NBLC Recap: February 29th
Four teams took part in two very different games on the NBL Canada's leap day slate:
Sudbury Five vs Island Storm
Behind a perfect first quarter showing from Jaylen Bland, Sudbury outshone the Storm in the first period of the game. Bland kept up his blistering form into the second quarter, leading to the Five taking their biggest lead of the game of 20 points.
Johnathan Loyd kept the momentum up for the Storm in the first half and in the third quarter Robbie Robinson and Alex Campbell combined to finally take the fight to Sudbury. Closing the gap, they put the visitors’ lead under pressure to the last second, where an Antwon Lillard three-pointer sent the game to overtime.
It was hard for the teams to separate themselves in OT, but a three from Braylon Rayson and two foul shots from JR Holder would be enough to put Sudbury’s noses in front and bring an end to the game with themselves on top, 124-122.
Loyd was the Storm’s top scorer with 36 and along with 13 rebounds was one of three players for the home team to finish with a double-double, Campbell and Lillard being the others. Sudbury also saw a double-double from Jaylen Bland, who finished with an exceptional 46 points and 10 rebounds as he led the charge for Sudbury in the overtime victory.
Windsor Express vs London Lightning
Chris Jones’ early surge for Windsor was outdone by Cameron Forte’s twelve first-quarter points for London, which played a big part in their leading by ten points at the end of the opening period. Tyrrel Green picked up the scoring in the second quarter, but the Express were on the trail back, and a three from Jones put them up by one at the final buzzer of the first half.
When play resumed it did not take long for the Lightning to reaffirm their hold on the game, Forte and Xavier Moon finding plenty of scoring opportunities. At the same time Windsor could not keep up, despite the best efforts of Quinnel Brown and Kirk Williams to keep their team alive.
Jones had a team-high 29 points while Williams finished with 28 points and 14 rebounds for the Express in the loss. The victorious London saw 47 points from their bench as well as 31 points and 12 rebounds from Cameron Forte as part of their 124-110 win over Windsor.
