By Michael Kennedy
It may be just a third of the way through the regular season schedule for the St. John's Edge and Moncton Magic but tonight's game certainly had a playoff feel to it in a battle of the top two teams in NBL Canada's Atlantic division. Both squads fought tooth and nail but it was the Edge coming out on top with a gutsy 112-101 victory.
1st quarter - St. John's came out on fire and quickly established 13-2 lead midway through the quarter led by Jesse Jones who drained two big threes and eight points in total to ignite the hometown crowd. Moncton clawed their way back to within two before a Mike Edwards three at the buzzer put St. John's back up by seven, 26-19.
2nd quarter - The Hub City squad came out on the attack and took the lead courtesy of some stellar outside shooting by Jeremiah Mordi and Jason Calliste. The Edge won't go away though as Karrington Ward took over to deliver four points, two big rebounds, and a block. Moncton lead 50-47 at the half.
3rd quarter - Both teams traded buckets until midway through the quarter and St. John's went to work. Cane Broome was electric dropping nine quick points to end the quarter giving the Edge a six-point cushion heading into the final frame.
4th quarter - Broome continued his hot play off the bench for the Edge with another five points in the early going. 7:42 to go and things got heated as tensions boiled over as Olu Ashaolu got tangled with several of the Magic players under the basket. Some pushing and shoving followed with Ashaolu having to be restrained as he was assessed a double technical and eventually ejected from the game. Moncton got back to within three on the free throws but that was as close they would get as St. John's proved to be too much for the Magic in this one. 112-101 was the final.
After the game Edge coach Steven Marcus said, "Everyone on our roster had a hand in tonight's victory. It was a total team win. Guys are starting to click and come together and we're learning how to win. I'm proud of our resilience tonight."
Game Notes:
+ St. John's were led by Karrington Ward(25 pts, 6 rebs and 3 stls) and Cane Broome(18 pts, 5 rebs and 4 assts)
+ Moncton were led by Wayne McCullough(22 pts, 6 rebs and 2 assts) and Jeremiah Mordi(11 pts, 4 rebs and 9 assts)
+ St. John's out rebounded Moncton 44-38
+ Edge shot 24-26 from the charity stripe while the Magic were just 16-25
These two teams go right back at it Wednesday evening at Mile One Centre. Game time is 7PM and tickets can be purchased online at www.mileonecentre.com, by phone at (709)576-7657
or by visiting the Mile One Centre Box Office.