Edge Fall to Lightning in Overtime
St. John’s, NL – The St. John’s Edge were coming off a big win on Saturday night, taking on the London Lightning for the second time in under 24 hours. With another great crowd on hand, the teams battled into overtime where the Lightning would narrowly defeat the Edge by a score of 119-113.
It was another game filled with some aggressive play from both teams. Early on the Edge looked back to their true form, they played some great defence to get their stops and converted on opportunities and second chances at the other end. Through the first quarter, the Edge would lead 24-19.
Into the second quarter, the Edge continued to drive and draw fouls on the London defenders, while they also drained 5 three-pointers. The spark the Edge needed to get off to this start came from Carl English who seemed like his old self, he dropped 2 three-pointers in the quarter. On the defensive end, newcomer Brad States drew two key charges and was all over the glass, helping the Edge stretch their lead to 20 at the mid-way point of the second. London would pick away at the Edge lead, trimming the deficit to 12 going into the half (54-42).
With the third quarter kicking off, London started to find their stride, while the Edge were continuing to cause problems for the London defence. Early on the teams were trading baskets, with no team willing to give up on offence. Each possession was meaningful as the teams looked to find a way to stop the other. London would go on a little run with about two minutes left, pulling to within 4-points of the Edge.
The fourth quarter again displayed the back and forth play of each team. On the Edge side, Carl English and Junior Cadougan were leading the way by knocking down three’s and converting and-one opportunities every chance they got. With just under four minutes left in the game London turned it on, with some sharp shooting by Jaylen Babb-Harrison and converting on their free-throws they would have this one deadlocked with just seconds remaining. With about 19 seconds left on the clock and London with possession, Maurice Jones Sr. would force a turnover for a steal running the clock down to just 2-seconds where the Edge would call a timeout. After deliberating over an inbounds play, the Edge would look to feed the ball inside to Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis who tried to fight through contact, but came up just short on a buzzer beater, sending this one to overtime.
In the extra frame, it would take just under a minute and a half until we got our first basket. With the Edge pulling ahead, Jaylen Babb-Harrison would again drain a three to put London up by 2. Junior Cadougan would put the Edge back in the lead. Then with just seconds remaining a lane violation call on a Glen Davis free throw would give London the ball back where they would convert on their opportunities on route to the win.
For the Edge, they would shoot 36% from three-point range and 45% from the field. Both teams would pull down 41 rebounds apiece, while London held the advantage in the post scoring 54 points in the paint to the Edge’s 42. Throughout the afternoon there were 8 lead changes and 4 ties between the teams.
Offensively the Edge got another stand-out performance from veteran Junior Cadougan who dropped 27 points in this one. Behind Junior was Carl English who looked to be back to his old self, scoring 20 points and grabbing 6 rebounds. The Edge were also got 18 points of production out of Maurice Jones Sr. to go along with 8 assists.
For London, Garrett Williamson led the way with 26 points while Jaylen Babb-Harrison dropped 25 in the win.
Your St. John’s Edge look to regroup and get back in the win column on January 29th and January 31st as the Halifax Hurricanes come to town. You can purchase your tickets at the Mile One box office, by phone at 576-7657, or online at sjedge.ca.