The London Lightning have beaten the Kitchener Waterloo Titans 115-110 in game two of the National Basketball League of Canada’s Finals bringing them within one game of a series sweep and championship. It was an entertaining back and forth game that saw 12 lead changes and 10 ties, in the Lightnings first overtime playoff game this year.
The Lighting had a balanced attack from their starters, other than Amir Williams who after the game coach Doug Plumb noted was hampered by an injury.
The Lightning were led by Terry Thomas who finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Other than Williams all Lightning starters finished with 17 points or more. In Williams place Cameron Forte chipped in a double double off the bench with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
The KW Titans were down multiple players but managed to remain in striking distance for the course of the game. They were led by league MVP and MIP Joel Kindred who finished with 38 points and 10 rebounds.
The turnover battle played a key role in the Lightning’s victory as they turned the Titans over 20 times while only committing 8 turnovers themselves. This led to a 24-9 points off turnover advantage for the Lightning.
After the game London Lightning Head Coach and NBLC Coach of the Year said “We just stayed the course, really. We’d done this over the course of the year where we wear people down and I knew that when the game went to overtime, they (Titans) would run out of legs … Be emotionally resilient and get on to the next play, huddle after every play, and we got to make plays and our guys did that.”
The London Lightning will be back in action Wednesday June 1, at 7 p.m. when they look to complete their finals series sweep and end the KW Titans season.
