The Sudbury Five opened up their 2023-2024 season, and the first since joining the Basketball Super League, with a 124-113 win over the London Lightning.
Both teams are former members of the now defunct National Basketball League of Canada, with the Lightning holding the distinction of being a two-time NBLC champion.
London came out strong, led by Ben Mockford, who notched 22 points over 33 minutes, and Jeremiah Mordi, who scored 20 points over 37 minutes.
By the end of the first quarter, London was up 33-26.
The Five rebounded in the second quarter with help from Landon Kirkwood and Samuel Daniels, both playing in their first season with the Five, who scored 19 and 21 points respectively throughout the contest.
Sudbury’s defence held the high-powered London offence to just 21 points in the second, while Sudbury scored 35 of their own and held a 61-54 lead heading into the halftime break.
London came out of the dressing room to start the third in the same way they started the first with a storm of offense, scoring a total of 38 points in the quarter, and holding Sudbury to 34 points.
Despite a strong Lightning third quarter, the Five held a 95-92 lead going into the final quarter.
The Five once again clamped down on defense in the fourth to close out their first win in the inaugural season of the Basketball League by a score of 124-113.
Sudbury next heads to Kitchener-Waterloo to take on former Five standout Dexter Williams Jr. on Dec. 30. Then, they head to Quebec for a pair of games against the Montreal Toundra on Jan. 6 and Jan. 7. The Five come back home to Sudbury on Jan. 12 for a rematch against the London Lightning. Tip-off for that game is 7 p.m.
Super fan Robert McCarthy covers Sudbury Five games for Sudbury.com. Got a question for Robert? Email it to [email protected].
