The London Lightning and the Halifax Hurricanes kicked off their third straight NBL Canada championship series against each other on Sunday.
The Hurricanes struck first with a 119-106 victory, led by 29-point afternoons from both Billy White and Tyrone Watson.
It was the first time that the Lightning have failed to win Game 1 in their previous meetings with Halifax in the finals.
In 2016, London won the opener by ten points, but fell in seven games as the Hurricanes won their first franchise title.
Last year, the Lightning won the series opener and rode that to a six-game series victory over Halifax that ended with a ticker tape celebration on their home court at Budweiser Gardens.
On Sunday they jumped out to an early lead, but spent most of the day chasing the Hurricanes, and while they caught up more than once to tie things up, London never led again after the 3:34 mark of the first quarter.
Doug Herring Jr. led the way offensively for London on a day when both teams went through hot stretches shooting the basketball. Herring Jr. had 26 points. Ryan Anderson and Julian Boyd each scored 17. Boyd also had a game high 13 rebounds.
The Hurricanes did a great job getting to the free throw line, where both teams had their struggles in Game 1. Halifax drew 38 fouls, but hit on just 60 per cent of their foul shots. The Lightning converted just 56.5 per cent of their free throws.
White and Watson combined with Antoine Mason to score 83 of the Hurricanes’ 119 points in the game.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series will take place Tuesday in Halifax, before the series shifts back to London.
Tip-off Tuesday is 6 p.m. Eastern.