The Sudbury Five were back in action on Saturday night, 24 hours after winning Game 1 of the National Basketball League of Canada Semi-Finals against the Windsor Express, hoping to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the series.
Before the game a pre-game ceremony was held as Five star AJ Mosby was presented with the award for 2023 National Basketball League of Canada Newcomer of the Year.
When asked what the turning point in the loss to Windsor on this night was, Five player JD Miller said, “We got off to a 12-3 start, they hit us and we couldn’t come back.”
When asked what the focus going into Windsor for the next two games would be, Five head coach Logan Stutz said, “Lock in better and keep composure.”
The Windsor Express came away with a tight 103-100 victory with plenty of back and forth action from both teams on this night.
Less than two minutes into the contest, Sudbury held a 2-1 lead, when Mosby, who was back in action after an injury the night before and looking in fine form, nailed a three pointer to give Sudbury a 5-1 lead with just over 10 minutes left to play in the opening quarter.
Both teams traded one basket each until Duane Notice drained another three point shot for Sudbury to make the score 10-3 with under eight and a half minutes remaining in the quarter. Seconds later JD Miller came away with the steal followed by a slam dunk to increase Sudbury’s lead to 12-3.
Over the next few minutes Windsor went on a 16-2 run to take a 19-14 lead until Curtis Hollis grabbed an offensive rebound and connected on a layup and the ensuing free throw to close the gap to 19-17 with just over a minute to play in the opening quarter. The first quarter ended with a score of 29-21 for the Windsor Express.
In the opening minutes of the second quarter both teams connected on four baskets until Mark Vital connected on a tough shot and connected on the free throw to complete a three-point play to put Sudbury within five, 33-28.
Windsor took command of the game over the next several minutes and held a 51-32 lead until
Braylon Rayson hit a tough three point shot to make the score 51-35 just before the 24 second shot clock ran out and with just over three minutes to go until halftime.
Rayson continued having the hot hand about half a minute later with a tough layup basket and connecting on the following free throw to make the score 51-38 for the Windsor Express. In the last few minutes of the second quarter
Windsor went on a 7-4 run to go into the halftime break 58-42 for the Windsor Express.
Both teams spent the first four minutes of the first half trading baskets, making the score 66-50 with just over eight minutes remaining in the third quarter until Duane Notice connected on another three pointer to make the score 66-53 for Windsor.
About one minute later Rayson found an open Miller in the paint who executed the layup to pull the Five within 9, 67-58, almost halfway through the quarter. Both teams battled in the dying minutes of the quarter and the third ended with a score of 82-73 for the Express.
The first five minutes of the fourth quarter with the Five going on an 11-7 run and closing the gap to five, 89-84 until Miller connected on a tough three with just under seven minutes left in the quarter to pull the Five within two, 89-87.
About a minute later, with the score 93-87 for Windsor, Rayson went through the Express defense for a layup to pull Sudbury close, 93-89.
With just under four minutes remaining and the score 97-92 for Windsor, Rayson hit a reverse layup to keep Sudbury within striking distance, 97-94.
With about a minute and a half left in regulation, Notice passed to Mark Vital, who put away a layup to pull Sudbury even\ closer, only down 1 at this point, 99-98.
With eight seconds remaining and the score 103-100 for Windsor, Rayson tried to tie the game with a three point jump shot, but it hit the rim, signaling the end of this one.
The Windsor Express tied the series with a 103-100 victory.
After the loss, the Sudbury Five is now tied with the Windsor Express 1-1 in the Best-of-5 National Basketball League of Canada Semi-Finals, and now head to Windsor for Games 3 and 4, on Wednesday, May 10 and Friday, May 12, with both teams scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Game 5, if necessary, will be back at the Sudbury Community Arena on Sunday, May 14 at 2 p.m.
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].
