NBL Canada This Week: 5th-11th March
It was another eventful week in the NBL Canada, with games held across all seven days and in which two teams secured their place in this year's playoffs.
Beginning on Monday, 29 second quarter points would be what lifted the Saint John Riptide to victory over the London Lightning. Horace Wormley led the Riptide at this deciding period of the game with great field play on his was to 19 total points. His team mate Jeremiah Mordi had 22 points, while for the Lightning Royce White had 29 points and Ryan Anderson hit four from long range. Final score 109-102 to the Riptide.
Against the St. John's Edge, Billy White had an exceptional game for the Halifax Hurricanes. White posted 31 points and 15 rebounds, while his team mate Mike Poole had 20 points and 8 rebounds off the bench. With greater play from the field and on the defensive boards it looked like the game belonged to Halifax, who led 93-80 going into the final period. Behind a solid shooting effort the Edge closed the gap, and five in a row from Alex Johnson tied proceedings with eleven seconds to go. In the remaining time, Halifax's Rhamel Brown completed a three-point play, and while Russell Byrd hit from the foul line for the Edge, his last-second three pointer attempt failed to drop. Johnson led St. John’s Edge with 30 points as his team fell to Halifax at the last minute by two.
The two teams met the following night, where the Edge ended the first quarter with an eight-point run to lead by as many points. Halifax’s top scorer Antoine Mason took action in the next two periods of play and Billy White put in a good effort from the field, but the Hurricanes were not firing on all cylinders this night. The Edge, meanwhile, were outplaying their opponents in all areas. Xavier Ford had the best night of all, coming off the bench and registering 25 points and 9 rebounds for St. John's. By the end of the game, after leading by sixteen, the Edge ended the game in front by 108 points to 97.
Malik Story and Tydran Beaty gave the Cape Breton Highlanders an early advantage against the Moncton Magic. Story finished with 30 points, which included six three-pointers. After having the lead early on, the game would unfortunately get worse for the Highlanders. Moncton were six down by six in the second quarter, but went on a fourteen-point run to put themselves ahead by eight. After an uncertain start, Moncton outclassed Cape Breton on both ends of the floor. Adding more and more baskets to the end, Moncton clinched a playoff spot beating the Highlanders 135-105.
The Niagara River Lions and the Kitchener-Waterloo Titans had both lost six straight, but one team would break their losing streak at the end of their Friday night meeting in the Meridian Centre. The Lions were up by thirteen early in the second quarter, but after a lacklustre start the Titans were poised to take control from them. Aided by 21 points off the bench from Kevin Rogers, KW took their first lead of the game late in the third quarter and went ten points clear in the fourth. Kris Joseph and Jaylon Tate stepped up for Niagara down the stretch, and the Lions were up by five with twelve seconds to go. Niagara managed the remaining time well, and clinched the Central Division’s final playoff berth, surviving the Titans 111 to 106.
The weekend saw a double-header between the St. John's Edge and the London Lightning. On Saturday, Xavier Ford had another great showing for the Edge off the bench, scoring 10 first quarter points which saw the Edge take an early lead by eleven points. Later, a jump shot from Ryan Reid at the start of the second half put the Edge up by fifteen.
The Lightning came into the second half re-energised, and led by Doug Herring Jr's great showing on offence, they went in front half-way through the third. The Lightning then led throughout the fourth quarter, with the Edge constantly on the fight back to try and re-claim the lead. Alex Johnson tied the scores down the stretch, and a three-pointer from Charles Hinkle put the Edge up by two with under a minute left in the game. Herring tied the scores with 14 seconds left, then on the Edge's final play of the game Carl English got a layup to drop. Royce White put up a last-second three point attempt, which came up short. The Edge then celebrated a well-earned victory over London by two.
London got revenge the next night. It was never clear cut in the first half, with the teams evenly matched. The Edge finally lost control in the third quarter, where they were outscored 35-14 by London, who ended the period with an eleven point run. London got the 124-102 win behind classic performances from Ryan Anderson, Kyle Johnson and Royce White, who had 25 points and 18 rebounds, while Anderson and Johnson had 20 and 19 points respectively. With this win, they also went back to first place in the Central Division, after the Edge held it for one whole day.
Finally, Bruce Massey Jr had 37 points and Rick Bodiford contributed 25 off the bench for Cape Breton, as they continue their late push for a playoff place against the Saint John Riptide. In spite of Massey and Bodiford's efforts, it was a very lacking show from the Highlanders, and Saint John took advantage. Leading 44 points to 30 at halftime and with seven points scoring in double figures - Malcolm Miller had the most with 27 - the Riptide cruised to a comfortable victory, 107-93.
For regular news and updates, and more on the NBL Canada and all this week's games, head to the official website.
