The St. John’s Edge begin their busiest stretch of the National Basketball League of Canada season Tuesday night as they open a five-game road swing to be played over six days in southern Ontario.
But it looks like they could do so without leading scorer Carl English, who is dealing with a fractured nose and a possible concussion.
The Edge star guard did not play Saturday night as the Edge downed the KW (Kitchener Waterloo) Titans 109-99 at Mile One Centre. He took an elbow to the face during the first quarter of Friday’s contest, although he played to the end of the game, which St. John’s won 105-103.
However, after determination of the extent of his injuries — and for precautionary purposes — he was ruled out for the rematch. Then came word the 36-year-old would not be with his teammates today as they fly to Toronto.
“Not travelling… need to get re-evaluated in the next few days or so and go from there,” texted English Sunday night.
After winning three of four games in their just-completed homestand, the Edge (11-5) sit second overall in the league, just behind the defending champion London Lightning (12-5).
And in Saturday’s rematch with the Titans, St. John’s looked like a team that could at least temporarily absorb the loss of English, who is the second-leading scorer in the league with a 23.7 points per game average. Charles Hinkle had a game-high 31 points for St. John’s, which also also got sterling efforts from Alex Johnson, with 18 points and a game-high 12 assists, and another double-double from Desmond Lee, who had 15 points and a team-leading dozen rebounds.
But the absence of their shooting star for a longer stretch might be more telling for a St. John’s team facing a withering week.
The Edge play the Titans In a day game Tuesday in Kitchener, Ont., the Lightning on Wednesday and then, after a day off, embark on a three-games-in-three days weekend — with two bus trips — taking on the Niagara River Lions Friday night, the Windsor Express on Saturday and the Lions again on Sunday afternoon after a return trip from London to St. Catharines, Ont.
