The Sudbury Five, back on home court on Friday night hoping to snap a two-game losing skid, pulled out a thriller of a win against the first place Newfoundland Rogues.
Right out of the gate, the Five showed their offensive prowess, scoring 41 points in the first quarter alone, to Newfoundland’s 25, thanks, in part, to a huge bounce back game for Canadian product Duane Notice.
Notice put on a clinic, scoring 29 points on the night with nine assists and five rebounds.
Newfoundland would find their feet in the second quarter, scoring 45 points and holding Sudbury to 27 of their With contributions from players like Marquis Collins (22 points) and Armani Chaney (30 points), the Rogues ground their way to slim lead, 70-68, after a high-scoring second quarter.
The second half proved to be a back-and-forth affair, with the Five scoring 28 points in the third, and the Rogues scoring 27 of their own. Landon Kirkwood (19 points) and Jalen Hayes (14 points) contributed for Sudbury.
With one quarter to play, the Rogues held the tightest of leads over the Five at 97-96.
The fourth quarter was the decider and the Five would do the deciding, though it was slim. The Five would outscore the Rogues 30-28 in the fourth and final quarter to snap a two-game losing streak and send 1,802 fans home happy with a thrilling 126-125 victory.
With the victory, Sudbury now holds a record of six wins and four losses on the season, good for fourth place in the newly formed Basketball Super League.
The Five have a week off to prepare for their next opponent, London Lightning, the final championship team of the now defunct National Basketball League of Canada. Tipoff on Feb. 10 is at 7 p.m.
Super fan Robert McCarthy covers Sudbury Wolves games for Sudbury.com. Got a question for Robert? Email it to [email protected].
