CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – Tyler Scott had a chance to tie it with two seconds left in overtime, but couldn’t get a deep three to drop Sunday afternoon as the Island Storm lost 107-102 to the Saint John Riptide.
“I thought that was good,” the Storm rookie said after the game. “Some fall, some don’t that’s the way the game goes sometimes.”
It ended a gutty performance for an undermanned Storm squad playing without starting point guard Andre Stringer (elbow), leading scorer Du’Vaughn Maxwell (lower body) and Brad States (ankle), a key forward off the bench. It was also the team’s third game in as many days after playing in Sydney, N.S., on Friday and Halifax on Saturday.
“We gave it everything we could,” Scott said. “It’s tough – three games back-to-back, travelling, getting home at 2:30 this morning, playing at 2 o’clock this afternoon, it’s tough.
“These guys competed and we gave it our all.”
The Storm fell behind early, but was able to claw back and went to the second quarter trailing 27-25. Saint John won the second quarter to take a 45-37 lead to the half. The Storm responded, cutting the deficit to three (72-69) heading to the fourth.
Storm head coach Tim Kendrick said: “Under the circumstances today, I’m awfully proud of our guys. I think we battled hard and played hard the whole way."
After Franklin Session made a layup to give the Storm an 88-87 lead, Scott stole the inbounds pass and hit a corner three to make it 91-87. It could have been the swing point of the game, but the Riptide refused to go away.
Jeremiah Mordi made a couple of layups and Horace Wormley a trey to give the visitors a 95-93 lead.
Kemy Osse tied it with a jumped with 1:07 left and each team missed a three-point shot to send the game to overtime.
Gabe Freeman connected on a jumper with 1:03 left to give Saint John a 102-100 lead. He grabbed the rebound on Session’s missed three on the next possession and hit a jumper at the other end for the winning shot.
“I think we’re a tired group for sure,” head coach Tim Kendrick said. “The schedule is the schedule, there’s nothing we can do about it, but the injuries are obviously taking their toll.”
The Riptide (9-6) won its fourth straight game while the Storm (8-9) dropped its fifth straight game and fell below .500.
Scott said the losses don’t start to wear on a team at this point in a skid.
“Not at all,” he said. “We could go on a five-game winning streak starting next week.”
The injuries did provide extended minutes for both Trenity Burdine and Dut Dut on Sunday. They scored seven and six points and had seven and four rebounds while playing 21 and 17 minutes, respectively. Burdine also had three assists and a steal.
Kendrick said both should be commended for their practice efforts, which kept them ready to step in when called upon this weekend.
“Normally they add their worth in other ways, and they bring a lot worth to our team, but this weekend they really added their worth on the court.”
Highlight reel
A look at Sunday’s statistics from the National Basketball League of Canada contest between the host Island Storm and Saint John Riptide.
Scores by the quarter
Riptide – 27 18 27 23 12 — 107
Storm – 25 12 32 26 7 — 102
Top scorers
Riptide – Jeremiah Mordi 21, Gabe Freeman 21, Horace Wormley 16, Mareik Isom 12, Malcolm Miller 11 and Aaron Redpath 11.
Storm – Chris Johnson 30, Kemy Osse 16, Franklin Session 16, Torrence Dyck Jr. 14 and Tyler Scott 11.
Top rebounders
Riptide – Gabe Freeman 11 and Malcolm Miller 10.
Storm – Franklin Session 10 and Travis Elliott 10.
Assist leaders
Riptide – Horace Wormley 11.
Storm – Kemy Osse 7.
Team shooting percentages
Field goals
Riptide – 40.2 (39-for-97).
Storm – 40.7 (37-for-91).
Three-point shots
Riptide – 31.7 (13-for-41).
Storm – 27.3 (9-for-33).
Free throws
Riptide – 80 (16-for-20).
Storm – 67.9 (19-for-28).
Attendance – 1,488.
