NBL Canada This Week: 6th-11th February
It was a mixed week in the National Basketball League of Canada, in terms of team fortunes and play, but the six days produced a good amount of highlight moments, saw records being set and statements made as thoughts now turn to the playoffs. Here's the rundown of all the action from the NBLC this week:
The week opened with back-to-back games between Windsor Express and St. John’s Edge, both of them at the Mile One Centre. Windsor took the first game, behind a big offensive push in the second half led by Maurice Jones who had 17 points and 8 assists in the game they won 118 to 102. While in game two of the double header, Omar Strong had 20 points off the bench for Windsor to go with Chad Frazier’s 25, but that and a good start for the Express would not last long. A far superior defensive showing from St. John’s and a big scoring show in the middle of the game, led by Carl English with 28, saw the Edge emerge victorious by eleven points.
Saint John Riptide were the more accurate shooters against the Cape Breton Highlanders, but Cape Breton did better to share the ball and had a double-digit lead at halftime. Despite 27 points from Mariek Isom and a double-double from Jeremiah Mordi, Cape Breton maintained a comfortable lead to the end behind a standout performance from Duke Mondy (22 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 6 steals) to win 113-100 on Thursday.
At the weekend, Brent Jennings came off the bench for Moncton Magic against the Highlanders and put up 14 points - in the third quarter, in which his team put up 51 points and saw Jennings well on his way to finish as the game’s top scorer with 25 points. Cape Breton did everything they could to not let the game get away with them, all their players made the scoresheet, but they were completely outclassed by Moncton who put up an astonishing 147 points against Cape Breton’s otherwise impressive 109, with Shane Osayande scoring 22 for the losing team.
The Atlantic Division’s top two teams - Saint John Riptide and Halifax Hurricanes - met on saturday at the Scotiabank Centre on Saturday. Saint John got off to a good start, but Halifax’s ever-dependable starting unit quickly turns the game around in their favour and started building an ever-increasing lead over the Riptide. Brian Addison and Ta’Quan Zimmerman both had 20 points off the bench for Saint John and Halifax respectively. Out-playing Saint John on both offence and defence, Halifax re-take top spot in the division with a decisive 114-90 win.
The closest game on Saturday was between the Express and the Niagara River Lions, with never any more than four points between the teams from start to finish. All points in the last three minutes of the game came from the foul line: Windsor went from behind by one to lead by one, only for Carl Hall to tie for Niagara moments later. With the game on the line, Chad Frazier made it a two-point game with seconds left, and Guillaume Boucard tried to win it with a late layup attempt, but he missed and Connor Wood could not find an open man in time. Winning by two points, Windsor take Niagara's place at third in the central division, while the Lions drop to fourth.
Despite another big performance from Island Storm’s Franklin Session (25 points, 15 rebounds), Moncton Magic were cooking with gas. Scoring almost half from the field, eight three pointers from Jason Castille as part of Moncton’s total sixteen threes, a great effort from their bench and a resounding showing from Terry Thomas with 23 points and 13 rebounds, Moncton move up to second in the Atlantic Division with a highly impressive 115-100 win against the Storm who, having lost four in the row, now find themselves in very real trouble.
Finally, after a tight first quarter against the Kitchener-Waterloo Titans, the London Lightning took to the court after the game re-started with newfound vigour and athleticism, going from four down to ten up at half-time. Ryan Anderson was the stand-out with 24 points - including six threes - and 11 rebounds, while his teammate Garrett Williamson had 29 points as London’s dominance in the game continued to the end, winning 139 to 105 - at the same time breaking their record for field goals with 52, assists with 44 and limiting the Titans to 44.4% shooting.
For regular news and updates, and more on the NBL Canada and all this week's games, head to the official website.
