LON vs KIT - Super League Finals Game 4 Review
A lot was riding on Saturday night's Super League game at the Gardens: if the KW Titans won the finals would go back to Kitchener for a decider; if the London Lightning won then it would all be over.
London opened the scoring and Jeremiah Mordi was keeping them in front from the low post, but the Titans kept it tight from the offset with Braylon Rayson and Curtis Hollis eventually putting them in front from three-point territory.
London then went eight points without reply but Dee Barnes made sure it remained a single-possession game after twelve minutes. The Titans hustled hard in Q2 as London's low post play kept them in front, until a 9-0 run from the Titans gave them the lead for the first time in the game.
Hollis then hit KW's next eight points and helped maintain their advantage from beyond the arc, and after a back-and-forth end to the first half the Titans led 56-49. Hollis finished the first half with 24 points and made eight of the first nine points to begin the Titans in the second half, with Barnes hitting a three giving them a double-digit lead.
London kept hustling but were matched basket-for-basket by the Titans until midway through the third quarter, where Antoine Mason's outside shooting and Chris Jones' strength in the low post saw London cut the deficit down to a single possession within two minutes.
Deep in the third a ten-point London run put them up by five points, but their lead was short-lasting, as Hollis hit a three pointer and completed a three-point play at the end of the quarter.
London's Freddie McSwain began the fourth quarter by levelling the scores and Jones put London back in the lead. Hollis put the Titans back in front shortly after and a one-point lead changed hands four times midway through the quarter, which followed with Jones and Mason once again keeping the Lightning in front, but only just as time wound down.
After Billy White hit four from the line, Rayson hit a three-pointer with thirty seconds left and the gap stood at just one point. London did better at drawing fouls in crunch time, Jones and Mordi both converting two points each from the line. With seconds the Titans attempts to save the game and the finals for themselves fell short, and that was all this game wrote.
The London Lightning did it again: their third straight league title in Canada, the first winners of the Basketball Super League, they stand peerless in Canadian basketball with their trophy room now full to the tune of seven awards.
Four players finished with double digits in the championship game, with Antoine Mason also adding 23, the team were led however by Chris Jones with a team-high 34 points. Averaging 27 points in the four finals games along with six rebounds and three steals, he was a standout in the Finals and the unquestionable choice for the first-ever Super League Finals MVP.
Despite the loss for the Titans, Hollis had an extraordinary performance: 46 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and four steals. His team mate Ronnie Boyce was second on the score sheet, putting up 24 off the bench for KW.
With that, the curtain comes down on the first Basketball Super League season. The past six months have seen a high level of basketball from all teams on both sides of the border which signals that basketball in Canada is in good shape ahead of another season. Find out more by following this link to the official Super League website.
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