NBLC Highlight Games: The Edge's Great Escape in London, 2/15/20
It would be fair to expect high drama and skills clinics in any encounter between two of the most competitive and constructed NBL Canada teams, London Lightning and St. John's Edge. When the two met at the Gardens in London on February 15th, 2020, those expectations were met and then some.
Coming into this one, the Edge had shown a lot of grit and determination after a poor start to the season and were once again a force to be reckoned with in all of the NBLC. They came into this game off a win, while cracks were beginning to show in London's otherwise superb season, having only lost five times ahead of this match-up with the Edge.
Even though the game started with one team making a very convincing case for expecting them to in control throughout the night, by the final buzzer a very different match-up had unfolded.
Marcus Capers opened the scoring for London and between him, Garrett Williamson and Maurice Bolden, the Lightning had a 12-0 lead after just three and a half minutes.
After seeing a lot of long-distance chances come up short, Cane Broome finally put the Edge's first points on the board, but London were still adding to their lead, which reached 16 thanks to AJ Gaines towards the end of the opening period.
Randy Phillips and Ahmad Thomas duelled in the second quarter, the latter doing a lot of work to reduce St. John's arrears. Junior Cadougan followed on from his team mate and brought the gap down to five, before Xavier Moon and Mareik Isom restored the double digit lead for the Lightning.
With just under two minutes to go in the first half, Moon then gave London the biggest lead of the game, 17 points. The last points of the half were put up by Cadougan and Montay Brandon for St. John's, but London still led by a comfortable margin of 49 points to 35 at the half-time buzzer.
When play resumed Cadougan and Ryan Richardson started pouring in the threes for St. John's, while Capers was keeping London's advantage at ten points. A lead that Cadougan, Tyrone Watson and Karrington Ward took turns cutting down until there was just a point between the sides at the midway point of the third.
Bolden and Capers gave London a less slender advantage, but St. John's would not go down easily - after a 7-0 run they went in front by a point with a minute left in the third. Brandon tied the game either side of the Edge going up by three and though Williamson tried to keep it a tight game, Cadougan and Ahmad Thomas combined to give the Edge a lead of six.
Capers was able to get the Lightning to within two points as they sought to reclaim their lead, but Cadougan and Broome would not denied ahead of the final stretch, giving a nine point advantage to St. John's.
London resorted to fouling but Olu Ashaolu proved the wrong player to foul - each time he went to the line he only increased the Edge's lead at the most crucial point of the game. Thomas and Broome followed suit, also adding to the Edge's total from the line. They had gone from down by double digits at the start to up by 13 with sixty-three on the clock.
Last-minute points from Gaines, Capers and Tyrell Green would only be consolatory for London, who had let a big lead get away from them and they were consigned to watch the St. John's Edge celebrate an exceptional comeback and most unexpected win. The final score 109-98 in their favour.
Marcus Capers could walk away as the top scorer in the game with 29 points, while Garrett Williamson, with 18 points and 10 rebounds, completed a double-double.
In addition to being part of the win, Junior Cadougan led the Edge's scoring with 24 points while there was great showings from their bench players. Montay Brandon had 12 points and 16 total rebounds while Cane Broome was the top scorer with 27 points in just thirty minutes played.
These individual showings encapsulate what was an incredible show from the St. John's Edge in completing one of the most incredible turnaround games of the 2019-20 NBLC season. They went on to win three more of their remaining fixtures and finish a highly commendable second place in the Atlantic Division.
London would go on to lose three of their last six games before the abrupt end of the regular season, but still finished as the top team in the Central Division.
Picture: Mike Hensen
