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Late Rally Not Enough to Stop 1st Place Lightning at Home

February 28, 2016 - National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada)
Orangeville A's News Release


Today marked the first home game for the A's after a tough six game road trip, where the A's dropped their seventh straight on Friday against the Windsor Express (Feb 26th, 97-85). The Orangeville A's (5-13) currently sit 3rd place in the NBLC Central Division (7th in NBLC), while the visiting London Lightning (16-6) hold the top spot in both the Central Division and NBLC.

Both squads got off to a slow start, with London leading only 3-0, 2:20 into the game. Orangeville had difficulty making shots early on, but after creating some open looks for A's leading scorer Justin Moss, the A's were able to steady their attack. A's Captain Flen Whitfield also provided the A's offense with a necessary spark as they took their first lead of the game (11-10) with 6:34 remaining in the 1st. The 1st quarter continued to swing in both directions, seeing the teams trade leads 8 times. After A's guard Da'quan Cook sunk a tough layup at the buzzer, the 1st quarter concluded with a 2 point Lightning lead, 27-25.

The A's offense experienced some setbacks during the opening minutes of the 2nd quarter, seeing the Lightning take off to a 7 point lead with 9:43 remaining, 32-25. Early in the 2nd, Flen Whitfield had a massive highlight reel dunk on a crowded London defense, generating a roar from the packed Athlete Institute crowd. London pushed the lead to as much as 14 points halfway through the 2nd, 47-33. The A's showed noticeable signs of improvement from long distance today, hitting five 3's during the 1st, and finishing the 1st half with 6 as a squad. However, London continued to out muscle the A's throughout the 2nd quarter, outscoring the A's 37-12. Orangeville's offense dried up during the 2nd quarter, they shot only 31.6% through the first 24 minutes of play, while allowing the Lightning to shoot 61% from the field. The 2nd quarter ended with a 27 point London lead over Orangeville, 64-37.

Orangeville began the 3rd quarter with a stronger defensive focus, trimming the deficit to 23 points with 8:25 remaining, 75-52. Despite the A's putting up a competitive defensive effort, London's relentless 3 PT assault was too much for the A's, as they hit six 3-pointers in the 3rd quarter alone. The Lightning lead grew to as high as 32 during the 3rd, before an A's run brought it back down to 22 points with 3:56 remaining. The A's struggled to contain the Lightning offense during the 3rd, yet still managed to nearly match their offensive production as the A's were outscored 38-37 in a high scoring 3rd quarter. The quarter concluded with a 28 point London lead over Orangeville, 102-74.

After finishing the 3rd quarter with a surge of momentum, the A's carried their energy into the 4th and brought the lead back down to 18 points with 8:56 remaining in the game, 105-87. A large part of the A's surge was powered by reliable forward Justin Moss who scored 11 in the 4th quarter and finished the game with a team-high 31 points. Orangeville was able to reduce the lead to just 10 points with 7:01 remaining, 105-95. After a slow 1st half on offense the A's started the 4th quarter on a huge 21-1 scoring run, appearing to have finally found their offensive rhythm. Unfortunately for the Orangeville A's their late game run proved to be too little too late. The A's were unable to bring the Lightning lead to less than 8 points. Much of the A's difficulties rooted from the scoring of Lightning guard Warren Ward, who finished the game with 25 points and six 3-pointers. Orangeville demonstrated their potential and their fight by outscoring the Lightning 39-22 in the 4th. Today's game finished with an 11 point London Lightning lead over the Orangeville A's, 124-113. The Orangeville A's will have a few days of rest before their next game on Thursday, March 3rd, as they take on the Niagara River Lions at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharine's. For more information on how to stay up to date on everything A's and to get tickets of your own, head to AsBasketball.ca or NBLCanada.ca!

NEXT HOME GAME!

Orangeville A's vs. Windsor Express

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National Basketball League of Canada Stories from February 28, 2016


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