Going into Saturday's men's basketball contest against the Humber Hawks, the Redeemer Royals knew that this was likely the best opportunity they have ever had to knock off the perennial contenders. Having started the season 4-0, ranked #10 in Canada, and led by CCAA All-Canadian Ravyon Higdon, it appeared to be one of the first legitimate chances to compete with and defeat Humber.

With an 0-20 record against the hosts, Redeemer would not only need to defeat the #6 CCAA ranked Hawks, but they would need to do it on their home court, traditionally, one of the toughest places to play in the OCAA. 

With all that pressure on the shoulders of the team as well as Coach Girolametto and his coaching staff, the Royals made history Saturday, defeating the Hawks 88-83.
With the win, Redeemer remains perfect at 5-0 and continues their record pace to start the 2017-18 season. 

The loss for the Hawks was their first of the season, having previously scored over 100 points in all of their first 5 matches. Humber drops to 5-1. 

Leading for most of the game, and enjoying a 14 point lead in the 2nd quarter, Redeemer battled through everything Humber was able to throw at them. Twice pulling the game to just one point in the second half, the Hawks were resilient. However, the Royals were able to stay composed, hitting a number of clutch shots. After the Hawks were down 84-83 with under a minute to play, Redeemer's Rayvon Higdon hit a layup that put the Royals up for good. Justin Lenters then iced the game with 2 made free throws in the final seconds. 

The Royals missed only 4 free-throws all night, making a total of 25. 

Despite having Spencer Kerssies and Benn Ibrahim in foul trouble for most of the game, the Royals were still able to get open on the perimeter. Nick Green hit 5 three pointers, 4 in the first half, and finished with 23 points. 

Redeemer's Rayvon Higdon was also solid for the Royals, finishing with a team-high 25 points and 10 rebounds. 

The Royals will have little time to recover as they welcome the Niagara Knights (OCAA 4-1) on Wednesday night before traveling to UTM (OCAA 0-5) on Saturday.