Thirty minutes following their 105-97 loss at the hands of the KW Titans on Sunday afternoon at the Sudbury Arena, coach and players of the Sudbury Five remained sequestered in their dressing room.
And for as much as we made no attempt to listen in on the conversations, the setting alone spoke volumes of how everyone involved with the team most likely felt following this latest setback at home.
To be frank, the final reading of the scoreboard flattered the Five when viewed in context of a contest that did not start well and which felt like the Titans were pretty much in control, with the exception of one late run by the homeside that eventually fizzled out.
The tone was set early as Antoine Mason netted the first eight points of the game as the Titans vaulted to a 16-4 first quarter lead, narrowed somewhat by the homeside prior to the conclusion of the initial 12 minutes of play. Alex Kotov hit for five of his 13 point total in the opening quarter, with Devante Jamison (6 pts) jumping in late as KW still enjoyed a 29-20 advantage heading into Q2.
The interior tandem of Antoine Mason and Ty Pickett were already creating havoc for the Five, finishing the contest with 29 and 23 points respectively. Out on the perimeter, Sudbury head coach Joey Puddister was contending with some foul problems, most notably with sharp-shooter Charlie Marquardt who took a seat on the bench after picking up his third foul in the first half alone.
The absence of Marquardt was also noticeable in terms of the overall intensity the Five would bring to this encounter – or the lack thereof, more specifically, at various junctures of the game.
Offsetting this to some extent was newly-acquired big man Emmanuel Akot, who not only made his presence felt via a team-high 19 point outing, but also by getting in the grill of Ty Pickett in a match that would see a grand total of six technical fouls doled out.
Their best stretch of defensively sound basketball allowed Sudbury to narrow the gap to 49-45 at the half as Duane Notice drove hard to the basket, in a setting seen many times over, scoring just as the buzzer sounded to provide a lift to the Five heading to the room.
That was somewhat short-lived as former Sudbury shooting star Jaylen Bland was quick to demonstrate, in the second half, that he could still strike from distance in the Old Barn on Elgin Street. Bland scored eight points in a span of 65 seconds to restore a comfortable lead for the visitors, up 66-52 at one stage before the Five began to chip away.
Showcasing some team depth from beyond the arc, the northern Ontario squad registered three-pointers from Charlie Marquardt, Antonio Davis Jr, Duane Notice, Marquardt again and Emmanuel Akot, the scoreboard now reading 79-77 with ten minutes to play.
Despite looking good only in bits and spurts, the Sudbury side were well-positioned to complete the comeback from a very early hole, trading baskets through the ensuing seven minutes as the Titans refused to surrender the lead, up 92-91 with 3:22 to play.
Once again, however, it would be the team that recorded a 114-107 homecourt win in Kitchener-Waterloo versus the Five on Thursday who would put the pedal to the medal when needed, with Pickett, Mason and Nathan Charles doing the damage late. A 7-0 K-W run all but put this game to bed, with Sudbury forced to foul and the Titans making good on six free throws in the final 35 seconds of play.
With the win, K-W improves to 18-7, Sudbury drops to 15-9, the exact same record as a Montreal Toundra formation which the Five will face twice in the next week before welcoming the Titans back to town next Sunday afternoon.
