SkyHawks nearly knock off Lightning
Ottawa runs out of time against first-place London
LIGHTNING 105 SKYHAWKS 100
It may have been a bit much to ask for the young Ottawa SkyHawks to play the role of giant killers twice in a 48-hour span, but they nearly pulled it off.
After knocking off the first-place (at the time) Brampton A’s 114-102 on the road Monday, the SkyHawks returned home Wednesday to face the current first-place London Lightning in National Basketball of Canada action at a sparsely populated Canadian Tire Centre.
The SkyHawks opened the game on a 15-2 run to take an early lead but the Lightning immediately responded with a 15-2 run of its own to tie the game 17-17.
The Lightning (8-2) eventually went on to a 105-100 win for its eighth straight victory, a streak that started with a 98-97 win over the SkyHawks on Nov. 9.
The loss was the third in four games for the SkyHawks (6-6) and dropped them to .500 on the season. They have a chance to rebound Thursday when they host the A’s before heading to the Maritimes for games at Halifax on Saturday and Saint John on Sunday.
“We felt pretty good and we’re going to come out (Thursday) and we’re going to learn from what we did today,” SkyHawks guard Jamal Crook said after the loss.
“There are a couple of things that we have to clean up that we messed up on and we’re going to come out a stronger team.”
After their early impressive run the SkyHawks found themselves fighting to stay in contention and trailed 51-42 at the half. It got worse in the third quarter when the Lightning increased its lead to 14, but then the SkyHawks picked up their game.
“We’re not a team that’s going to give up. Eight-point lead, nine-point lead, 10-point lead, it doesn’t really matter what the lead is or how much time is on the clock. We’re not a team of quitters so no matter what, we’re going to play,” Crook said.
They didn’t quit and, led by Crook’s team-high 13 points in the second half, the SkyHawks were able to outscore the Lightning 58-54 over the final two quarters.
Ottawa couldn’t get to within a one-possession game, however, as the clock forced them into fouls in an effort to save time.
Crook was among six SkyHawks who finished the game in double digit points, including Jermaine Johnson, who led the team with 20.
On the other side Garrett Williamson had 28 points while Marvin Phillips had 23 to do most of the damage for the Lightning.