Titans bounced in season opener
KITCHENER — Ed Horton appreciates the enthusiastic support.
The Kitchener-Waterloo Titans’ veteran guard focused on the positives Sunday afternoon, moments after his team opened its third National Basketball League of Canada season with a 115-112 loss to the Sudbury Five.
Akeem Ellis launched an unsuccessful three-point shot from 10 feet beyond the arc with seven seconds remaining and the visitors ran out the clock before a small but vocal crowd of 953 at the Aud.
“I loved it, man, I love the energy. I’m glad the people came out and actually showed support, we appreciate that,” said Horton, 33, a native of Shreveport, La.
“We fought as hard as we could, I mean we had some lapses, but I enjoyed it.”
Five-foot-nine guard Braylon Rayson led the Sudbury attack with a game-high 32 points, hitting six of 10 three-point attempts along the way.
Jaylen Bland added 24 points for Sudbury, while Grandy Glaze and Devin Gilligan added 13 each.
The Sudbury uniforms — each player has a No. 5 on the front of his shirt — caused confusion at the scoring table and there were questions about the accuracy of the final statistics.
Flenard Whitfield had 24 points for the Titans, Horton had 20, Derek Hall had 19, Ashton Smith had 18 and Ellis had 17.
Sunday’s game was the first taste of actual competition for this year’s edition of the Titans, which has been training together at RIM Park since late October and went into the season without playing an exhibition game.
Titans head coach Cavell Johnson was impressed with his team’s effort but said the outcome was decided by his team’s inability to play strong defensively from beginning to end.
“They fight, man, they fight and that’s what they’re going to do all season long,” said Johnson, who is entering his first full season as head coach. “Just some things we gotta clean up, some small things that we need to clean up and refocus on, but they never stopped fighting.”
The Titans jumped out to a 40-27 second-quarter lead but couldn’t maintain the momentum.
The Five went on a 29-15 run, including a three-point effort by Rayson at the buzzer, to take a 56-55 halftime lead.
The Titans led the back-and-forth game 85-83 after three quarters.
Ellis, a new addition from Brooklyn, N.Y., has the makings of a fan favourite and made his presence felt throughout the game by imploring the spectators to get on their feet and make noise. He was also a physical presence on the court during his 30 minutes of playing time.
“He’s a culture guy, man, that’s why he’s here,” said Johnson of Ellis. “A culture guy, a glue guy for the team.”
An expansion team, Sudbury opened its season Saturday night with a 126-123 win over the Windsor Express, who just happen to be the Titans’ next opponent. Those teams meet Thursday (7 p.m.) at the Aud.