Edge Begin 2019 at Mile One with Win Over Lightning

St. John’s, NL – The St. John’s Edge were back in town on Saturday night for the first time in about 30 days. With no basketball in such a long period of time, fans packed Mile One Centre to see the Edge take on the Lightning. In front of 6,037 fans, the St. John’s Edge took care of business against the London Lightning, getting the win by a score of 109-100. 

This match-up was much anticipated by both teams, London led the season series 1-game to none, but the Edge were welcoming the Lightning to their house on Saturday.  Into the first quarter, the London Lightning came out playing their typical run and gun style offence, trying to keep the tempo consistent and hope that the Edge would be unable to keep up. However, this was not the same Edge team that played them in game one of this 2018-19 season. This Edge team kept up and stayed the course through the first quarter of action. 

The Edge would trail by 6-points heading into the second quarter, where an early run would pull them closer to the Lightning. The offensive story of the night and through the first half was Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis who was able to score 17 points through two quarters and making the packed house at Mile One Centre leave their seats multiple times. First, he denied Marvin Phillips at the rim when Phillips attempted a dunk on Davis. Then Davis took a nice backdoor feed from Carl English to throw down a huge two-handed slam. When the buzzer sounded after two quarters the teams were deadlocked at 49. 

Coming out of the break it seemed as though the tide had turned. The Edge got off to a quick start, going on a quick 6-0 run to start the second half and forcing London to burn a timeout before the 10-minute mark of the 3rd quarter. There was also a sign that no love was lost between these two teams in the third as things got chippie as the game started to draw to a close. The turning point for the Edge in the game was in the third quarter at the 6:36 mark, they would take a two-point lead then not give the lead back to London for the remainder of the game. 

In the fourth, it was all Edge early on, some sharp shooting by rookie Jared Nickens, big moves inside by Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis, and Obie Oleka owning every rebound in the building were deciding factors. London would creep within just one possession late, but they had to foul to try and retain possession and could not overcome the deficit on route to a 109-100 Edge victory. 

It was not the best shooting night for the Edge, they shot just 26% from three-point range and 39% from the field. They outrebounded London 57-47, while also taking advantage of 14 London turnovers and converting them for 18 points. 

The Edge had a record-tying night by Obie Oleka who pulled down 24 rebounds which tied the NBL Canada single-game record. With that performance, Oleka was named the player of the game for the Edge. The offence was led by Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis who was a machine in the paint, shooting 12-for-19 from the field for 31 points. St. John’s also got another top-tier performance from Junior Cadougan who dropped 17 points. Behind Cadougan was Maurice Jones Sr. with 16, Dez Lee with 14, and Jared Nickens with 12, all of which came from beyond the arc. 

London’s offensive was led by Xavier Moon who scored 33 points with 5 rebounds, while Garrett Williamson dropped 20 points in a losing effort. 

These two teams lock horns once again tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon at Mile One Centre, with game time set for 3:00 PM. Get your tickets for Sunday’s game by visiting the Mile One box office, by calling 576-7657, or online at mileonecentre.com. Don’t miss what should be another instant classic between these two teams.