Photo by C Jill Reed via Flickr
Halifax Rainmen 104 – Moncton Miracles 95
Hot off the press! My game of the week was this afternoon’s matchup between Moncton and Halifax. For the the first half of the opening period, there was little defense and a lot of offense to be found. The Rainmen and Miracles both easily found their way to the basket for a score or kickout to wide open 3-point shooters. Although, Halifax standout Joey Haywood made a great jump into the passing lane getting a steal for a breakaway layup. After settling to 20-19 advantage for Moncton, the game slowed down as both teams began to struggle for points, but Halifax less so ending the quarter in the lead, 29-24.
For the 2nd quarter, Halifax ultimately assumed greater control, although they let Moncton back into temporarily. The Miracles nearly tied the game at 39, but Halifax surged ahead with a 9-point run keyed by a Justin Johnson 3 pointer and Taliek Brown instantly stealing Moncton’s subsequent inbounds pass for an easy layup. By the half, the score rested at 56-49 in favor of Halifax thanks to a 13 to 5 turnover margin in favor of the Rainmen.
In the second half, Halifax would teeter on the cusp of blowing the Miracles out, but would always relax as the lead ballooned. Finally with 5 minutes left in the game, the Rainmen turned it on and turned the Miracles out for good. The lead surged to 17 points and Halifax dragged the clock out to secure the win, although Tyrone Levitt put up an incredibly unnecessary and rushed layup that allows teams to squirm back into a game. But not this one. With the win, Halifax brings their record to 4-4. Moncton is now 0-10.
Box Score Standouts of the Week
In a barn burner last Sunday, Oshawa barely outlasted the Rainmen 115 – 111 in large part to Akeem Wright’s blockbuster 33 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and block. Per my norm, putting up 33 points doesn’t always impress, but doing it on 6-6 FTs, 9-15 2-pt FGs and 3-4 3Pt FGs gets me in a tizzy. Just another marvelous night for Wright.*
*the game was actually played in the afternoon. Moving on…
Will Blalock, Anthony Anderson and Greg Plummer
That’s right, a three-for-one standout special. I couldn’t choose just one from this troika of outstanding performances on Wednesday night. In their blowout of Summerside, the Saint John Mill Rats received an uber-efficient offensive performance from Anthony Anderson, which is the norm for the NBL’s leading scorer. 23 points on 10-13 shooting. Amazingly, teammate Greg Plummer outdid Anderson by netting 25 points on 10-11 shooting.
With all that hot shooting, it’s little surprise that PG Will Blalock dropped 13 dimes on the night, but also only turned the ball over once. Blalock also tossed in 18 points on 5-5 shooting for good measure. The only chink in his armor was going 6-10 from the FT. But that’s nitpicking. Blalock’s 13 assists set the NBL record forone game.
Ringing in the new month, the Quebec Kebs did a little smacking of the Summerside Storm, too. Sure other players put up more points, but I was enamored with Ricky Volcy’s Tom Gola like performance. Mimicking the hall of famer’s all-around skills, Volcy had a definitive glue-guy performance: 12 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks with one turnover.
Finally, guard Eddie Smith was a disruptive, annoying force in favor of the London Lightning as the Ontarian squad defeated the Summerside Storm… sorry, the Storm turned out to be this week’s whipping boy. Anyhoo, Smith dazzled with 23 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds and a whopping 8 steals. With those 8 thefts, Smith is now the NBL’s all-time leader for steals in one game.
