Fennell was selected Championship MVP at the OCAA men's basketball Championship in Oshawa.

Mohawk's Andrew Cicuttini made the Championship All-Star Team.

Media Release: Mohawk College Welcomes Ontario Women's Basketball Championship to Hamilton

Tue, 25 Feb 2014 10:00:03 -0500

HAMILTON, ON – Mohawk College will welcome the top eight women’s basketball teams from across Ontario this week to the 2014 belairdirect Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Women’s Basketball Championship, sponsored by Budd’s BMW of Hamilton.

The three day tournament begins Thursday, Feb. 27 and runs through to Saturday, March 1 at Mohawk’s new David Braley Athletic and Recreation Centre. This is the first major sporting event to be held at the new centre. Mohawk is also hosting the Canadian Colleges Athletics Association national men’s basketball championship in 2015 with Budd’s BMW returning as the event sponsor.

The women teams will be arriving in Hamilton starting Wednesday. Each team will have chance for a practice prior to the tournament start on Thursday. The Mountaineers women will play their first match of the tournament against Durham on Thursday at 6 p.m.

The gold medal game takes place on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. at the David Braley Athetic and Recreation Centre. For the full tournament schedule visit http://www.mohawkcollege.ca/athletics/ocaawbballchampionship.html.

You can follow the tournament results live by visiting the 2014 belairdirect OCAA Women’s Basketball Championship website at:http://www.mohawkcollege.ca/athletics/ocaawbballchampionship/game-schedule-results.html.

Games will also be live-streamed at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtqZzytlVK2ggjIFfX4JTqA

2014 belairdirect OCAA Women’s Basketball Championship schedule

Day 1- February 27, 2014

Game 1: St Lawrence Kingston vs St. Clair 1:00 pm
Game 2: Fanshawe vs Algonquin 3:00 pm
Game 3: Mohawk vs Durham 6:00 pm
Game 4: Sheridan vs Humber 8:00 pm

Day 2 –February 28, 2014

Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 1 p.m.
Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 3 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 6 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 8p.m.

Day 3 –March 1, 2014

Game 9: Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 6, 9 a.m.
Game 10: Loser Game 8 vs. Winner Game 5, 11 a.m.
Bronze: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 5 p.m.
Gold: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 7 p.m.

Contacts:

Mohawk College:

Al Craig, Athletics
905-575-2004
alcraig10@gmail.com

Jay Robb, Mohawk College, Director of Communications
905-575-1212, ext 3965
jay.robb@mohawkcollege.ca

Mohawk Mountaineers claim gold at OCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship

Mon, 24 Feb 2014 09:57:40 -0500

Barrie, ON – It came down to a thrilling fifth set tiebreak, but in the end it was the Mohawk Mountaineers who claimed the gold medal at the 2014 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Men’ s Volleyball Championship hosted at Georgian College in Barrie.

After claiming the first set 25-22, the Mountaineers found themselves in trouble dropping two straight sets to the OCAA’s top ranked team the Humber Hawks by scores of 25-16 and 25-22.

With their backs against the wall, the Mountaineers staved off elimination multiple times and eventually got the better of the Hawks in an incredible 30-28 fourth set sending the match to a fifth set tiebreak.

In the game’s final frame the Mountaineers carried all the momentum and clinched the gold medal with a 15-8 set to win the match 3-2.

Mohawk’s Trevor McLaughlin put together a 21 point performance in the final game including 18 kills, one service ace and twio stuff blocks, while adding 14 digs. Eric Danecke had 13 kills, one ace and two blocks. Bryce Marcussen contributed nine kills, one ace and three blocks. Terrel Bramwell who was named the championships most valuable player had a brilliant performance in the final for Humber as he posted 27 kills in helping his team earn the silver medal.

For the Mountaineers it’s their fourth consecutive year medaling at the OCAA Championship and their first gold medal since the 2007-08 season. For Humber they have now medaled in four of the last five years and return to the podium after being shut out a season ago.

Both the Mountaineers and the Humber Hawks have qualified for the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Men’s Volleyball National Championship which takes place March 4^th through 8^th at Briercrest College and Seminary in Caronport, Saskatchewan.

After winning each of their semi-final matches in the 3^rd place side the Fanshawe Falcons and Algonquin Thunder squared off for the bronze medal in their second games of the day. Algonquin, who were pushed to the limit by the Durham Lords in a five set marathon in the semis, seemed to run out of gas in the bronze final.

Fanshawe came out aggressive leading to a clean 3-0 sweep over the Thunder by set scores of 25-19, 25-16, and 25-22 to earn the bronze medal at the Championship.

Derek Braun was named player of the game for Fanshawe after a 13 point effort while Ian McAlpine was awarded player of the game for Algonquin with a 7 point effort.

The bronze medal for Fanshawe is the first time they have won a medal at the event since the 2006-07 season when they also earned bronze.

MoCast Episode 19 now available on YouTube

Thu, 20 Feb 2014 09:25:30 -0500

Episode 19 now available on Mohawk’s YouTube channel. This week’s news roundup includes an interview with Director of Student Engagement and Athletics Michelle Ball on the upcoming OCAA Women's Basketball Championships being held at Mohawk at the end of February. We shine a spotlight on two Social Service Worker students who organized this year's Accessibility Awareness Day in March, and we visit the site of this year's Community Builders project at Delta United Church in east Hamilton.

In case you missed it: Episode 18

Got a story idea? Pitch it to us. Email sean.coffey@mohawkcollege.ca or jay.robb@mohawkcollege.ca in Communications.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6HFJTc6HUk&w=560&h=315]

Mountaineers take silver at OCAA Championships

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 09:42:24 -0500

Mohawk will not repeat as Ontario Colleges Athletic Association men's basketball champions. The Sheridan Bruins rallied from a 14 point second quarter deficit to defeat the Mountaineers 88-70 at Seneca College Saturday night.

Mohawk got off to an outstanding start, dominating the Bruins, the top team in the West, in pretty well every phase of the game and led 21-10 after the first quarter. They increased their lead to 33-19 early in the second quarter, but it was at that point that Sheridan started to peck away at the Mountaineer margin to trail 39-33 at half time.

Mohawk got the first basket of the third quarter, but then the show started for Sheridan who sank a couple of three-pointers to tie the score before scoring a two point bucket to put Sheridan ahead for the first time in the game, 43-41. It was part of an 18-2 Sheridan run and the Bruins led 65-56 at three quarter time.

The fourth quarter was all Sheridan, while Mohawk struggled mightily with its shots and rebounding.

The Mountaineers' player of the game was centre Taylor Dowhaniuk. Taylor scored 16 points and added 10 rebounds. Alex Reis had 14 points and eight boards. Manny Campbell scored 11 points and Jeff Hunt added 10. Campbell and Reis were Championship All-Stars.

“We are very proud of our accomplishments this year,” said Mohawk head coach Brian Jonker. “We were beaten by a better team today. We didn't have an answer for Trevor Williams in the second half. It is always tough to lose but we had great effort in trying to defend our title. I feel for Manny who had a fantastic five year career end with defeat.
We will return next year with a team that can compete for another title.”

While the Mountaineers ended their season with a silver medal, Sheridan took the gold and will go to the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Championship at John Abbott College in Montreal, March 14-16.

Mountaineers men's b-ball team get set to defend title at OCAA Championships this week

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 14:48:29 -0500

The reigning OCAA Men's Basketball Champions, the Mohawk Mountaineers will defend their title at this year's OCCA Championships being held at Seneca College this week. The Mountaineers will play Ottawa's Algonquin Thunder in quarter final action this Thursday. The game starts at 6 p.m.

Last year, the Mountaineers won the OCAA Championship and then went on the national CCAA championship in Nova Scotia.

Go Mountaineers!

Aminu Bello named Male Athlete of the Year by OCAA and CCAA

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:02:49 -0400

Mohawk's Aminu Bello (Centre) is the Ontario College Athletic Association and Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Male Athlete of the Year. Aminu helped lead the Mohawk Mountaineers men's basketball team to its first OCAA championship in 40 years. Following the provincial championship, the team went on to win the Canadian Collegiate Athletics Association national championship in Nova Scotia.

Both awards were presented to Aminu during a ceremony held at Mohawk College this afternoon. Presenting the awards were Michelle Ball, Director Student Engagement and Athletics at Mohawk College and Blair Webster, Executive Director of the OCAA.

Video: U. S. Steel Canada donates $500,000 to Mohawk College

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:46:56 -0400

Mohawk student and Mountaineer basketball star Aminu Bello has been named the best college athlete in Ontario and across Canada. Aminu is the 2012 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) male athlete of the year. Aminu is the fourth Mohawk varsity athlete to win OCAA honors and the first since 2008.

Canadian Idol winner to perform during Mohawk College's Spring Open House

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 15:26:02 -0400

Mohawk College has won its first Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Men's Basketball Championship.

The Mountaineers, led by Aminu Bello's 32 point, player of the game performance, downed the Mount Royal University Cougars of Calgary 88-73 in the Gold Medal Final in Truro, N.S., Saturday night. Alex Reis scored 22 points and Tanner Lane added 12, on four, three-point shots.

Andrew Cicuttini, who was named Most Valuable Player of the Championship, had 15 rebounds for the Mountaineers.

Mohawk fell behind 12-4 but thanks to consecutive three pointers by Bello, Lane and Bello again, took the lead and were in front 21-18 after one quarter. In the second quarter, Mohawk went on a 15-1 run and led by 17 (36-19). Mount Royal got back to within seven points (44-37) but Lane's late three pointer gave the Mountaineers their 10 point margin at the half.

Mohawk led 64-55 in the third and continued their lead into the fourth quarter. Mohawk had a field goal percentage of 40.26 for the game, while Mount Royal shot 34.15 percent.

Mohawk's Manny Campbell was named to the championship's First All-Star Team. Taylor Dowhaniuk was named to the Second Team.

Mountaineers vs. University of Northern British Columbia tonight at 5 p.m. eastern

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:53:16 -0400

Andrew Cicuttini scored 34 points and added 11 rebounds to lead the 4th seeded Mohawk Mountaineers to a 101-96 victory over the 5th ranked Vanier Cheetahs in their opening game of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Men's Basketball Championship in Truro, N.S. today.

Mohawk got off to a bright start against the reigning champions from Montreal and led 28-20 after the first quarter.

In the second period the Mountaineers led by 11 points a couple of times, but the Cheetahs would not go away. Montreal battled back and could have led at half time but missed a layup at the buzzer. Mohawk went to the dressing room ahead 54-53.

Very early in the third quarter, Vanier took their first and what turned out to be their only lead (57-56). But Mohawk responded with a 7-0 run and after some key turnovers late in the quarter, a 3-pointer by Jeff Hunt gave the Mountaineers a 76-66 lead at three quarter time.

Mohawk increased its margin to 13 points (87-74) with about seven minutes remaining and appeared to have the game in hand, but Vanier came charging back again.

Mohawk big man Taylor Dowhaniuk fouled out of the game with just under four minutes to go, but Vanier had three starters foul out and a couple of injuries which did not help them in the latter stages of the game.

Vanier narrowed the deficit to 98-96 in the final minute, but Mountaineer All-Canadian Amino Bello sank three free throws to complete the scoring.

Cicuttini, who was Mohawk's player of the game, told SportsCanada.TV that the Mountaineers find ways to win. "We just kept playing hard," said Cicuttini. "It's a do or die situation. We are all hungry to get the first national (men's basketball) championship in the school's history."

The Mountaineers will go up against the top seeded team from the University of Northern British Columbia on Friday at 6 p.m. UNBC downed Red Deer College of Alberta, 88-65 in the championship curtain-raiser.

All games in the championship tournament are streamed at:

http://ccaamensbasketball2012.ca/

UPDATED: Temporary hours for The Square at Fennell Campus

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 21:14:37 -0400

Following the tentative agreement reached between the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAAT) support staff and management at Ontario's 24 colleges, the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) has begun the process of developing modified schedules for all of its fall league sports.

The OCAA anticipates beginning its fall league schedules on Friday, allowing time for support staff and teams to prepare for potential travel and hosting duties. Modified schedules and formats will be released later this week.

Ontario Colleges Athletic Association announces no varsity sports during strike

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 15:19:26 -0400

The Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) has announced it will not conduct any varsity events during the current Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) work stoppage. The OCAA will begin the process of postponing regular season games in its league sports if there is no resolution to the work stoppage by noon on Thursday, Sept. 8. Regular season games are currently scheduled to begin in men's and women's soccer on Friday, men's rugby on Sunday, women's fastball on Sept. 13 and women's rugby on Sept. 14.

Congratulations Rodney Alderice and Paul Stratford on Hall of Fame induction

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 23:20:47 -0400

A student and coach who made major contributions to Mohawk's cross country program will be inducted into the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association Hall of Fame May 4 at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto.

Between 1990 and 1995, Rodney Alderdice dominated the OCAA between 1990 and 1995, collecting three individual gold medals and two silver medals. The Civil Engineering Technology graduate was named Male Freshman Athlete of the year in 1990-91 and was named the MVP of the Mountaineer squad for four consecutive years. Rodney's team also won OCAA gold, silver and bronze medals during this time. In 1993-94, Rodney was named Mohawk’s Outstanding Male Athlete and was inducted into the Mohawk Mountaineer Hall of Fame in 2006.

Paul Stratford coached the men's cross country team from 1981 to 1989, winning four OCA men's team championships, eight women's team championships and five individual men's and women's champions. Paul was inducted as a builder in the Mountaineer Hall of Fame in 1999.

Mohawk Mountaineers' men's soccer team headed to OCAA championship

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 12:13:13 -0400

The Mohawk Mountaineers' men's soccer team competes in the Ontario College Athletics Association (OCAA) championship in Toronto this Friday and Saturday. The Mountaineers' defeated the La Cite Coyotes 1-0 in the OCAA quarter final in Ottawa last Sunday. Second-year striker Adam Petrina was named OCAA player of the week. Adam scored the extra time goal against La Cite and had three goals against Niagara College during last week's sudden death OCAA playoff qualifier.