Edge Pull Out Game 2 Win After Wild Fourth Quarter at Mile One Centre
St. John’s, NL — The St. John’s Edge snuck out the win on Monday night in a wild one at Mile One Centre. In front of over 4,000 fans for the second game in a row, the Edge defeated the KW Titans by a score of 112-111 to take a 2-0 lead in the Central Division Finals.
St. John’s were coming into this one looking to take a 2-0 series lead over the Titans. Following the tension of last game and the excitement, fans would expect no less and that is exactly what they got from both teams.
The first quarter got off to a fast pace, with both teams exchanging buckets early on to try and take control. Dez Lee would drop 8 of the team’s first 10 points, while Flen Whitfield scored the first 5 of 10 for the Titans.
St. John’s would get out in front by 7 points, but KW would find the answer with the deep ball after each Edge basket to keep them in this one. After one quarter the score stood at 29-28 for the Edge.
Into the second, the Edge would continue to try and widen the gap. They would get an Isaiah Tate II triple from the corner, then Murphy Burnatowski would drain a three from the top of the key to give the Edge a two-possession lead.
With 7:27 left in the quarter, Carl English would hit a three, then on the very next possession after a stop, he would be fouled beyond the arc and drain all three free throws to put the Edge in front by 13. This forced a timeout by KW. Out of that timeout, it would be the Edge with the big response as Olu Ashaolu would shake his defender and throw down the hammer to increase the lead. As the quarter drew to a close, the Titans would hang around thanks to a late Justin Strings layup, sending it into the break with the Edge leading 58-44.
Out of the half-time break, the Titans would bring the game back to within 10 points as Ed Horton would hit a layup in transition and follow that up with a Tramar Sutherland layup off a turnover. After a St. John’s timeout, they would pick up the pace again. Newcomer Kyle Johnson would drop three of his six points, while Carl English kept up his solid play draining a reverse layup off a broken play. With the quarter coming down to the final second, Jarryn Skeete would hit the buzzer-beating layup to give the Edge 83-69 lead with just 12 minutes remaining.
The final quarter had everything; we start with Joel Friesen being ejected after two unsportsmanlike technicals. This would spark an Edge run that was started by a Carl English triple, following this the Edge would lead by as many as 21.
Following the Edge run, the Titans would go on a 16-2 run and get right back into this one, trailing by just 6 points with 2:30 left in the game. After the teams exchanged baskets, Dez Lee would hit the killer crossover then drain the three to put the Edge back up by 9 with 1:18 left.
Down to the final seconds, with KW trailing 110-108, they would find Ashton Smith from beyond the arc and he would make no mistake accounting for 3 of his 20 points in the quarter. With just 5 seconds left the Edge had the ball down by 1 point, off the inbounds play Glen Davis would be fouled and he would hit both free throws to give the Edge the 1 point advantage with 3.3 seconds left. The Titans would get the ball into the hands of Ed Horton who would fly down the court, but to avoid a defender he would commit the carry-over and that was the game, with the Edge pulling this one out 112-111.
On this night, the Edge would have 5 players score in double figures, with 22 points in the win. Glen Davis would drop 18, Murphy Burnatowksi had 17, Dez Lee had 15, while Olu Ashaolu dropped 10 of his own.
For the Titans, they were led by Ashton Smith who had 25 points in the win, with 20 of those coming in the fourth quarter.
The Edge now look to take a commanding lead in the series as they head to Kitchener-Waterloo for Game 3 on Friday night at the Aud. Fans can catch the game on www.nblclive.ca or join the Edge staff at Boston Pizza Water Street to enjoy the game with great food and great company.
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