The Sudbury Five were back home on Friday night after a road trip, taking on the London Lightning.
Both teams came out firing on all cylinders Jan. 12 and proved to be evenly matched. With efforts from players such as Billy White for London, who scored 26 points in 37 minutes throughout the game, and the Five’s Samuel Daniel, who scored 33 points in 37 minutes in the game, the first quarter ended with Sudbury leading 28-27.
The Lightning got contributions from players such as Mike Nuga, with 24 points throughout the game, and Shandell Millinghaus, with 26 points in the game, to pull ahead of Sudbury 62-56 at the halftime break.
London would further increase their lead in the third quarter thanks to players such as Nuga and Freddie McSwain, who scored 8, and the Five trailed the Lightning 92-81 with th one quarter remaining.
The Five started to make a comeback in the fourth quarter with AJ Mosby Jr., who scored 23 points in the game, and Duane Notice, who scored 18 points of his own, but the Five fell just short, losing 115-112 to the London Lightning.
When asked what positives the Five can take into their next game, Sudbury Five head coach Logan Stutz said the team should “not get sour and down when things don’t go our way.”
When asked if it’s helpful to play a game the night after a tough loss to put the loss behind them, Five player Jalen Hayes said, “With the game being tomorrow night I think we’ll be able to put that behind us, step out on the court again, bring a lot better energy and show the real Sudbury Five.”
The Sudbury Five are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 13 at home for a Sudbury Saturday night against the Pontiac Pharaohs, which is also the fifth birthday of the Sudbury Five as a team. Game time is at 7:00 p.m.
