The Sudbury Five were not at all pleased with their game three performance in their BSL (Basketball Super League) semi-final series versus the Montreal Toundra Wednesday night in Québec - and it showed the very next evening.

Following a 100-86 loss in which the defending league champs chased the game from start to finish, the Five exploded out of the gates on Thursday, bolting to a 27-15 lead after one quarter of play and 61-41 at the half.

And for as much as Montreal outscored Sudbury in each of the final two quarters, the gap was too much to make up, the Five advancing to the league final thanks to a 96-90 victory.

Alex Kotov was quite often the centerpiece of this victory, leading the Five with a 22-point effort that saw the native of Moscow eat up some 35 minutes on the floor, with coach Joey Puddister shortening his bench to more or less a seven-man rotation.

Charlie Marquardt (21), Allen Billinger (17), Duane Notice (13) and Nervens Demosthene (11) all deserve credit as the Five outscored the Toundra 36-12 from three-point land.

That was key in a contest where the homeside did a nice job of limiting Sudbury to one shot per possession, outrebounding the visitors 51-38.

Topping the scoring parade for Montreal were the likes of Ketarrious Bouchum (21), Shakur Daniel (20), Jeremy Hayes (17), Tafari Beckford (10) and Lansana Nwosu (10), as the Five did a nice job of steering clear of foul trouble, assessed a total of 18 infractions vs 26 for the Toundra.

The Five will now enjoy at least an extra few days to rest their weary bodies as the KW Titans carry a two games to one series lead over the Windsor Express into their game four matchup in southwestern Ontario on Saturday, with game five, if necessary, set to go next Tuesday (April 14th).