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Five defeat Express in playoff opener

Sudbury defeats Windsor 108-99, takes 1-0 series lead
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The FIve's Duane Notice is seen here during the May 5, 2023 game against the Windsor Express.

The Sudbury Five took to the court on Friday night in Game 1 of the National Basketball League of Canada finals against the Windsor Express.

When asked what the focus was going into Game 1 after a string of losses to end the regular season, Coach Logan Stutz said “Good preparation. We played well. Credit goes to Windsor” on a well played game.

When asked if playing back to back against Windsor is a positive, Stutz said, “Adrenaline is there. We need to get healthy and switch gears.”

While Sudbury came away with a 108-99 win to take a 1-0 lead in the Best-of-5 National Basketball League of Canada Semi-Finals, both teams came to play on this night.

Sudbury didn’t get off to the start they wanted in this contest, falling behind 8-0 to Windsor in the opening minutes of the game, but clawed their way back to pull within one point with a score of 12-11 for Windsor, after AJ Mosby connected on a three pointer just over halfway through the first quarter. 

After the Express went on a mini 5-0 run to expand their lead to 17-11, Duane Notice connected on a layup and connected on the following free throw to make the score 17-14 for Windsor with 4:12 left to play in the opening quarter. 

Both teams traded baskets in the next couple of minutes, with Braylon Rayson draining a jump shot off of a pass from Curtis Hollis to end the first quarter with a score of 20-18 for the Windsor Express.

The second quarter got off to a close start, with Windsor starting off on a 5-2 run in the opening minutes to make the score 25-20, but with just under ten minutes left in the quarter, JD Miller connected on a layup and the ensuing free throw to close the gap to two, 25-23 for Windsor. 

Just seconds later Duane Notice drained a corner three to break a 25-25 tie and put Sudbury up by 3, 28-25. 

With just over eight minutes remaining in the first half, Mosby connected on a tough layup to extend Sudbury’s lead to five, 30-25. Throughout the rest of the quarter Sudbury took firm control of the game, taking a 44-36 lead with just over one minute left to play when Mark Vital blocked a shot from Windsor’s Claiborne. After the first 48 minutes of play, the Sudbury Five held a 10 point lead, 46-36.

Just over a minute into the third quarter and after Windsor scored to close the gap to eight, Rayson connected on a tough shot to once again give Sudbury a 10-point lead, 48-38. Over the next three minutes Windsor managed to close the gap to 54-50 until AJ Mosby connected on another layup off the glass to give Sudbury a 56-50 lead with just under eight minutes remaining in the quarter. 

Seconds later Braylon Rayson drained another three ball to extend Sudbury’s lead to 59-50. About a minute later with the score 60-53 for Sudbury Mark Vital finished off a layup off a pass from Rayson to extend Sudbury’s lead to nine, 62-53. Windsor kept themselves in this one, however, and closed the margin to three, 68-65, with just over three minutes left in the third quarter until JD Miller dunked the ball through the basket to give Sudbury a five-point lead, 70-65. 

Shortly after Rayson drained a three ball from almost halfcourt to give Sudbury an eight-point lead, 73-65. Windsor made it closer, however, and was trailing Sudbury by a score of 76-72 heading into the fourth quarter.

In the opening two minutes of the fourth quarter both teams traded baskets and Sudbury had a 79-77 lead until Montell McRae dished up a three-point shot to widen Sudbury’s lead to 82-77 with just under 10 minutes left to play. 

With about seven-and-a-half minutes remaining and Sudbury holding an 86-81 lead, Mark Vital grabbed the offensive rebound and converted on the layup attempt to give Sudbury an 88-81 lead. 

In two minutes the Express managed to come back and pull themselves to within 1, 90-89 when Rayson hit another three point shot to give Sudbury a 93-89 lead with just over five minutes left to play. 

After Windsor once again clawed their way back to within one point, 93-92, Rayson split the Windsor defense to convert on another layup to extend Sudbury’s lead to 95-92. 

Sudbury came away with a Game 1 win by a score of 108-99. Game 2 takes place on Saturday, May 6 at 7 p.m., followed by Game 3 and 4 in Windsor (May 10 and 12), followed by Game 5, if necessary, in Sudbury (May 14).

Super fan Robert McCarthy covers games of the Sudbury Wolves and Sudbury Five for Sudbury.com. Got a question for Robert? Email it to [email protected].


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