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A's 3-Game Win Streak Comes to an End as They Fall to the Niagara River Lions

March 12, 2016 - National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada)
Orangeville A's News Release


The A's opened up the Athlete Institute tonight to play host to their division rivals south of the golden horseshoe, the Niagara River Lions. Today marks the 2nd game of a triple-header for the A's, who saw their win streak grow to 3, with a win over the Windsor Express (113-98). The Orangeville A's entered tonight's contest with an 8-15 record. They are sitting 3rd in the NBLC Central Division and looking to gain some separation between the Niagara River Lions (9-17) who are currently in 4th place. The A's unfortunately had to play tonight's game without Dominic Cheek, who experienced a minor leg injury in last night's win over the Express. Cheek has been an effective acquisition for the A's as of late, and his presence was definitely missed by the squad tonight.

Niagara jumped out to a 5-0 lead with 10:33 to play in the 1st quarter. Orangeville had difficulty slowing down the Niagara offense during the beginning of the 1st, seeing Niagara shoot 57% from 3, and making four 3PT shots as a team throughout the opening quarter. The A's would trim the lead back down to 3 points with 7:27 left in the 1st, 13-10. After A's guard Da'Quan Brooks made consecutive contested plays at the rim, the A's would move on to tie the game at 16-16, halfway through the 1st. The rest of the 1st quarter shaped up to be a defensive affair, with Orangeville only shooting 39% as a team from the field. Despite their 1st quarter shooting woes, the A's finished the Q with only a 6 point deficit to the visiting team, 30-24.

Orangeville's efficiency struggles continued into the 2nd quarter, seeing the River Lions take their biggest lead of the game with 6:51 to play in the quarter, 42-30. During the halfway point of the 2nd, A's guard Rick Bodiford boosted the home team with a huge block in transition and immediately followed it up with a pull-up 3-pointer on the other side of the court, cutting the deficit to 11 points (44-33). The Orangeville A's appeared flat during the 2nd quarter of play and couldn't seem to settle themselves on offence, allowing Niagara to go on a 18-9 run to start the 2nd quarter. With help from a few long range bombs from A's players Flen Whitfield and Louis Munks, the A's would be able to close the gap once again to only 3 points with 1:15 to play in the 1st half, 53-50. The A's would eventually move on to finish the 2nd with an 8 point deficit to the River Lions, 58-50.

The A's started the 3rd quarter with some early foul trouble, seeing Niagara leap ahead to a 12 point lead with 10:47 to play in the quarter, 63-51. A's forward Richard Amardi had an emphatic block during the opening of the 3rd, hoping to spark the Orangeville comeback on the defensive side of the ball. Although Orangeville was able to reduce the River Lions lead to 8 during the quarter, they were unable to consistently keep the Niagara lead under the double-digit mark. One of the most effective players in an Orangeville jersey during the quarter was forward Richard Amardi, who provided 9 points for the A's during the 3rd alone, finishing with a total of 18 points. The 3rd quarter would eventually come to an end with a 16-point River Lions lead, 92-76.

The Orangeville A's began the 4th quarter firing on all cylinders, with Orangeville going on a 5-0 run to start the final quarter of play. A's forward Richard Amardi sparked the 4th quarter push for the A's, once again trimming the lead to only 8 points with 9:34 remaining in the game. Orangeville would manage to bring the deficit to as little as 2 points during the 4th, after clearly tightening up their defensive approach the game shaped up to be 94-92 with 8:00 remaining in the contest. The River Lions would stretch their late 4th quarter lead back to 8 with 1:24 to play in the contest, bringing the tally to 111-103. Despite the A's best efforts to close the River Lion's gap, the home team could not find a way to make it over the hill in the 4th quarter. After a hard fought quarter for the A's they would eventually succumb to the Niagara River Lions, losing 113-103 after 48 minutes. A's forward Tyrone Watson lead all players in scoring tonight with 25 points.

Following tonight's loss against the River Lions, Orangeville will have little time to rest before they head to the WFCU Centre tomorrow to take on the Windsor Express on the road, on Sunday, March 13th at 2:00 PM. Tomorrow will mark the final game out of the A's three day triple header, which has seen the A's go 1-1 so far. For everything A's Basketball and to purchase tickets, head to AsBasketball.ca or NBLCanada.ca!

Bilal Benn was the A's Player of the Game - he approached a triple-double with 10 points, 7 assist, and 14 rebounds.

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