Photo by snowpeak via Flickr
Welcome to the 1st National Basketball League of Canada (NBLC) Roundup! My hope is to give a general overview every week of league action and to also catch a game live via webstream and deliver my take of the action.
London Lightning 109 – Halifax Rainmen 90
An impressive blowout victory for the London Lightning in Nova Scotia, Saturday evening.
The game’s 1st quarter was a fairly even affair as both teams scored 28 points. The Rainmen of Halifax were able to keep the tempo up with their press and swingman Rodney Buford dropped 12 points in the quarter on the strength of turnaround jumpers and a three. C/F Abdullahi Kuso notably gave a valiant effort on the offensive boards, taking three strong attempts on one trip before finally getting a whistle and two FT attempts. Moses Malone is nodding approvingly.
For London, Gabe Freeman (20 points on the night) was able to work his way into the middle for several good shots, most notably a give-and-go off an inbounds play that resulted in a swooping bank shot plus the harm for a three-point play.
As the 2nd quarter commenced, the Lightning struck hard and fast in pushing their lead to 51-41 by halftime. The 2nd half continued the trend of the 2nd quarter: London considerably upped the defensive pressure, which Halifax refused to deal with correctly leading to forced shot after forced shot. With the bricks a-flyin’, London was able to get into the open court either for a transition basket or they pulled back and found open men spotting up around the three-point arc as DeAnthony Bowden intrepidly pushed the pace on the break keeping Halifax on their heels.
Freeman continued his good play in the 2nd half with a couple of mid-range jumpers. Meanwhile, Taylor King (21 points) was absolutely deadly from downtown and delivered the final blow early in the fourth with a dagger that pushed the lead to 26 and deflated what was left of Halifax’s spirit.
Earlier in the week, the NBL got into full swing with a full slate of action on Thursday night. Well, as full as can be. With the odd number of teams in the league someone had to sit out and it was the Mill Rats of St. John. The most enticing performance of the big opening night was that of Lawrence Wright, forward for the Rainmen in the 1st game of the home-and-home series between Halifax and London that finished Saturday.
[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsCauhllgng w=600 h=400]
Although losing 118-110, Wright was spectacular in 29 minutes off the bench with a Larry Bird shooting line: 10-14 FG, 3-4 3PT and 6-7 FT. The shooting may have been Birdian, but his rebounding echoed SwenNater en route to 7 offensive boards. Those 29 points, by the way, are the most ever in an NBL game. Not a huge sample size, but that’s something to hang your hat on.
In other outstanding performances, Mike Williams of Summerside had 15 points and 22 rebounds in a winning effort as the Storm prevailed 120 to 105 over Quebec on Thursday. Meanwhile in Oshawa, Akeem Wright powered his way to 27 points on 11-15 shooting, including a perfect 2-for-2 from downtown, and 12 rebounds in a blowout of the Moncton Miracle.
