A pair of games that went right down to the wire on the final weekend of regular season play should serve the Sudbury Five well as they prepare to open their post-season defense of their BSL title Friday night at home against the Montreal Toundra.
If this past Saturday is any indication, fans in both centres are in for a treat as the Five and the Toundra found themselves tied at the end of three quarters of play (81-81) and again as the final buzzer sounded (109-109) before Sudbury outscored Montreal 17-12 in the five minute overtime session in posting a 126-121 victory.
And for as much as their final home outing did not result in another triumph, the fact that the locals rallied from a 19-point deficit late in the third quarter (80-61 with 3:18 to play), eventually dropping a 100-98 decision to the KW Titans on Sunday allowed coach Joey Puddister the opportunity for some positive takeaways with the most important games of the year just days away.
Actually, it was those who sparked said rally that most had the first year bench boss from North Bay smiling.
“It was our bench that went on that big run, so that was really encouraging going into the playoffs,” said Puddister. “Having that energy from the bench is going to be huge for us, moving forward.”
The scoresheet would lend credence to what Puddister was stating.
While Charlie Marquardt topped the scoring parade for the Five with a 21-point effort versus the Titans, it was the off-the-bench support cast of Devante Jamison (19) and Emmanuel Akot (16) who were next in line, with Duane Notice (15) also right in the thick of things, as always.
Antoine Mason continues to be a thorn in the side of the Sudbury gents, showing the way for the Titans with 27 points, with Ty Groce (14), Romani Hansen (13) and James Towns (10) also all reaching double digits.
Playing in just his fifth game with the Five, Emmanuel Akot is looking increasingly at ease with every passing encounter. “They’ve all made it super easy for me to adjust,” noted the 27 year-old native of Winnipeg. “I am obviously still learning – but every game is going to be better and better.”
Adding six rebounds to his stat line as well, Akot is beginning to display the type of all-around game that he would love Five faithful to become acquainted with in his time in northern Ontario.
“I think I’m a versatile player: shooting, driving, defense, rebounding – just doing a little bit of everything.”
Akot was coming off a 19-point effort one night earlier against Montreal as starters Charlie Marquardt (32), Duane Notice (27) and Alex Kotov (20) were front and centre in the overtime thriller. And though he may have been limited to just nine points, 31 year-old long-time pro Antonio Davis Jr is well equipped to understand where games are won and lost in the playoffs.
“My philosophy has always been that you win championships on defense; that’s what I’ve been taught since a young age,” said Davis, following the Saturday night win. “Going into the playoffs, a lot rides on our execution., making shots. But we don’t want to hang our hats on that.”
“There might be a game in the playoffs where you’re just not making the shots, so I think you have to focus on defense and getting those stops.”
Battling the Montreal Toundra in their best of five semi-final affair means that the Sudbury Five will be re-engaging with a team that they have seen on the court no less than five times in the month of March alone.
“We don’t play until Friday,” said coach Puddister. “This is one of our longer breaks, so that’s not bad, just having a couple of mental days to look at some adjustments. The playoffs are all about adjustments, especially in a five team league.”
“We’ve seen each other a thousand times this year.”
And while that is clearly an exaggeration, the fact that two of those five games in March required overtime to decide bodes well for fans who enjoy a bit of post-season drama, with Sudbury Five more than prepared to face that challenge.
