A chill at the free throw line for the London Lightning led to a 131-119 loss in Sudbury on Saturday night.
London hit just eight of 20 shots from the foul line while the Five drained 21 of 22 free throws.
Other than that the teams mirrored each other statistically for much of the game.
The Lightning had a good night shooting the basketball as they hit 68.2 per cent of the time from three-point range and 55.2 per cent from the rest of the field.
Sudbury got out to a strong start and opened up a 37-29 advantage through one quarter and led by 15 points at the half.
A.J. Gaines led London with 30 points off the bench as part of a double-double. Gaines had 10 rebounds in the game. Xavier Moon had 26 points and continues to lead the Lightning in points per game for players who have appeared in five games or more. Moon is averaging 21.1 points in 19 games this year.
Cameron Forte continued his strong start in a London uniform as he had 19.
Braylon Rayson had a monster night for Sudbury as he poured in 49 points by going 8-of-14 from three-point range and 9-for-9 at the line.
The victory by the Five tightened things up in the NBL Canada’s Central Division. The Lightning are still on top with a record of 14-8 but Sudbury is now just a game and a half behind. The Windsor Express sit third in the division at 10-11. The K-W Titans currently sit in the basement at 8-16.
The Titans did win for the second time in three games as they defeated the St. John’s Edge 114-108 on Saturday in the only other game on the schedule.
London will come back home to play the Five in a second straight game on Wednesday, March 11, at 7 p.m. at Budweiser Gardens.
The teams are now 2-2 against each other this year with two games left to play in their season series.