SJEvsKIT - Game 2 Recap

The St. John's Edge and the KW Titans left it too close for comfort at the Mile One Centre, in an enthralling second game of this year's Central Division finals.

The Edge took an early lead over the Titans, but Damon Lynn’s three-point shooting and Joel Friesen perfect in the paint put them in front by one. Glen Davis gave the lead back to the home side, who went into a more comfortable advantage behind impressive shooting from three-point territory.

Murphy Burnatowski dropped a trio of three-pointers in the game, while Carl English made four off the bench, part of their respective 17 and 22 points in this game, and their first-half efforts saw the Edge lead the Titans by fourteen at the half.

Despite Tramar Sutherland trying to ignite the Titans, they struggled in the third against St. John’s close-range offence, and trailed by the game’s biggest margin - 21 points - shortly after the start of the fourth. Sensing it was now or never, the Titans needed something special to keep their hopes alive - and that’s just what they got.

Ashton Smith came off the bench and put up 20 points in the final period - a huge part in KW cutting the deficit. The visitors began the fight back with fourteen unanswered points mid-way through the period, and in the final ninety seconds of regulation, they went from nine down to one up.

The Edge called a time-out, and when the game resumed Glen Davis drew a foul from Flenard Whitfield of the Titans with five seconds left. Hitting both shots from the free-throw line, he put the Edge up by one, and with no time remaining for another shot attempt, everyone in St. John’s breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Ashton Smith was the stand-out with 25 points for the Titans, but that would not be enough to even out the series. St. John's take a 2-0 lead with a 112-111 victory.