NBLC Recap: December 31st

The Atlantic Division took centre stage on Monday, as four teams from the east coast took to the courts, all trying to change their fortunes in the still-young NBL Canada season:

The Halifax Hurricanes led comfortably for three quarters, then in the fourth, behind plenty of high-percentage basketball from Bruce Massey, the Cape Breton Highlanders came back from ten down to up by five.

Halifax promptly responded, and the scores were tied with a minute remaining, but Mike Poole and Tyrone Watson were both able to draw fouls and subsequently hit from the free-throw line, while Massey missed his final attempt to salvage the game for the Highlanders.

Massey had 30 points and 8 assists for Cape Breton, who also saw 53 points from their bench, but that wouldn't be enough. Poole led the Hurricanes with 25 points, while Gabe Freeman had 24 and Cliff Clinkscales recorded a double-double, 13 points and 10 rebounds, as they snap the Highlanders seven-game winning streak on their home court and by the slender margin of 112-109.

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The Moncton Magic opened with two unbeaten runs of 11 and 10 points, and led the Island Storm by 19 early in the second quarter. Trying to hit back for the Storm were Kareem Canty, who finished with 25 points in his first start, and Russell Byrd playing his defensive A-game. Byrd finished with 18 total rebounds to go with 11 points on the game.

Relentless Moncton, though, kept adding to their scoreline with close-range baskets and held on to their double-digit lead for most of the way through the remainder of the game. Corey Allmond led the Magic with 18 points, one of five players to score over ten for the visiting team.

The Storm clawed back some points at the end of the game, but not enough to end their woes, as they suffered their seventh straight loss at the hands of the Magic, who get the win by 94 points to 85.