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A's Come up Just Short to Top Team in Atlantic Division

February 19, 2017 - National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada)
Orangeville A's News Release


ORANGEVILLE, ON - Coming off a loss to the top team in the Central Division, the London Lightning (14-3), the Orangeville A's (7-9) looked to bounce back and end their losing streak against the top team in the Atlantic Division, the Halifax Hurricanes (15-3). The Hurricanes took an early lead and maintained it throughout the quarter shooting at a high percentage of 62.5%. The Hurricanes CJ Washington led the charge with 15 of the Hurricanes 32 first quarter points. The quarter ended with a score of 32-24 for the Hurricanes. Stefan Nastic led scoring for the A's contributing 9 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist.

A's man in the middle Stefan Nastic had a big game with 26 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists

The second quarter started off with an exchange of baskets as the Hurricanes continued to hold onto their 8-point lead. Yet as the quarter continued, the A's struggled with shooting at 40% (18-44) from the field and 30% (3-10) from three point range. This allowed the Hurricanes to extend their lead to 12; 49-37. Renaldo Dixon exploded for the Hurricanes as he scored 11 of his 13 points in the quarter. Even so, Nastic, Johnson and Hollis-Jefferson did their best to keep the A's in the game with 18 points, 9 points and 9 points respectively. The half time score was 59-51 as the A's trailed.

The third quarter was consistent with the theme of the game as the A's continued to gnaw at the lead held by the Hurricanes. The A's managed to cut the lead multiple times to a low of 9 before the Hurricanes responded each time to make it a double digit lead once again. There was a big spike in fouls, mostly from the Hurricanes, as multiple players tallied 3 or 4, putting the A's at the line several times. Even so, the Hurricanes were able to hold off the A's and ended the quarter leading 85-71. Dixon added another 7 points to his total of 27 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists for the game.

Despite their poor shooting slumps, the Orangeville A's continued to battle with the Hurricanes and were held to a double-digit deficit for a majority of the fourth quarter. However, by the 6:00 mark the A's fought back to cut the lead to 7. Hollis-Jefferson added to his total of 27 points, 12 points coming from within the fourth, with a 4-point play from the corner to cut it to the smallest margin of 1 at 94-93 for the Hurricanes at 4:21. However, the Hurricanes were resilient and held the A's to a 7 point deficit to end the game with a score of 108-101. A's Player of the Game Stefan Nastic had a breakout game scoring 26 points and adding 10 rebounds and 3 assists. The Hurricanes bench played great, scoring 52 points versus the A's 25. The A's now look forward to taking on the Niagara River Lions tomorrow at 3:00 pm (Monday, February 20, 2017).

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National Basketball League of Canada Stories from February 19, 2017


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