NBLC Daily: December 27th & 28th
As twelve days of non-stop NBL Canada basketball continue, teams the league over put up some surprising results and great individual performances were on show on December 27th and 28th.
Against the Riptide, the Halifax Hurricanes saw an amazing 25 points and 10 rebounds from Jordan Washington off the bench, as well as Gabe Freeman’s 18 points and 13 boards performance. Meanwhile, the Saint John Riptide saw great numbers from their starting five, who put up 64 points, helping them to lead comfortably though out the mid-section of the game.
Halifax closed the gap down the stretch, with Mike Poole making it a one-point game with just over a minute left in the game. The Riptide were saved by some decisive last-second free-throws from Jeremiah Mordi and Brent Arrington saved the game for the Riptide, who move off the foot of the Atlantic Division following their 91-88 win.
Halifax’s troubles continued into the following night, where they went down by eight early on to the Cape Breton Highlanders, who led much of the way through the first half. With Mike Poole shooting well from the field and Gabe Freeman taking care of defence, the Hurricanes reduced their arrears and went into the lead in the third.
In the fourth the Highlanders’ standout, Bruce Massey, put up the last ten of his total 32 points in the game to help capture the win for his team. With Cape Breton also seeing 22 points and 8 rebounds from Kenny Jones, and 17 points off the bench from Deshaunt Walker, they score their sixth win in a row (106-93) and move up to second in the Atlantic Division.
Opening with a 9-0 run and 14 first quarter points from Corey Allmond, the Moncton Magic had a commanding lead throughout their encounter with the Island Storm.
The Storm’s front court duo of Sampson Carter and Russell Byrd combined in the paint to lessen the deficit - Sampson finished with 33 points - only for Allmond to hit back again for Moncton on his way to a team-high 31 points. The Magic also saw double-doubles from Wayne McCullough (23 points, 10 rebounds) and Gentrey Thomas (22 points, 12 rebounds) and Billy White the fourth starter to score twenty-plus points in the game.
Moncton get back to winning ways after seeing their unbeaten streak brown earlier in the week, while also handing the Storm their sixth consecutive loss by a scoreline of 116-102.
The Windsor Express finished the first quarter ahead 31-23, leaving the London Lightning to play catch-up for the rest of the night. London had great numbers in the paint, mostly from Garrett Williamson who finished with 29 points in this one. No one else quite matching up to the performance of the reigning Finals MVP, though, leaving Windsor to clean up.
The Express saw an amazing performance from Chris Jones off the bench with a joint game-high 29 points, as well as a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds from Juan Pattillo. Winning 108-100, it was their second successive victory, while at the same time it was London’s third straight loss.
