Sports stats



NBL Canada National Basketball League of Canada

NBL Canada Inaugural Championship Playoffs to Begin Tuesday

March 2, 2012 - National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada) News Release


(TORONTO, ON) The National Basketball League of Canada is pleased to release the schedule for the League's inaugural championship playoffs, beginning Tuesday in Saint John with the Mill Rats hosting the Lightning.

"We're excited to end our inaugural 36-game regular season with an action-packed championship playoff lineup," said John Kennedy, NBL Canada Commissioner.

"All the teams had a tremendous first season, playing a high caliber of competitive basketball and providing fans with exciting entertainment. We're eager to see what the top 4 teams have in store for the championship playoffs."

With their current stellar (27-8) record the London Lightning clinched the #1 seed early on and will have home court advantage throughout the championship playoffs. The Lightning will compete in round one against the #4-seeded Mill Rats in a best of three competition and host their first playoff game on Friday March 9 at 7PM.

"From day 1 in training camp, our goal was to get to the playoffs, so we worked hard every day. Now that we have reached playoffs our goal is to be more consistent. We must play for the entire 48 minutes instead of 40 minutes and ensure we rebound a lot better," Said London Lightning Coach, Micheal Ray Richardson.

For a new professional team in London it's great for the city to be a part of our play-offs. Our fans have been supportive all year and we are glad to give them the opportunity to be involved in our quest to win a championship."

The #2-seeded Halifax Rainmen and #3-seeded Quebec Kebs will also compete in the semi-final round with the Kebs hosting the first game of the series on Sunday March 11 at 1 PM.

"During the regular season the focus was to get better and improve game by game. From now on we are also going to prepare some according the opponents, so we will try to attack their weaknesses and increase our potential," said Halifax Rainmen Coach, Pep Claros.

We are a team that improves with practices. The upcoming week will give us benefits. Instead of talking about expectations I prefer to focus on all the work we have to execute to reach our goal."

The winners of the #1- #4 series and the #2- #3 series will face each other in a best-of-five final series. The first two games played at the higher seed's home court, the next two games played at the lower seed's home venue with 5 being played at the higher seed's home venue. Games 4 and 5 will be if necessary.

The winner of that series will be named the National Basketball League of Canada Playoff Champions, and will receive the NBL Canada Championship trophy to commemorate their victory.

The full playoff schedule can be found below. For ticket information please visit team websites or click the following links: London Lightning, Halifax Rainmen, Quebec Kebs, Saint John Mill Rats .

NBL Canada's inaugural season ends this Sunday, March 4 with the Saint John Mill Rats hosting the Halifax Rainmen at 2PM AST.

The top talent in the League will come together on March 31-April 1 to celebrate NBL Canada's inaugural All-Star weekend in Halifax, presented by Rogers Communications Inc.

All-Star Weekend will consist of exciting, family-friendly events ranging from an All-Star breakfast and youth basketball clinics to a three-point shoot out, slam-dunk contest, legends game, and of course the All-Star game.

For more information on All-Star Weekend visit nblallstar.ca.

NBL Canada Playoff Schedule

#1 & #4 Series:

Game 1- Tuesday, March 6

Saint John Mill Rats host London Lightning at Harbour Station 7PM AST

Game 2 - Friday, March 9

London Lightning host Saint John Mill Rats at John Labatt Centre 7PM EST

Game 3 - March 11

London Lightning host Saint John Mill Rats at John Labatt Centre 2PM EST (if necessary)

#2 & #3 Series:

Game 1 - Sunday, March 11

Quebec Kebs host Halifax Rainmen at PEPS 1PM EST

Game 2 - Thursday, March 15

Halifax Rainmen host Quebec Kebs at Metro Centre 7PM AST

Game 3 - Friday, March 16

Halifax Rainmen host Quebec Kebs at Metro Centre 7PM AST (if necessary)

Best of Five Series Dates - TBD

• Discuss this story on the National Basketball League of Canada message board...

National Basketball League of Canada Stories from March 2, 2012


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central