The alumni of the 2014-2015 men’s Humber Hawks basketball team were celebrated on Feb. 5, to honour the 10th anniversary of their Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) title.
The Hawks title was filled with emotions behind it because they almost lost that game after posting an unstoppable 17-1 in the regular season.
The Hawks survived and won the game, but Gibson Eduful, who played point guard for the team, was shocked at how that memorable game against Lambton Lions ended a decade ago.
The Hawks trailed by 13 points after the first quarter against the Lions and things got worse as the gap grew to 19.
But the Hawks clawed their way back and with 12.5 seconds left in the game, they trailed by two. The Lions missed a free-throw shot, and the Hawks secured the rebound and brought the ball down the court.
After a desperate three from Ancil Martin that missed, Tyrone Dickson grabbed the ball mid-air and tipped it in with 0.1 seconds left, which sent the game into overtime.
“That miracle, that shot, I don’t even know how to explain it. It was just crazy,” Eduful said.
The Hawks got back their confidence and came out on top to be crowned the champions.
Eduful said they were not fully focused before the championship game against the Lions because they were still celebrating the previous victory.
“We were coming off a high because we just beat the number one ranked team in the nation and then we had to play the number one ranked team in Vancouver,” he said.
It was Humber’s first National Championship since 2001. It seemed magical to celebrate the alumni on the night the current Hawks team played against the Sheridan Bruins.
During the title run, the Hawks beat the Bruins. The teams have what's considered the most heated rivalry in the OCAA, and the Hawks defeated them not once, but twice during that season.
Brian Lepp, coordinator of sports information, said it was only right to celebrate the title against the Bruins last Wednesday because of the history between the two clubs.
“A lot of people consider it to be the biggest rivalry in Canadian basketball. This is the 132nd meeting between us, while just being 15 kilometres away from us,” he said.
Lepp said people compare it to the Duke and UNC rivalry, also known as the Tobacco Road rivalry, so games like these are filled with fans and media.
The alumni was introduced at halftime to the several hundred students in the crowd, while the announcer relived that special season.
They also received a box with a jersey and a photo of the team holding their championship banner from 2015 along with other gifts.
The championship game was played in Hamilton. The Hawks knocked off the defending champions Langara Falcons from Vancouver in the quarterfinals.
Lepp said the 2015 championship squad put the Humber Hawks team as a whole back on the map.
“There was a good 15 years where we were not as competitive as we normally were like we were winning provincials and still playing well," he said.
“We just have not won that national championship. So that is the problem at Humber, were so successful, we measure ourselves a national championship,” Lepp said.
Before the game, the current Hawks team thanked the alumni for paving the way.
Eduful said he was touched to hear how much these young athletes were impacted by his championship squad.
“They were thanking us and saying that we helped them inspire them a little bit. So, it's great to see that we're pushing it forward, and hopefully they continue to push it forward,” he said.
Eduful said he feels old, but he is happy that they are still looked at as role models.
“To be honest, it's great, I love Humber, the legacy that we’ve left is clearly still impactful on the young guys today,” he said.
