London (21-11) at Saint John (20-12)
By Jake BeckettThe London Lightning lost a close one against the Saint John Mill Rats on Friday, falling to the Atlantic Divison side by a score of 114-110. After leading most of the game, London relinquished their lead late and would not be able to regain the lead. Poor ball management and untimely turnovers were their undoing. With the win, Saint John moves to 20-12 on the season and closes the gap between them and the division leading Halifax Hurricanes. London falls to 21-11 on the season.
Both teams shot 45% from the field on the night, while London struggled from downtown, shooting eight of 31 from downtown, a mere 25%.
Saint John had eight players score in double digits, lead by Anthony Anderson's 20 points and team-high seven assists, he struggled from the field but shot 11 of 15 from the free throw line to lead his team to victory. Former Knick Chris Smith scored 18 points, he too shot poorly from the field but managed to hit 10 of his 11 free throws. Canadian Ricky Volcy scored 15 points for the Mill Rats. Johnny Mayhane (14), Gabe Freeman (13), Keith Gayden (10), Olu Famutimi (10), and Anthony Stover (10) rounded out the scoring for the winners.
Newest Lightning player Akeem Scott scored a game-high 25 points and also posted a game-high 11 assists for a monster double-double. Rookie big man Steven Maxwell had 16 points and 7 rebounds on the night, The other Akeem, Akeem Wright, scored 15 points for his Lightning squad. Nick Evans had a solid 14 points and 6 rebound performance while Canadian Warren Ward and Nick Okorie had 10 points respectively.
Stats can be found here.
Moncton (13-19) at Island (11-21)
By Jake BeckettThe Island Storm stayed strong at home to defeat the Moncton Miracles 117-107 on Friday night. This win breaks the Storm's six-game losing streak and improves their record to 11-21 while Moncton falls to 13-19 and loses their fourth in a row.
The home team lead the a majority of the game and was able to manage and maintain a 10 point lead throughout the contest. Despite an impressive 51% shooting percentage from the Miracles, they managed to shoot a very poor 29% from three point land and that no doubt played a role in the loss.
In a winning effort, Rashad Whack led his Storm with 19 points and a team-high seven assists. Wingman Brent Jennings had 18 points while Morgan Lewis had a very impressive first half, ending with 17 points on the night. Both Canadians Terry Thomas and Chad Posthumus had 15 points while Posthumus posted a double-double with a game-high 10 rebounds. Tirrell Baines added 12 points in the win.
For the Moncton Miracles, James Justice lead the way with an impressive double-double, posting game highs in points (23) and assists (11), he also had six rebounds. Guard Dexter Strickland had 20 points on the night. Former Michigan State player Brandan Kearney had an impressive game scoring 18 points on 7-8 shooting. Rookie Tydran Beaty had 14 points, Shawn Vanzant had 12 and Thomas Granado had a perfect 4-4 shooting night and posted 11 points.
Stats can be found here.
Windsor (18-16) at Orangeville (12-23)
By Jake BeckettThe Orangeville A's grabbed a massive upset over the Windsor Express 110-104 at the Athlete's Insitute on Friday. Costly turnovers and fouls cost Windsor the game, while the A's have looked impressive over their last few games. This win marks their fourth win in their last five for Orangeville while Windsor has lost three of their last four. Note that Express player Chris Commons was
The game was close throughout, despite Windsor looking like they had control of the game entering half. Orangeville put together a solid third and fourth quarter to win the game. The A's shot an impressive 50% as a team while Windsor struggled with 43%.
Windsor moves to 18-16 on the season and fails to pick up a game to close the gap on London, while Orangeville improves to 12-23.
For the A's, Canadian Richard Amardi posted a game-high 27 points and had nine rebounds. Dominic Cheek scored 17 points in the win and hit 5 threes for his team. Guard Bilal Benn had an all-around game of 15 points, five rebounds and five assists. Leading his team in assists was Lewis Jackson who had 9 assists to go along with 14 points. Rookie sensation Justin Moss managed a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds. Rounding out the scoring was Flenard Whitfield's 11 points.
In a losing effort, Kirk Williams Jr led his Express team with 21 points, he scored his team's first 11 points on the night. Scoring machine Brandon Robinson was held to 16 points in the contest. Both Rudolphe Joly and Billy Rush had 13 points for their squad while Canadian Shaq Keith had 10 points.
Stats can be found here.