Posts Tagged ‘London Lightning’

First Round:

1 – Windsor Express – Robert Curtis – 6’10”/Centre

2 -Moncton Miracles – Anthony Johnson – 6’8/Forward

3 – Summerside Storm – Brandon Hassell – 6’11/Centre

4 – Oshawa Power – (Acquired by Summerside on draft night)  Chad Gillaspy – 6’7/Forward

5 – Saint John Mill Rats – Michael Helms – 6’2/Guard

6 – Laval Kebs – Adrian Moss – 5’10/Guard

7 – Summerside Storm (Acquired from Halifax Rainmen) – Avery Smith – 6’4/Guard

8 – Moncton Miracles (Acquired from London Lightning) – Kamar Burke – 6’5/Forward

Second Round:

9 – Windsor Express – Kevin Loiselle – 6’6”/Forward

10 – Moncton Miracles – Terance Licorish – 6’9”/Centre

11 – Summerside Storm – Reginald Robinson – 6’1/Guard

12 – Oshawa Power – Amani Daanish – 6’8/Forward

13 – Saint John Mill Rats – Darin Mency – 6’2/Guard

14 – Laval Kebs – Travis Cohn – 6’2/Guard

15 – Halifax Rainmen – Courtland Bluford – 6’2/Guard

16 – London Lightning – Jerome Richardson – 6’5/Forward

Third Round:

17 – Windsor Express – Wayne Portalatin – 6’9/Centre

18 – Moncton Miracles – Collin Whitely – 6’6/Forward

19 – Summerside Storm – Michael Norwood – 6’6/Forward

20 – Oshawa Power – Jamaal Smith – 5’11/Guard

21 – Saint John Mill Rats – Taneiko Robinson – 6’6/Forward

22 – Laval Kebs – Emmanuel Trinquieur – 6’4/Guard

23 – Summerside Storm (Acquired from Halifax Rainmen) – Brandon Bush – 6’6/Forward

24 – London Lightning – Obinna Agomo – 6’3/Guard

Acting commissionaire Andre Levingston announces the first two rounds at the NBL Draft in Toronto.

Draft Night Transactions

Saint John Mill Rats trades #5 pick (1st Round) and rights of Isaac Kuon to Windsor Express for #1 pick (1st Round).

Halifax Rainmen trades rights of Tyrone Levett and Christian Upshaw to Moncton Miracles for #2 pick (1st Round).

Summerside Storm trades rights of Louie McCroskey and cash considerations to Oshawa Power for #4 pick (1st Round).

Oshawa Power trades rights of Brandon Robinson to Halifax Rainmen for cash considerations and future 2013 draft pick.

London Lightning acquires Laval Kebs’ 1st Round pick and 2nd Round pick for cash considerations.

In front of 5,106 fans at home the London Lightning beat out the Halifax Rainmen 116-92 in Game 5 of an exciting finals showdown to become the first NBL Canada Champions.

“What a great finish to an outstanding Championship series, outstanding playoffs and an exciting regular season,” said John Kennedy, NBL Canada Commissioner. “I know I speak for the entire League, when I say we’re very pleased with the success we’ve had this year and look forward to even bigger accomplishments in the future!”

Mr. Kennedy was unfortunately out of town due to personal reasons, but he sends his regrets and congratulations to the entire Lightning organization. Chief Operating Officer Ian McCarthy stepped in to present the Lightning with the NBL Canada Championship Trophy.

“It was an amazing showcase for the League, it was exciting to go to a game and we’re looking forward to building on this for next season,” said Mr. McCarthy.

McCarthy also announced Gabe Freemen of the London Lightning as the playoff MVP and Head Coach Micheal Ray Richardson as Coach of the Year.

The Lightning held the number one spot all regular season, finishing with an impeccable 28-8 record.

“It was a great game with an incredible crowd, what we did was protect our home court and its an unbelievable feeling.” said Richardson.

Leading the Lightning to their championship win was DeAnthony Bowden with 28 points, followed by Gabe Freeman with 22 and Eddie Smith with 20. Shamari Spears and Rodney Buford had 18 points each while Tim Ellis had 14 rebounds for the Lightning.

The Rainmen were led by Chris Hagen with 21 points, followed by Tyrone Levett with 14 and Justin Johnson with 13.

“It was an unbelievable game, with two teams that fought their hearts out all season to come together in the championship and to game 5,” said Andre Levingston, President & CEO of the Halifax Rainmen. “London did an unbelievable job and deserved to win, but from a league standpoint this was incredible for the fans.”

NBL Canada’s successful first season will conclude with the League’s inaugural All-Star weekend in Halifax March 31-April 1, presented by Rogers Communications Inc. For more information visit nblallstar.ca.

(London ON)

The Summerside Storm marked the end their first season today, losing 109-87 to the London Lightning in front of a crowd of 3017 at the John Labatt Centre.

The Storm kept a close first quarter shooting 45% from the floor, ending the first, up 28-24 over the Lightning. However London out shot them 24-15 in the second. This combined with a run from London late in the 3rd along with messy defense in the 4th, allowed the first place team to take the win. High scorer for the Storm was Troy Jackson with 24 points; Tim Ellis led London with 25.

Season ticket holders are reminded that they have until March 30th to reserve their seat selection for the 2012-13 season before passes go on sale to the general public on April 1st. To reserve, and for more information visit www.stormbasketball.ca or email info@stormbasketball.ca

Story By:
Natalia Goodwin

NBL CANADA INAUGURAL ALL-STAR VOTING BEGINS
(TORONTO, ON) The National Basketball League of Canada tips-off its 2012 All-Star selection process today. The 2012 All-Star Weekend, brought to you by Rogers Communications Inc., will be held March 31-April 1 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
“We’re excited to include our fans in the All-Star voting process,” said John Kennedy, NBL Canada Commissioner. “All-Star weekend is not only about showcasing the talent of the league, but celebrating our fans and partners who have supported us in our inaugural season.”
2012 NBL All-Stars will be chosen through a fan vote and fantasy draft. Beginning today, fans can cast their votes here daily for their top 20 players to participate in the inaugural All-Star weekend. Players not currently on the list are still eligible to be selected, so fans can enter the name of a player not on the list to be considered.
This list is complied of each team’s top picks for All-Star contenders. The top 20 players, along with 10 alternates will be revealed in early March.
All seven NBL Canada Head Coaches will then choose a Captain for each team. Captains will be responsible for selecting their teams through a Fantasy draft, alternating their selections from the top 20 pool.
Each team will consist of ten players and include a minimum of 3 Canadians. To ensure there is representation from all markets, Captains will need to choose a minimum of 1 player from each team and a maximum of 3 players from their respective regular season teams.

NBL Canada All-Star Watch List (by team in alphabetical order):

  1. Taliek Brown, Halifax Rainmen
  2. Eric Crookshank, Halifax Rainmen
  3. Joey Haywood, Halifax Rainmen (Canadian)
  4. Justin Johnson, Halifax Rainmen
  5. Tyrone Levett, Halifax Rainmen
  6. Lawrence Wright, Halifax Rainmen
  7. DeAnthony Bowden, London Lightning
  8. Shawn Daniels, London Lightning
  9. Tim Ellis, London Lightning
  10. Gabe Freeman, London Lightning
  11. Michael King, London Lightning (Canadian)
  12. Eddie Smith, London Lightning
  13. Boubcar Coly, Moncton Miracles
  14. Trayvon Lathan, Moncton Miracles
  15. Nick Lother, Moncton Miracles (Canadian)
  16. Sylvania Watkins, Moncton Miracles
  17. Darrell Wonge, Moncton Miracles
  18. Paul Campbell, Oshawa Power (Canadian)
  19. Marcus Johnson, Oshawa Power
  20. Omari Johnson, Oshawa Power
  21. Morgan Lewis, Oshawa Power
  22. Brandon Robinson, Oshawa Power
  23. Tut Ruach, Oshawa Power (Canadian)
  24. Jermaine Blackburn, Quebec Kebs
  25. Ralphy Holmes, Quebec Kebs
  26. James ‘Boo’ Jackson, Quebec Kebs
  27. Royce Parren, Quebec Kebs
  28. Aaron Spears, Quebec Kebs
  29. Rick Volcy, Quebec Kebs (Canadian)
  30. Anthony Anderson, Saint John Mill Rats
  31. Antonio Burks, Saint John Mill Rats
  32. Steve Deluca, Saint John Mill Rats
  33. Darren Duncan, Saint John Mill Rats
  34. Greg Plummer, Saint John Mill Rats
  35. Kevin Francis, Saint John Mill Rats (Canadian)
  36. Julien Allen, Summerside Storm
  37. Chris Cayole, Summerside Storm (Canadian)
  38. Eric Gilchrese, Summerside Storm
  39. Stephen McDowell, Summerside Storm
  40. Al Stewart, Summerside Storm
  41. Mike Williams, Summerside Storm
 
2012 All-Star weekend will consist of two-days of exciting events from an All-Star breakfast, family activities, to a three-point shoot out, slam-dunk contest, legends game and of course the All-Star Game.
Tickets go on sale February 17 through Ticket Atlantic and start at $20 for a two-day pass. Minor Basketball, Senior and Military discounts are also available. For more information on All-Star Weekend, to vote for your All-Stars or to reserve your tickets visit nblcanada.ca.
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Media Contact:
Bailey Williams
Director of Public Relations, National Basketball League of Canada
Phone: 647.388.9669
Jillian Blackman
Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Halifax Rainmen
Phone: 902.402.6526

In front of 3000+ screaming fans all with blue cow bells in the electric Eastlink Arena the London Lightning once again stole one from the Storm in a game that went down to the final seconds.  Costly turnovers down the stretch cost Summerside another game but more importantly it dug them into a bigger hole in the NBL playoff race.  The Storm lost by a final score of 116-110.

Score By Quarter:

First — Summerside 27 – London 23

Second — Summerside 56 – London 51

Third — Summerside 81 – London 72

Final — Summerside 116 – London 110

Even though Summerside lost a tough one they did many things right that put them in a position to win.  They played ALL four quarters Thursday night scoring over 25 in each of the four, and the Storm were very solid at the free throw line going 21/26 for an NBA like 86%.

Unfortunately the mistakes caught up with Summerside in the ladder part of the fourth quarter, leading to an impressive London run that started near the 7:00 minute mark of the fourth quarter.  Turnovers were the difference in this game, Summerside’s 20 give-away’s led to 17 London points.  Another major issue that’s been facing this new team all season is their fourth quarter defence, and tonight was no exception.  Summerside allowed a despicable 44 points in the final quarter (that’s about double what they should allow in the fourth).

If there were any bright spots in Thursdays’s game it may be that Summerside played about 42 of the 48 minutes of basketball tonight which is more than usual.  Another exciting moment was halftime, that’s right halftime!  The featured event was a wheel chair basketball game,  although the score wasn’t tallied the players were into the game, and so were the fans, although they seemed to favour team white.

London’s leading rebounder tonight was Eddie Smith with 11; oh wait, he also dropped 40 points in 42 minutes of work!

For Summerside Mike Williams got it done again scoring 23 and elevation for 11 boards.