WINNER TAKE ALL
Storm, Riptide semifinal series comes down to deciding Game 5
Storm, Riptide semifinal series comes down to deciding Game 5
Someone’s season ends Tuesday, and the Island Storm aims for it not to be P.E.I.’s entry in the National Basketball League of Canada.
The Saint John Riptide and the Storm have pushed, shoved, clawed and battled their way to a deciding Game 5 in the bestof-five Atlantic Division semifinal. Start time in Saint John, N.B., is 7 p.m.
So far in the series, the teams have split on the road – that after the regular-season series was a homer’s delight as the Storm proved the only team to win in the other team’s barn.
Despite the Storm’s 2-0 lead 20 seconds into the first quarter of Game 4, Saint John led the rest of the way en route to a 107-97 victory Sunday at the Eastlink Centre.
Last week, the Storm lambasted the Riptide 103-79 at Harbour Station in Game 2, so Storm guard Terry Thomas knows that’s the team his squad must be on Tuesday to beat a very good Saint John squad.
“In their house, we have to bring the energy. Play like we did the last game (there),” said Thomas.
And it won’t be easy. Gabe Freeman, the league’s second leading scorer in the regular season, sank 24 points in Game 4 as the Riptide, helped out by Darin Mency’s 25 points, built a lead as high as 21 points in the third quarter.
The Storm was also out-rebounded by the bigger Riptide 52-47, despite Thomas’s gamehigh 12 boards, and had a gaudy 30-13 edge in second-chance points.
But the Storm can take solace that it led 43-20 in bench scoring, although point guard Al Stewart and forward Akeem Ellis were suspended by the league for Game 4 after separate incidents in Game 2. The Storm also had a 54-44 advantage in points in the paint.
Tuesday, the return of Stewart and Ellis should spark the lineup, so those two things and not clinching in Game 4 is something the Storm must use as motivation if it wants to reach the second round.
“The energy has to be there. I feel like we’ll be aboard,” said Thomas.
Saint John’s Olu Famutimi, also suspended for his Game 2 actions in Game 4, returns to the Riptide lineup.