NBL Canada This Week: 9th-15th January
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With fourteen games in six days, it was one of the NBLC's most eventful weeks of recent memory, so let's get straight into it:
St. John's Edge returned to action after a two week absence and faced a double-header against the Windsor Express. On Tuesday six St. John's players scored in double figures, including Logan Stutz who had 27 points and 13 rebounds, as they comfortably saw off Windsor 111-103. The next day they had an eleven-point lead, but 16 points from Maurice Jones in the final quarter levelled the scores with a minute to go. A Carl English three-pointer would be the decider, though, giving the Edge the late buffer they needed to win, which they did by two points.
Moncton Coliseum saw a back-and-forth game between the the Magic and the Niagara River Lions, where two points separated the teams ahead of the fourth quarter. Moncton had the better inside game, which paid dividends in the fourth quarter, resulting in an eight-point win for the Magic in which Terry Thomas and Al Stewart both had 23 points. At the same time, London played big on offence against the Kitchener-Waterloo Titans, outscoring them by 17 in the second quarter. London's Royce White and Russell Byrd of the Titans both had 24 points and 9 rebounds, but it was London who would come out on top by 31 points. With this win, the Lightning also went top of the Central Division.
The Cape Breton Highlanders won yet another close game, this time against Island Storm. The Highlanders had a six-point lead going into the fourth quarter, and the teams traded points right to the very end, when Kemy Osse and Chris Johnson could only reduce the Storm’s arrears to two. De’Vaughn Maxwell had 35 points for the Storm and three Cape Breton players finished with 24 points each in their 117-115 win. Friday night also saw 34 points and 14 rebounds from KW's Derek Hall and 27 points off the bench from Justin Hurtt against St. John's Edge. Despite that and superior inside play, a big effort from Desmond Lee on both ends of the floor and Tyler Haws putting up 20 points off the bench, St. John had the scoring advantage over the Titans, winning here 120-113.
Niagara’s problems continued when they took on the Halifax Hurricanes, who led by more than 20 points early in the second quarter, and there was nothing the visitors from St. Catherine's could do to change their fate. Rhamel Brown had a double-double off the bench, one of six Halifax players to finish in double-digits, as they won by 28 points. Finally on four-game friday, Moncton Magic disappointed fans at the WFCU centre as they lead the Windsor Express from start to finish, leading by as many as 32 points at the start of the fourth quarter. Braylon Rayson did everything to salvage pride for his team, scoring 15 of his total 17 points in Q4, helping to reduce Windsor's deficit to 123-108. Corey Allmond had 31 points off the bench for Moncton in this dominant win.
A three-pointer from Kirk Williams Jr early in the second quarter against Moncton put London Lightning twelve points clear, and it looked as if it was going to be London's game. The Magic got themselves back into the game behind strong, consistent play from Terry Thomas and superior three-point shooting. No more than five points between the teams in the fourth quarter, and a layup from Thomas with three seconds left tied the scores. Ryan Anderson could not win it for London with the final shot of the game, and overtime was needed. London went six points clear in the extra period, but a three-pointer from Jason Castille and a three-point play from Brent Jennings saw the scoreline tied at the end of the extra period. London looked out of control for the first time in the game, and Moncton looked poised to take advantage. With both teams running short on energy in the second OT period, much of the points came from the foul line. Two shots from Mo Bolden would be the clincher, as they emerged victorious 147 points to 146.
Cape Breton led Saint John Riptide by seven points after one minute of play, but the Riptide turned the game around quickly behind a stronger shooting performance, leading by twenty points at the end of the second and third quarters, eventually winning by nine points. Gabe Freeman was the stand-out, finessing with 22 points and 11 rebounds for Saint John, while Cape Breton’s bench had 58 points in a disappointing showing. On the same night, another good start for the Titans and another great performance from Derek Hall (22 points, 17 rebounds) was, again, not enough in the end for them against St John’s Edge. Making more of their inside shots and with 31 points from Charles Hinkle, the Edge proved it's not how you start it's how you finish, winning here 109 to 99.
Halifax led Island Storm by seven early in their Saturday night encounter. The Storm threw everything at them to stay in contention, but that pressure came to an end at the fourth quarter, when the Hurricanes' lead ballooned from five to twenty. Rhamel Brown, Antoine Mason and Renaldo Dixon had 33 points between them in the final period alone, and this win took the Hurricanes to the top of the Atlantic Division.
The Storm looked to bounce back the following night against Saint John Riptide. The lead kept changing hands going down the stretch, Horace Wormley put the Riptide up by two with two minutes to go, and a final jumper from Kemy Osse sent the game to overtime. The extra period was just as hotly contested as the rest of the game, and with the scores tied at 100 with a minute remaining, Gabe Freeman and Malcolm Miller made the deciding shots for the Riptide, and they won the game 107-102. This win puts the Riptide second the Atlantic division, and having lost five in a row, the Island Storm move from top down to the fourth.
Finally in south Ontario, a layup by Jaywuan Hill put the Niagara River Lions up by three at the end of a close first half against Moncton Magic. When the game re-started the River Lions went even further into the lead behind some impressive inside play - more than half their shots came from the field. Moncton went on a late seven-point run put them to within three of Niagara, but the Lions did well to hold on to possession and see out the win 97 points to 94. A mixed week for both teams saw them finish third in their respective divisions.
For regular news, updates and full information on the league and all games, head to the NBLC official website.
