The London Lighting wrapped up the second-best record in the NBL Canada on Sunday with a 140-136 win over Charlottetown’s Island Storm at Budweiser Gardens.
London held their .700 winning percentage and ended the year at 27-13.
The game was postponed in February after a winter storm prevented the Charlottetown team from getting out of Atlantic Canada.
The Storm nearly managed to give London a sense of that feeling as they made it difficult for London to get out of the fourth quarter with what had been a sizeable lead earlier in the game.
“Anyone is good enough to come back in a game and beat us — we learned that a few times this year,” he added. “But it’s on now. We are playing for a championship — nothing else matters.”
The Lightning enter the post-season as the defending champions. They defeated the Halifax Hurricanes in six games last June to win their third title in franchise history.
Halifax ended the season one victory better than London in 2017-18.
Williamson led the Lightning with 25 points and added seven rebounds. Royce White chipped in 24 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Ryan Anderson had 25 points off the bench and hit a game-high seven three-pointers.
London head coach Keith Vassell was realistic after the game, following the pushback from the Storm in the fourth quarter that saw them outscore the Lightning 38-29.
The Lightning went 7-1 in eight games against the River Lions. London lost their season opener in Niagara and then reeled off seven consecutive victories against the Lions.
The start date for the series has yet to be determined.
Windsor will play the St. John’s Edge in the other Central Division series. The K-W Titans missed the playoffs with an 8-32 record.
The Atlantic Division will feature the Island Storm against Halifax in round one. Saint John will meet Moncton in the 2-3 series. Cape Breton wound up on the outside of the post-season picture after they finished in fifth place.
Comments