NBL Canada This Week: 16th-21st January
All the action from another exciting and thrill-packed week in Canada's premier basketball league.
Play this week began with a duel between Charles Hinkle of the St. John's Edge (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Kevin Rogers of the Kitchener-Waterloo Titans (16 points, 11 rebounds). KW had a 31 point lead at half time, and worked hard to prevent a second-half comeback from the Edge to see out only their third win of the season. St John’s poor fortunes continued the next day with a loss to London Lightning in overtime, despite eight of their players scoring in double-figures. London overcame being on the back foot in the first half, tying the game with seconds to go, and in overtime a seven-point scoring run would be enough to help the defending champions see out the win, 121-115.
Meanwhile, the Titans faced off the Moncton Magic in a back-and-forth game in Kitchener. The Magic had 26 points in the second quarter, to which the Titans answered with 30 to tie the scoreline at 71 ahead of the final period where Terry Thomas and Al Stewart would be the decision-makers down the stretch. Thomas finished 22 points for Moncton as they finished winners 110 to 99.
Halifax Hurricanes had a five-point lead against the Saint John Riptide thirty seconds from time. However, Horace Wormley and Gabe Freeman’s cool free-throw shooting, and tip-in from Jeremiah Mordi off a missed shot Mareik Ipsom levelled proceedings at the death, and the game went on. Teams exchanged baskets throughout overtime, but Ta’quan Zimmerman - who finished with 24 points in the game - put Halifax up by three with a minute left. Malcolm Miller responded by putting up a three, and with Tyrone Watson unable to match him in time for Halifax, another OT period was needed. The Wormley-Modri-Miller trio exploded at this very late stage of the game, putting together two scoring runs totalling 13 points for the Riptide, as they took a hugely impressive win 132-125, in which four of their players scored over twenty points.
Friday night saw two close games: one which saw the Island Storm leading London Lightning by eight at the start of the fourth quarter, but 35 points in the final period from London saw them go in front with a a minute left on the clock. Torrence Dyck then tied the scores, but on the final play of the game Royce White ended proceedings, winning the game for London with a big dunk. Meanwhile, the Niagara River Lions overcame a twelve-point deficit in the final period against the St. John's Edge to go in front by three. Jarryn Skeete and Charles Hinkle responded for St. John's with superb play to re-take the lead. Six points in the final seconds from Omar Strong would not be enough for Niagara, though, they fell two points short of the Edge's 99 at the final buzzer. Guillaume Boucard led all scorers in the game with 34 points for Niagara, while Charles Hinkle had 33 points and 13 rebounds for the Edge.
The Island Storm finally snapped their losing streak against the Saint John Riptide the next night. Trailing by 13 at the end of three periods, the Storm rallied behind Chris Johnson in the final quarter, slowing the game down and boxing out the Riptide long enough to see out the win 90 to 84. Franklin Sessions and Malcolm Miller both had 22 points for the Storm and the Riptide respectively. Elsehwere, the Cape Breton Highlanders scored an impressive win over Moncton, shooting 58.7% from the field to win 116 to 104 - with 24 of the winning team's points coming from Bruce Massey Jr, who also had eight rebounds.
The first of two games in Ontario on Saturday saw a dominant win by the St. John’s Edge over the Windsor Express, in which Coron Williams had 29 points off the bench for the visitors from Newfoundland, while the matchup between the River Lions and the Titans was a more tense affair. Derek Hall put in another incredible performance with 29 points and 21 rebounds for KW, while the Lions emerged from a tight first half and finding their rhythm in the third quarter of the game. A nine-point run saw them go clear of the Titans, and led by Carl Hall on offence, Niagara emerged victorious behind superior shooting and play from the field. Jaylon Tate finished with 25 points and 14 assists for the winning Niagara River Lions.
St. John's Edge ended a busy week with a visit to Meridian Centre to take on the Niagara River Lions. The game was tied at the end of the first quarter, and again at the end of the first half, but after the re-start St. John’s seemed to find their rhythm and went eight points clear. The team would lead by as much as twenty points, and eventually won by eighteen. Charles Hinkle had a relatively quiet first half, then had 15 points in the third quarter alone on his way to a team-high 26 31 points for Guillaume Boucard was a standout in a disappointing showing for the River Lions, who lost 122-104.
Last, but by no means least, old rivals London Lightning and Halifax Hurricanes met at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax on Sunday, and he home team made a big early impression by outscoring London 40 to 27 in the first quarter. Halifax showed no mercy in this one: never letting up, out-rebounding London, scoring more than half their shots from the field, and racking up an astonishing 74 points in the paint. CJ Washington and Billy White both had triple-doubles and Antoine Mason led all scorers with 32 points in Halifax's fierce, rollicking win.
For regular news and updates, and more on the NBL Canada and all this week's games, head to the official website.
