The battle for Central Division supremacy in the NBL Canada standings looks like it's going to be a race that comes down to the wire.
The Sudbury Five defeated their division foes the St. John's Edge on Monday night by a score of 116-111 to keep the division race razor thin between the top four teams, with the KW Titans not far off the pace.
A slow start nearly sunk the Five as they fell behind 56-45 heading into halftime. Sudbury stormed back in the third quarter to narrow the deficit to just six points, trailing 90-84 as the teams got set for the final quarter.
The Five kept the pressure on and outscored the Edge by 10 points in the final frame to earn a hard-fought 116-111 win.
With the victory the Five improved their record to 17-16, and sit in fourth in the Central Divison. The top four in the Central are all separated by the thinnest of margins, as the Five are in shouting distance of the third place London Lightning (18-16), the second place Edge (17-15), and the division-leading Windsor Express (16-14).
The Five's newest addition Maurice Jones had another great game, dropping 23 points while adding seven rebounds and four assists. Travis Relefor put in a solid shift, scoring 21 points including going seven for seven from the free throw line, and pulling down five rebounds of his own.
Braylon Rayson continued his strong season, adding 18 points and seven rebounds in the winning effort.
The Five are back on their home court at the Sudbury Community Arena Thursday night to take on the division-leading Express. Tip off goes at 7:05 p.m.
Following Thursday's game, the Five get a nine day break before they head back out on the road for their final trip to the Maritimes of the regular season, where they'll take on the Cape Breton Highlanders on March 10.
The team will make stopes in Moncton to take on the Magic on March 12, before wrapping up the trip on March 14 against the Island Storm. The Five return home for their final three games of the regular season on March 21.
