Game Three Goes Way of Sudbury, Edge Now Fight for Their Season

St. John’s, NL — The St. John’s Edge dropped Game 3 of their best 3 of 5 series with the Sudbury Five on Wednesday night by a score of 124-112. 

With the series all knotted up at one game apiece, the Edge looked to spoil Sudbury’s first home playoff game in franchise history. They would be without two-way guard Dez Lee in this one as he is sidelined with a lower-body injury that has proven too much to play through. 

At the start of this one, the Edge came out looking to vault themselves into a comfortable lead. St. John’s would jump out to an 11-point lead around the 4-minute mark of the first with big contributions early from Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis and Isaiah Tate II, who was starting in place of the injured Dez Lee. 

Sudbury would make a late push in the first, as Georges Serresse and Jaylen Bland would knock down three-pointers late to make it a one-possession game as the first quarter wrapped up (26-23 Edge lead). 

Into the second quarter, the Five continued to pour on the offence. Sudbury would open the quarter with a 16-2 run that vaulted them in front of the Edge. The majority of their scoring coming from Dexter Williams Jr. who went 3-3 from long range in the first few minutes of the second. The Edge again would pick away at the deficit, with Sudbury turning the ball over with just 3 seconds left on the clock, the Edge through the ball into Satnam Singh who would nail the triple to cut into the lead and send this one into the break with Sudbury leading 53-48. 

The third quarter was the deciding quarter in this one. The Edge would get some early production from Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis as he converted one of his many and-one opportunities early. 

Following two Dexter Williams Jr. three-pointers, the Edge would go back and forth with Sudbury in a flurry of possessions. Whenever the Edge would chip away at the lead, Sudbury would knock down another shot, at one point extending their lead to 20 with 3:16 left in the third quarter. It would be up to the Five defenders to try and stop Glen Davis, as the big man would continue his dominance in the post dropping the final 8 Edge points of the quarter. Going into the final frame, the Five would be in front by a score of 91-70. 

The final frame was much of the same in this one as Sudbury’s high-powered offence continued to give the Edge problems. However, even with the game out of reach, the Edge players fought for every possession late. The combo of Jarryn Skeete and Isaiah Tate II would breathe life into the Edge. The pair would combine for 9 straight points, cutting into the Sudbury lead. 

In the end, the deficit proved too much to overcome as the Edge would fall to Sudbury by a score of 124-112. 

On the night, the Edge held the advantage in rebounds outrebounding the Five 44-38. St. John’s would also get 52 points in production out of their bench who seemed to struggle early on. Offensively, the team was led by Glen Davis who dropped 27 points and pulled down 11 boards. Following Davis, Shaq Keith had another solid game with 18 points, while Isaiah Tate II, in his first start of the season, dropped 19 points of his own. 

For Sudbury, they shot 52% from the field while being led offensively by Jaylen Bland who dropped 31 points in the win. 

It is now crunch time as the Edge play for their season on Friday night in Sudbury. The Edge will be looking to bring the series back to Mile One Centre for a Game 5 match-up on Sunday afternoon scheduled for 2:00 PM. You can catch Friday night’s action at www.nblclive.ca and reserve your seat for Sunday’s potential Game 5 by calling the Mile One Centre box office at 576-7657 or online at www.sjedge.ca