‘Small adjustments’
Storm had a chance to win Game 1 late, but ‘AA’ came up big for Riptide
The Saint John Riptide outlasted the Island Storm 101-96 to begin the National Basketball League of Canada playoffs Wednesday night at Harbour Station.
Anthony Anderson scored 31 points for the Riptide, while Jahii Carson deposited a gamehigh 34 points for the Storm.
“I thought our game plan was sound tonight. We hold that team to 101 points, you’re going to have the opportunity to win a lot of games,” Storm head coach Joe Salerno said.
“We were in a position with a one-point lead with about three-and-a-half minutes left to win Game 1 on the road. . . I think it’s small adjustments tomorrow.”
The best-of-five battle continues tonight at 7 p.m. in the Port City before switching to Charlottetown for Saturday’s Game 3.
“It’s super important,” Anderson said about getting off to a strong start in a short series. “It’s really important to get both of these games at home, so we’re coming back (Thursday) with the same attitude. We just focused on defence and stopping their pick and roll.
“Carson is deadly off the pick and roll and we wanted to slow that down, and we did that, for the most part. But we still have some work to do. We’ll come back with some of the same game plan, but we’re going to try some new things, too.”
The Riptide received contributions up and down their lineup. Brian Addison and Olu Famutimi, both former Storm players, each had eight points, while Anthony Stover and Alex Campbell notched seven apiece. Stover also recorded nine rebounds.
Meanwhile the Storm’s bench didn’t perform as required and they ran into some turnover issues early.
“You have to win at home and it’s always good to get the first one, but it’s going to be a war,” Saint John head coach Rob Spon said. “They’re never out of a game because of their great shooting.”
Both teams were ice cold from the field to open the third quarter. Darin Mency nailed a jumper to give Saint John a four-point lead halfway through the frame, igniting a surge that had the hosts up 71-63 after 36 minutes.
With several Riptide players
waving their hands up and down, the crowd came to life at the buzzer to provide an emotional lift before the fourth quarter. Saint John continued to roll early in the final frame, with Gabe Freeman draining a dagger from downtown less than two minutes in.
After an Island timeout, Carson canned a triple, only to be answered by Famutimi’s corner three for a 12-point cushion. Back-to-back treys by Anderson had the Riptide up by 13 with eight minutes left.
But Carson struck from beyond the arc again to pull the Storm within seven midway through the quarter. Two straight by Terry Thomas from the line had the visitors within one with four minutes left.
After briefly surrendering the lead, the Riptide went up by three with less than a minute left. A big stop, followed by a clutch triple by Mency, put Saint John up by six with 24 seconds remaining.