Mill Rats Pull out Road Victory in Niagara 99-97
February 3, 2016 - National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada)
Saint John Riptide News Release
(St. Catharines, ON): The Saint John Mill Rats trailed nearly the entire game on the road against the Niagara River Lions, but managed to pull out a 99-97 win in the waning seconds.
The Mill Rats were down 95-91 when Anthony Anderson hit two free throws to close the gap to 95-93. Ricky Volcy hit two more to the game 95-95 with about a minute to play.
Daquan Cook hit a jumper for Niagara that gave them another lead at 97-95. After Volcy missed a three pointer for the lead, Saint John got huge stop on the defensive end, and Volcy secured the rebound with 25 seconds to play.
Gabe Freeman scored in the post with 9.2 seconds left and was fouled, tying the score at 97-97. He missed the subsequent free throw, but outworked two River Lions for the offensive rebound and put his miss back in for a 99-97 Mill Rats lead with 7 seconds left.
Niagara called timeout and advanced the ball. Niagara's Logan Stutz drove the middle of the lane and attempting a game tying dunk as time expired, but Anthony Stover blocked it clean to preserve the win. Stover ended up with 7 blocks on the books, but had 3 more that were called goal tending and many more shot changes.
"Stover was our rim protector tonight and he anchored the defense," said Mill Rats Head Coach Rob Spon. "Gabe made a heck of a play there at the end to give us the lead. Really none of our guys gave up the entire game, we just kept hanging around, which gave us a change to win."
The River Lions led 29-26 after the first quarter, 54-51 at the half, and 80-75 heading into the fourth. Saint John outscored the hosts 24-17 in the final stanza.
Freeman led the Mill Rats in scoring with 20, Corey Allmond 19, Stover 13, Garrius Holloman 13, Johnny Mayhane 11, and Ricky Volcy 11. Logan Stutz led Niagara with 25.
Saint John improves to 9-5 while Niagara drops to 4-11.
The team travels to London tomorrow to face the 12-3 London Lightning. They then return to the Martimes and play on the road against the Miracles and Island Storm, before returning home on February 18th against the Orangeville A's.
Upcoming Road Trip:
February 4th 7PM EST - London Lightning
February 6th 7PM AST - Moncton Miracles
February 11th 7PM EST - Island Storm
Road games can be viewed live online by visiting www.nblcanada.ca and clicking the Watch NBLC tab.
Single game, flex, and prorated season tickets are on sale at the Harbour Station Box Office or by calling 506-657-1234 or by visiting www.harbourstation.ca.
National Basketball League of Canada Stories from February 3, 2016
- Mill Rats Pull out Road Victory in Niagara 99-97 - Saint John Riptide
- Express Stay Undefeated at Colosseum - Windsor Express
- Lightning Defeated by Express - London Lightning
- Hurricanes Sign Former NBA D-League Player - Halifax Hurricanes
- A's Prepare for Weekend Action - Orangeville A's
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