Moncton Magic vs Island Storm - December 26th Game Recap

The Eastlink Centre played host to the first game of the new NBL Canada season, where returning champions the Moncton Magic began their title defence and the home team, Island Storm, looked to get the new season off to a good start after the disappointments of the last one.

Great work in the field saw the Storm go in front by ten points in the first quarter, but the Magic responded with brute force to level the scores before a jump shot from Jalian Haslem put the Storm up by one at the end of the first ten minutes.

Catching fire from beyond the arc, Corey Allmond led the charge for Moncton in the second quarter, when they went further and further into the lead, which stood at 13 points at half time.

The home team tried to reduce the big deficit against them, but points came few and far between in a stilted third period. Every time they started to build some momentum, the Magic interrupted it to reinforce their advantage in the game. In the fourth quarter, they pressed it home.

Alex Campbell led the Storm with 25 points, while Robbie Robinson finished one rebound shy of a double-double to go with his 24 points and Nathaniel Wright had 21 points of his own in limited minutes.

Allmond continued his form to lead the game with 27 points. He was one of four Moncton players to finish with 20+ points, the others being Ronald Delph, Jason Calliste (who did not start) and Billy White, who also had 10 rebounds to go with his 22 points. They played a big part in the Magic's 120-112 win in Charlottetown.

Moncton then get their season off to the best start and have a chance for both their second of the season and first at home, when they return to the Avenir Centre to take on the St. John's Edge tomorrow. Meanwhile the Storm will once again be playing host, this time to Halifax on December 28th.