NBLC Recap: January 26th
It was a sad day for the basketball world, but the show still had to go on. The NBL Canada's three-game sunday night slate proved to be a showcase of the league's top talent putting on some sensational performances.
Windsor Express vs Sudbury Five
Shaquille Keith and Chris Jones combined to give the Express a great start to the game, giving them a thirteen-point lead in the first quarter and their advantage stood at double-digits at half time.
When the game resumed, Jaylen Bland erupted for the Sudbury Five, pouring in the points to swing the advantage to the home team and Braylon Rayson picked up the slack and helped see out the 111-104 victory for the team, despite Kemy Osse attempting to start a fight back off the Windsor bench.
Bland was anything but with an amazing 43 points for Sudbury in this game, with Rayson a close second with 27. For the fallen Windsor Express, Keith led the team with 27 points, followed by Jones with 22 and Osse with 20 bench points in the loss.
Moncton Magic vs Island Storm
Like the cut-throat encounter between the teams the night before, there was nothing to separate the sides for almost three periods of play at the Eastlink Centre. The Storm took a seven-point lead in Q3, but they fell apart in the fourth and Moncton took full advantage, ending the game with 17 unanswered points to win 99 to 81.
Nathaniel Wright had a team-high 17 points for the Storm, followed by Antwon Lillard with 16. Three players shone for the Magic: Billy White led all on the floor with 22 points, Desmond Lee had 16 off the bench and Denzell Taylor finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds at the final buzzer.
Halifax Hurricanes vs St. John's Edge
Though Halifax took an early lead, the Edge had the better looks from close range in the opening quarter, they led by seven at the end of it. In the second, Chris Johnson provided a spark off the Hurricanes’ bench to close the gap, but St. John’s still led by three at the half.
Tyrone Watson and Junior Cadougan led the Edge in continued high-percentage play throughout the second half, which kept them in the driver’s seat, despite Antoine Mason’s attempts to inspire a turnaround for Halifax.
Mason finished as the game’s top scorer with 29 points, followed by 24 off the bench from Chris Johnson and another double-double from CJ Washington, 22 points and 13 rebounds in the Hurricanes’ loss. Cadougan had 20 points for the Edge, who extend their win streak to five game with a commanding 109-104 win over Halifax.
