NBLC Recap: January 15th & 17th
There was high drama in the NBL Canada that last for over two nights, at the end of which the make up of the league looked much different at this mid-point of the season as it did in its early stages:
The Cape Breton Highlanders fell behind by ten points early on to the KW Titans at the Aud, but the home side's momentum would not last for long. Cape Breton took the lead after seven unanswered points, and hitting far more consistently they went on to lead by almost thirty in the game, finishing 112-89 ahead and moving up to first place in the Atlantic Division.
Cape Breton saw 18 points and 11 rebounds off the bench from Jamal Reynolds and Chris Johnson had 22 points, the final total for KW's Ashton Smith, who was one rebound short of a double-double in Tuesday's game.
The Titans' problems continued into Thursday, as they fell 21 points behind early on to the London Lightning. Justin Strings and Ed Horton did their best to reduce the deficit, finishing respectively with 19 points and 20 points to go with 8 rebounds, but by the end only managed to come within four of the Lightning. London's Mo Bolden was the stand-out here with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
The Sudbury Five had the slender advantage over the Windsor Express for three quarters, but as the game started to wind down, the lead changed hands plenty of times down the stretch. Six points in the final minute would clinch the win for Windsor, who move up to third in the central division after a 115-107 defeat of the Sudbury Five. Juan Pattillo's 26 points and 13 rebounds and 26 bench points from Chris Johnson went a long way to lift the Express to victory.
Sudbury saw four of their starters score twenty-plus points, with Cory Dixon also grabbing 12 total rebounds, but still saw their third defeat in a row, which sees them and the London Lightning now tied for last place in their division.
Sampson Carter finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Island Storm, as they hosted the Saint John Riptide in one of the most closely contested and evenly matched games of the season.
The lead went back and forth between the two from the start to the very end, where a three-pointer from Kareem Canty tied the scores with two seconds left. That, though, didn't phase TJ Maston, who put up one final jump shot, which dropped, the last of his game-high 25 points and bagging the win for the Riptide in dramatic fashion.
