Falcons Fest a blast for all

On January 24 the Fanshawe Falcons athletics department hosted its third annual Falcons Fest. The event featured four consecutive varsity games, free food and free Falcon apparel for those in attendance.

The result was a resounding success.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Fanshawe first-year Accounting student Kendra McAnulty. “There was a lot of people here, a lot of energy and lots of free stuff.”

“This was my first time [attending a Falcons athletic event], but it has been a blast,” said second-year Food and Beverage student Kendra Dickson. “I’ve met a lot of great people here and the food was awesome.”

In the first game of the event, the Fanshawe women’s volleyball team battled hard with every set but fell a little short losing 25-19, 25-21, 12-25 and 25-21 in four sets to the Sheridan Bruins. Stephanie Bignell was the star of the game, setting an OCAA all-time record with an incredible 224 career blocks. She dished out 12 kills, eight digs and a game-high seven blocks.

On the men’s side, Demetri Kantzos and his fellow Falcons were able to get a little revenge on Saturday afternoon. Fanshawe defeated the Sheridan Bruins in straight sets 25-21, 25-17 and 25-19 in the second half of the volleyball doubleheader after having lost to those same Bruins in straight sets back in November. Kantzos lead the way with a stellar performance putting up 10 kills, two aces and seven digs.

The evening portion of the event featured the men and women’s basketball teams playing a doubleheader against the visiting Niagara Knights.

The women’s team put forth a valiant effort in the first game of the doubleheader, but their comeback attempt fell just short to the Knights by a score of 60-56. Fanshawe’s Laura Vere was the team’s leading scorer on the night with 13 points to go with eight rebounds. Stephanie Antwi was a strong board presence, grabbing a teamhigh nine rebounds including six in the first half.

The women’s next matchup will be on the road against the division leading Mohawk Mountaineers on February 7.

In the finale, the men’s team took a nail-biter into double overtime but pulled away with a 93-82 victory. The Falcons trailed by three points with just 6.2 seconds remaining when Fanshawe guard Kyle McConnell drained a three-pointer to tie the game at 66. A strong defensive stand forced overtime where Fanshawe’s McConnell hit a game-tying shot once more to force a double overtime session. In double overtime, Fanshawe dominated possession leading to an 11-point victory over the visiting Knights.

As the regular season for each of these four teams begin to come to a close, the focus will begin to shift on the OCAA playoffs that begin in the latter half of February.