The Sudbury Five were back on their home court Tuesday night against the first place London Lightning hoping to close out the regular season with a win before starting the 2023 playoffs.
And while Sudbury went on to lose the game by five points, 106 to 101, both teams showed why they are the two best in the National Basketball League of Canada this season.
After the game, when asked what positives his team can take away from this game heading into the playoffs, Sudbury Five Head Coach and General Manager Logan Stutz pointed to the team’s “urgency and pace” down the stretch.
When asked if playing a team of London’s calibre prepares his squad for the playoffs, Stutz noted, “They’re a good team. They’re well coached. You get better when you play those kinds of teams.”
When asked if the game plan changes when stars like Dexter Williams Jr. and Jeremy Harris are out, he said, “You can’t change too much, it’s the next man up.”
Just over one minute into the opening quarter and the score already tied 2-2, Braylon Rayson pulled up with a three-point jump shot to give the Five a 5-2 lead. Both teams kept it close and traded baskets in the next couple of possessions. With just under seven-and-a-half minutes remaining in the first quarter JD Miller drained another three for Sudbury to pull the Five within one, making the score 15-14 for the visiting London Lightning.
London went on a 12-8 run to close out the quarter and held a 27-22 lead after the first 12 minutes of play.
The second quarter began where the first quarter left off, with both London and Sudbury performing well and keeping the game tight. Almost halfway into the second quarter, Duane Notice hit a three-point jumper to keep Sudbury within striking distance, 35-33.
Over the next couple of minutes London took control of the game and opened up a 10-point lead, 45-35. With just over three minutes to go in the half, AJ Mosby hit a jump shot for Sudburyu to close the gap to 45-37. The Lightning didn’t let up in the dying minutes of the second quarter, however, and held a 58-39 lead at the break.
London came out of the halftime intermission still firing on all cylinders and opened up a 68-44 lead. Montell McRae dunked the ball for the Five to make the score 68-46 just under halfway into the third quarter.
Sudbury spent the next several minutes playing catch up, but couldn’t find an answer for the London offence, which was leading 79-60 with just over three minutes to go in the quarter. AJ Mosby split the defense with 3:15 to go in the third and connected on the following free throw to pull Sudbury to within 16, with a score of 79-63.
With just over two minutes remaining in the quarter, Jasonn Hannibal provided the Five with some energy with a slam dunk to cut the score to 82-68 for the Lightning. In the next couple of minutes Sudbury took over the game by getting several timely baskets to close the gap significantly, pulling themselves to a nine-point deficit, 82-73, with one quarter left to play.
The fourth quarter started with Sudbury playing strong defense by blocking a London shot and coming away with a steal early on in the quarter. Just under two minutes into the fourth, Duane Notice stepped through London’s defense and put up a layup to pull Sudbury to within eight, 85-77.
Sudbury continued to close the gap and trailed by a score of 90-83 with just over seven minutes to play, until JD Miller made the score 90-85 with a dunk. Just over two minutes later, just after London widened their lead to eight points once again, Mosby connected on a layup and made good on the ensuing free throw to pull Sudbury to within five, 97-92. Sudbury made a good effort in the dying minutes of the game, but London held on for a 106-101 victory.
The Sudbury Five close out the regular season with a record of 22 wins and nine losses, good for second place in the National Basketball League of Canada.
The Five look ahead to the playoffs, when they face the Windsor Express in the NBLC best-of-five semi-finals with Game 1 place on May 5 at 7 p.m. at Sudbury Arena. Game 2 follows on May 6, also at home and also at 7 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].
