Highlanders defeated by hot-shooting Riptide
The Cape Breton Highlanders fell victim to a hot-shooting team.
Anthony Anderson of the Saint John Riptide fired a gamehigh 51 points and shot 11-for19 beyond the arc in a 133-105 win over the Highlanders in front of 1,102 National Basketball League of Canada fans on Tuesday at Centre 200.
Anderson, the league’s leading scorer, shot 20-for-31 from the field and hit threes at will, even answering any big shot hit by Cape Breton as they tried to gain some momentum. Anderson added 10 assists.
Fellow Riptide guard Darin Mency also had a strong, longrange shooting game with 30 points, including seven threes. Gabe Freeman followed with 21 and Aaron Brown chipped in 14.
Booker Woodfox paced the Highlanders with 22 points, while Hank Thorns followed with 20.
Thorns finished with 12 assists and fell just shy of a tripledouble with nine rebounds. Hank Thorns finished just short of a triple-double, scoring 20 points to go along with 12 assists and nine rebounds in a 133-105 loss to the Saint John Riptide on Tuesday at Centre 200.
“They all got it rolling as a team and were making shots,” said Thorns, a guard from Las Vegas, Nev. “Even when we made big shots, they made big shots as well. We have to give them their praise. They played well and shot the ball well tonight.”
Chad Frazier netted 17, while Anthony Walker and Billy Rush scored 13 and 11 points respectively for Cape Breton, who fell to 8-18 on the season. They’re last in the five-team Atlantic Division. The Highlanders trailed 67-51 at the half.
Saint John improved to 18-13 and sit in second place in the Atlantic.
The Highlanders continue their homestand on Friday when they host the Moncton Miracles (11-19), a team they’re chasing for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Atlantic. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.
“Our biggest thing is we’re trying to win out and make a playoff push,” said Thorns. “We want it to be between us, Island Storm and Moncton and we know that’s the case. We know we have to squeeze out those games.”
Saturday, they’ll take on the Orangeville A’s (11-18) at 3 p.m.