GUARANTEED WIN GAME RECAP- January 23rd

The K-W Titans went home without their guaranteed win on Thursday but luckily for Titans fans in the lower bowl seats, they will be able to use their tickets for a BOGO game on Feb. 13 or 20.

The game started off well for the Titans with a driving layup from Akeem Scott (11 points, nine rebounds) to score the first bucket of the game. 
Scott followed the sleek lay-in up with an impressive alley-oop pass to Jonathan Harris (nine points, nine rebounds).

However, the Express must have heard about the Titans’ guaranteeing their fans a win and started coming with it themselves as they really pushed the pace in the first. 
The two teams went back and forth for the first 12 minutes of the game but the visitors had a slight edge over the home team at the end of the opening period as they led by three points with the scoreboard reading 22-19 for the Express. 

The Titans made some adjustments in the second and tied it up early on. KW got back to work on the defensive side of the floor and began their second-quarter push against the Express. 
Although the Titans had their game faces on, Windsor came ready to play as well and the Southern Ontario rivals exchanged buckets throughout the second. 

Damon Lynn (13 points, seven assists) came up with a sneaky steal in the open floor and proceeded to pull up for a big-time three-pointer which got the crowd off their seats. 
Shortly after, fan-favourite, Akeem Ellis (13 points, eight rebounds) drove to the hoop and got the points plus the harm as he went to the charity stripe to tie the game up. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to knot the score up on that trip but made up for it on the following possession when he dug down deep to get two tough offensive rebounds and earned himself another trip to the line.  
The Titans’ hardnosed play kept them in the game in the first half and despite some strong offense from Windsor, they trailed by just one at halftime as the scoreboard displayed 49-48 for the Express.

The third quarter got a little heated for both teams, as the game got intense and the two squads got chippy with one another.
The Titans were victim to some hard fouls and no-calls which caused their bench and coaching staff to let their emotions show. 
The Express were able to get the wind behind them after that and managed to create some separation between them and KW. Windsor was able to push their score to double digits in the third but that large advantage was short-lived when moments later, Jared Nickens (15 points, five of them being 3 pointers ) knocked down a corner three to bring the Titans back within striking distance. 

KW continued their push and were able to tie the game back up after some clutch free-throws from Lynn, however, Windsor still held a lead of  74-68 after three quarters.

With the pressure of a guaranteed win on their minds, the Titans knew they had to make something happen in the fourth but despite their best efforts, the Express came to win on Thursday and were able to match each point the Titans put up. 
Windsor outscored KW 31-29 in the fourth and held on to beat the Titans 105-97 at the end of regulation.
However, on a more positive note, the Titans had six players scoring in double-digits in this one, including newcomer, Justin Moss who notched a double-double in his Titans debut with 15 points, 10 rebounds and four steals in the contest.
Despite Moss having a great first outing for his new team, he was adamant about what the Titans need to do going forward.
“It’s on us,” Moss said. “We have to transfer our energy from practice into the game. That’s what’s most important. We need to focus on us right now and everything should come out on top.”
The Titans’ next chance at redemption comes on Jan. 30 when they host the London Lightening inside the Aud, for the “Make Noise For Mental Health Game”.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.