NBL Canada This Week: 13th-18th March

It was a breathless week in the NBL Canada, with wall-to-wall action in some of the season's most compelling games and unpredictable results, many of which came down to the final minutes. As the playoffs beckon, here's the in-depth analysis of everything that happened in the league this week:

Beginning on Tuesday, the Kitchener-Waterloo Titans had the lead against the Island Storm throughout much of the first half, with Ed Horton putting up 36 points, but the Islanders looked threatening. A ten point run from the Storm in the third quarter put them in front by eight, and with 64 second-half points they finished on top 114 - 104 over the Titans. Meanwhile, the Saint John Riptide had a good start against the Niagara River Lions, with two six-point leads, but Niagara fought back in the low post and Samuel Muldrow put them up by two at the end of the first. The River Lions later opened the second half with eight unanswered points, beginning what would be the turning point in the game for them. Malcolm Miller led all scorers with 26 points for the Riptide, but with 13 total threes and 51 points from their bench, the River Lions powered themselves home to a ten-point victory.

The Island Storm were in action the following night, where a bad start saw them down at the end of the first quarter against the Windsor Express. Carl Hall then lifted the Storm with a great show off the bench, finishing with a game-high 28 points. Through good team play, the Storm completed the unlikely comeback against an otherwise strong Windsor, winning 104-91. Meanwhile, sensational three-point shooting from the Titans kept the Riptide at bay. KW had 17 threes in the game, the most coming from Justin Hurtt and Ahmad Starks, who had five each. Saint John had a good game in the paint, with Malcolm Miller putting up 25 points, but a big first half buoyed the Titans to victory, 114-103 over the Riptide.

The Niagara River Lions looked good early on against the Cape Breton Highlanders, with great showings from Ronnie Johnson and Joe Rocca off the bench. Early on they helped the team go up by sixteen points at the half. Johnson would finish as Niagara’s top scorer with 24 points.

The Highlanders had eleven unanswered points early in the second half, which saw them trail by three, then Malik Story made one of his eight three pointers to give Cape Breton their first lead of the game. Story led all scorers with 37 points in the game. The Lions responded almost instantly, and were ahead by four at the end of the third. The Highlanders, though, went into the lead again late in the fourth quarter. Down by four and with time running out, Devonta Pollard made a layup for the Lions and the team did well to draw fouls from the Highlanders. Jamal Reynolds and Malik Story both missed last-second chances to save the game for the Highlanders. Their efforts in this game did not produce the result they wanted, but great resolve from Niagara secured them their second win of the week.

The Highlanders were back in action the following night, and the London Lightning found it hard to shake them off. The Lightning went nine points clear early on, but Cape Breton’s shooters tipped the scoreline back in their favour. Bruce Massey Jr had an incredible game for the Highlanders, finishing with 44 points and 11 rebounds, while for the Lightning Garrett Williamson had 30 points and 10 rebounds and Royce White posted 42 points and 21 total boards.

Cape Breton led for much of the first half, and it looked like they were about to steal the game, when a layup from Garrett Williamson tied the scores at 112, and the game went to overtime. In OT, Royce White put London up by three, but Cape Breton responded with a five point run and with cool, accurate free-throw shooting from Massey, Cape Breton completed an amazing win over the defending champions, winning by three.

Also on Thursday, the Halifax Hurricanes went seven points in front of the Moncton Magic early on. Led by Jason Calliste, Moncton struck back and the remainder of the half was tight, with no more than three points separating the sides. The second half was far more one-sided, with Halifax picking up a lot of second-chance points and finding a lot more scoring chances in the field than Moncton. Tyrone Watson and Cliff Clinkscales both had double-doubles, while Billy White led all scorers and rebounders with 34 points and 19 boards, as Halifax pick up the win 101-86.

Turning to Friday night, good three-point shooting from the Express early on saw them break away from the Riptide early on. Damonte Harris took care of Windsor’s defence, while Maurice Jones and Logan Stutz were the offensive threat - 25 and 22 points respectively. Not a bad showing from Saint John - Aly Ahmed had 25 points and 8 rebounds and Tyquanne Goard had 13 points and 11 rebounds off the bench - but they were outclassed by a terrific Windsor Express, who won by 13 points.

Also on Friday, Du’Vaughn Maxwell and Franklin Session got the Island Storm up and running against the River Lions, but an eight point run toward the end of the first quarter saw Niagara go into the lead. After a slow start, Kemy Osse would be the hero for the Storm with a great scoring performance and use of possession that would go a long way to help the Storm re-take both the lead and control of the game. Jaylon Tate, meanwhile, was doing it all for the Lions, leading his team on offence with 24 points. Great showings from Session and Chris Anderson early on in the second half helped the Storm to stamp their authority on the game. A classy 106-97 win for the Storm saw Osse finish with 23 points while Maxwell had a double-double, 26 points and 14 rebounds, as did Carl Hall with 13 points and 17 total boards. This win also secured the Storm’s place in the playoffs.

The weekend got underway with four threes from the Magic against the Highlanders - one from Anthony Anderson, who had 10 of his 14 points in the first quarter alone. Cape Breton went into the second quarter down by 16, but looked to turn the tables behind a great show from Malik Story on his way to 26 points and 10 rebounds. The Highlanders took the lead late in the third, but smart play and cool free-throw shooting from Al Stewart put the Magic back in front. A three from Corey Allmond with a minute to go put the result beyond doubt - the game was Moncton’s.

Meanwhile in Ontario, Charles Hinkle had 27 points for the St. John’s Edge, but that could not overcome the trio of Shaquille Keith, Braylon Rayson and Maurice Jones of the Windsor Express. Keith led all scorers with 29 points, Rayson made some dagger threes and Jones put up points in the paint and shared the ball well with his team mates. St. John’s put the pressure on, but Windsor made it all look easy as they cruised to a 108-95 victory over their central division rivals.

Sunday’s first game saw another big win for Halifax and another big loss for Saint John. The Hurricanes made the Riptide pay for a poor performance, scoring a 102-72 win in which Antoine Mason scored 28 points. With their playoff place still not secured, this fourth loss in a row should be concerning for the Riptide. Also, London were without Royce White against the Titans, but it turned out they didn’t need him. The team were on fire throughout the night, leading from 11:21 in the first quarter to the very end. Kyle Johnson had an amazing game with 41 points while Mo Bolden had an outstanding defensive show. Dominic Phillips came off the KW bench and looked to take the game back right at the end, scoring 16 of his total 17 points in the fourth. There was no going back for the Titans, though - London finished ahead by 27 points.

Last of all, Rick Bodiford and Tydran Beaty put Cape Breton on top early in their back and forth encounter with the Island Storm. They looked good until the final quarter, when Franklin Session led the Storm on a comeback. Five down going into the final period, the Storm had a fourteen point run in just over a minute to take a big lead. Cape Breton looked to stay in it, but there was simply nothing left in the tank. Session, Kemy Osse and Du’Vaughn Maxwell had a combined 73 points as the Storm finish the week unbeaten, winning 116-99 over the Highlanders.