Miracles Win First Round of Playoffs against Mill Rats
March 23, 2013 - National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada)
Moncton Miracles News Release
(Saint John, NB) The Moncton Miracles, presented by Rogers, won Round 1 against the Saint John Mill Rats in Game 3 of the NBL of Canada Playoffs with a final score of 111-103.
The Miracles had the edge on this game from the tip-off showing just how hungry they were to move on to the next round. The game would be tied up at 8-8 early on before they would take ownership of the scoreboard and push ahead. Miracles Darrell Wonge was awoken from behind the arc and would lead his team to a 38-21 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Saint John would do their best to shorten the lead early in the second quarter but Moncton would only push harder and lead by as many as 30 points. The Miracles would shoot 48.89% in the first half compared to the Mill Rats 32.50%. Saint John who absolutely dominated Game 2 from behind the arc would struggle in a major way and shoot only 20.0%. The Miracles would end the first half with a convincing 64-41 lead.
The second half would begin with both teams going hard to the ball every time. As bad as Saint John was working to dig themselves out of the hole they created in the first half Moncton would continue to answer back with points of their own. The third quarter would be the closest one of the game with Moncton only outscoring Saint John 25-24 to finish the quarter up 86-64.
Miracles Devin Sweetney would hit a fade away 2 with 6:48 left to play in the game to break the 100-point mark, 100-80. Withing the next minute Saint John was able to shorten Moncton's lead to 100-88 making it an exciting finish. The Mill Rats would outscore the Miracles 25-39 in the last 12-minutes of play but it would not be enough to pull out the win over Moncton.
Devin Sweetney led the way for the Miracles with 27 points. Isaac Butts followed with 24 points and 17 rebounds while Darrel Wonge added in with 18.
Jerice Crouch was the force for the Mill Rats with 34 points. Melvin Council was next with 22 points and Kenny Jones dropped 14 points and 9 rebounds.
Upcoming Community Events: The Miracles will begin Round 2 of the NBL of Canada Playoffs on Monday, March 25th against the London Lightning. Tip-off will be 7pm at the Budweiser Centre. The first home game will be Game 3 on Friday, March 29th.
National Basketball League of Canada Stories from March 23, 2013
- Mill Rats' Season Ends at Home - Saint John Riptide
- Miracles Win First Round of Playoffs against Mill Rats - Moncton Miracles
- Game 3 vs Moncton Tonight - Saint John Riptide
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