The message was simple, win or go home. Unfortunately for the St. John's Edge their club could not pull out a win as the team dropped their Game Six matchup, 106-101 to the London Lightning Sunday afternoon at Budweiser Gardens.
With the loss, the St. John's Edge drop their Divisional Championship best-of-seven series 4-to-2, closing out their inaugural series. Despite the loss, one positive take-away is the team posted one of the most successful inaugural seasons in league history.
Playing without Royce White-who was out serving an 11 game suspension- the Lightning started the game with a sense of urgency jumping out to an early seven-point lead, 14-7 in the first quarter. However; with the season on the line the Edge battled back to come within two at the end of the quarter making it 23-21 London.
Not wanting to give up an advantage to their opponent both teams went shot-for-shot in the second quarter. Eventually, London built themselves a 6 point lead late in the quarter to take a 46-40 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
At the half, St. John's Edge Associate Head Coach Steve Marcus said of the impending second half, "Its the most important 24 minutes of the year, there is no tomorrow, win or go home." Of the play needed in the second half, Steve said, "We need to set better screens, run a better offensive tempo, and we will make shots in the second half. We led the league in 3-point shooting percentage this season for a reason, and we're going to ride that home."
Feeling the heat in the third quarter St. John's come out hot with a big frame. The Edge were led by Ransford Brempong who scored 8 points off the bench, including a few clutch jump shots. St. John's outscored the Lightning 36-29 to take a one-point, 76-75 lead into the final quarter.
Sadly, the magic ran out for St. John's in the fourth quarter as London put up 31 points, outscoring the Edge 31-25 to lock down a 106-101 victory, eliminating the Edge from the post-season.
St. John's Edge:
Both Carl English and Desmond Lee put up double-doubles for the Edge as English finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Lee on the other hand kicked in 10 points and 14 rebounds. Defensively, Charles Hinkle led the way with four blocks, one steal and 14 points.
London Lightning:
Garrett Williamson led the London Lightning with a game-high 25 points, adding ten rebounds and seven assists. Kirk Williams Jr. added 17 points for London accompanied by five rebounds.
Inside the Numbers
St. John's went 24-for-95 (36 percent) in the shot department, the club also scored 36 points off the bench. The Lightning went 22-for-27 (82 percent) from the free-throw line and scored 48 points.
Thank You
On behalf of the entire St. John's Edge organization, staff, coaching staff and players the St. John's Edge would like to extend an enormous THANK YOU to all fans who have made this inaugural season a tremendous success.
St. John's Edge 2018-19 Season Tickets are now available and can be purchased in person at the Mile One Centre box office, by phone at 709-576-7657 or online at www.mileonecentre.com. Group rates are available and can be obtained by contacting Kenny O'Leary at Kenny@sjedge.ca.
