Mill Rats Battle But Season Ends in London
Published on March 9, 2012 under National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada)
Saint John Riptide News Release
(London, ON): The Saint John Mill Rats threw everything they had at the #1 London Lightning before a hostile crowd at the John LeBatt Centre in London, Ontario but ultimately fell 87-82. It was the second playoff game against the powerful Lightning that went down to a final possession. This one clinched the series 2-0 for London and ended Saint John's second season in the Port City.
The Lightning opened the game strong leading 28-13 partway into the second quarter. But the Mill Rats, who were trying to force a decisive 3rd game on Sunday, did not roll over. They proceeed to rattle off a 30-12 run to close the quarter, capped with an Anthony Anderson 9 point scoring spree including a 3 pointer at the halftime buzzer that gave Saint John a 43-40 lead.
London again opened with a tough 11-0 run to take 51-43 lead over the visitors. Once again the Mill Rats fought back as Jermaine Blackburn's free throw cut the London lead to just 64-63 to end the third quarter.
In the fourth, once again London pressed ahead to 75-65 lead with 8 minutes left. But still the Mill Rats would not die. Darren Duncan's 'and-one' layup and three pointer sliced the lead to 80-78. It was 82-79 after a Kevin Francis free throw. Then Antonio Burks drained a huge 3 with 28 seconds left to cut the deficit to 84-82.
London's Eddie Smith came up with a huge offensive rebound and was trapped in the corner, and then fell out of bounds, forcing a tough decision by the officials to call a foul. He made 1 out of 2 free throws so Saint John still had one more chance.
Duncan drove hard to the middle and kicked out to Jermaine Blackburn who was open in the corner. His three pointer fell harmlessly to the side and the Mill Rats were then forced to foul Gabe Freeman to stop the clock with 4 seconds left. His two free throws made the final score 87-82.
Jermaine Blackburn led the Mill Rats with 24 points, Anthony Anderson added 19, Darren Duncan 14, and Steve Deluca 8. Shamari Spears led London with 18 points.
National Basketball League of Canada Stories from March 9, 2012
- Mill Rats Battle But Season Ends in London - Saint John Riptide
- Lightning Win First Ever NBL Canada Series - London Lightning
- London Takes Series and Heads to Finals - NBL Canada
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