It wasn't always pretty, but the Sudbury Five got it done on home court over the course of the Easter long weekend.
As such, the defending BSL (Basketball Super League) champions will take a two games to none lead in their best of five semi-final series with the Montreal Toundra into "La Belle Province" for games three and four on Wednesday and Thursday.
A spirited start in game one served Sudbury well, leading 35-26 (Q1) and 63-48 (Q2) on route to a 105-96 victory that saw six members of the Five reach double digits, with another falling just one point shy.
Beyond the ever-present Duane Notice (28 pts), Sudbury scoring was extremely balanced as Alex Kotov (17), Devante Jamison (16), Charlie Marquardt (12), Emmanuel Akot (11), Tyquane Goard (10) and Antonio Davis Jr (9) all contributing in spurts.
Tafari Beckford topped the scoring parade for Montreal with a 26-point effort, with 22 points coming in the second half as the league veteran had runs of 10 and 12 points where he accounted for all of the Toundra offense.
The Five limited the visitors to just a trio of three-point baskets while sinking eight of their own - though the game's first hoop from beyond the arc came late in the second quarter of play.
Though game two did not start as well for the Sudbury squad - the Five trailed 34-25 after twelve minutes of play - a ramped up defensive effort in quarter two turned the tables completely, with the home team never looking back.
Limiting the Toundra to just 15 points in that stretch, coach Joey Puddister and company took a 54-49 lead into the break and built on that in the third, holding on for a 103-101 win as Nervens Demosthene calmly sank the game-winning free throws with 26 seconds to play.
Duane Notice led all scorers with a 30-point performance, with the trio of Charlie Marquardt (19), Alex Kotov (14) and Allen Billinger (13) next in line for the Five. The one-two punch of Ketarrious Bouchum (27) and Tafari Beckford (20) combined to account for nearly half of the Montreal production in a losing cause.
Sudbury again held a sizeable advantage in shooting from distance, finishing 16/34 with their three point attempts while the Toundra (7/21) more than doubled their output from game one, but still relied far more from their game in tight to the basket.
While the personal foul count was almost identical (19-18 Sudbury), the visitors were sent to the line far more often, a productive 20/26 contest helping to keep the game close as Sudbury finished with just 13 free throws made in total (of 19 attempts).
