They might have represented the top and bottom of the National Basketball League of Canada standings in 2022 but the London Lightning and the Windsor Express were as close as you could get on Sunday in Game One of their first round playoff series.
The Lightning weren’t able to pull away for good until the final six minutes of the game but they managed to earn a 106-99 victory and a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five.
Windsor entered the post-season as the fourth seed in the four-team league after an 8-16 record.
London towered over the rest of the NBLC at 20-4.
Late season addition Jordan Burns played sparingly throughout much of the game but made a large impact late with eight of the final 16 points that the Lightning scored. Those were the only points Burns recorded on the afternoon.
Amir Williams led the way for London with 22, while Chris Jones returned to the lineup after serving a six-game suspension for an on-court incident with officials and came off the bench to contribute 19 points. Cameron Forte also played a big reserve role for London with ten points and nine rebounds.
Terry Thomas had a double-double as he pulled down 14 rebounds and chipped in ten points in the Game 1 victory.
The Lightning defence limited Express star Billy White to 18 points in the game.
Windsor continued a season-long trend of struggling from the foul line as they shot under 50 percent on free throws.
London was above 80 percent.
The teams will meet next on Tuesday, May 17 for Game Two.
Series schedule:
Game 2 – Tuesday, May 17 at 7 p.m. at Budweiser Gardens in London, Ont.
Game 3 – Friday, May 20 at 7:30 p.m. at WFCU Centre in Windsor, Ont.
Game 4 – Sunday, May 22 at 2 p.m. at WFCU Centre in Windsor, Ont. *if necessary
Game 5 – Tuesday, May 24 at 7 p.m. at Budweiser Gardens in London, Ont. *if necessary
In the other NBLC semi-final the K-W Titans got 35 points from Eric Ferguson and knocked off the Sudbury Five 122-116.
That series also continues on Tuesday, May 17.