It took a little while for the St. John’s Edge to take flight as they attempted to travel from Halifax to St. John’s earlier this week.
The same thing could be said about the second half of their 2019-20 National Basketball League of Canada home-opener Tuesday night at Mile One Centre.
The Edge overcame a stuttering start to the third quarter to rally for a 119-115 win over the KW (Kitchener-Waterloo) Titans.
It was a third straight win for the Edge (3-4), who only arrived in St. John’s Tuesday morning after being stuck in Halifax for two days because of flights cancelled by weather conditions. They were supposed to have left Stanfield International Airport on Sunday night after a 109-108 win over the Halifax Hurricanes that completed their six-game season-opening road trip.
Tuesday night, before an announced crowd of just under 1,800, the Edge didn’t show too much in the way of travel legs in the opening half, building up a 59-51 lead. After the break however, the home side looked very much like it had been affected by the delayed arrival; the Titans went on a 19-2 run in the first three minutes of the third quarter to take a 70-61 lead.
But the Edge stemmed the bleeding and were down by just three points entering the final quarter, where they outscored the visitors 31-24, taking the lead for good with four minutes remaining.
Karrington Ward and Cane Broome led St. John’s with 24 points each, while teammate Montay Brandon had a double-double, with 21 points and 12 rebounds.
Junior Cadougan (16 points) and Tyrone Watson (12) also hit in double figures for the Edge, while former St. John’s guard Jared Nickens led the Titans (1-4) and all scorers Tuesday, registering 26 points before fouling out late in the contest.
Jonathan Harris (23 points, 12 rebounds) and Damon Lynn (20 points) were the other top scorers for KW, which gets another shot at the Edge tonight (7 p,m.) at Mile One.
With Murphy Burnatowski sidelined by a knee injury and St. John’s native Noel Moffatt not seeing any floor time, the Edge used a short bench Tuesday, but the non-starters still proved the difference. Broome, Brandon, Jesse Jones and Elijah Macon delivered 57 points in total, or just about half of their team’s offensive output. By contrast, the Titans received just 20 points from its bench.
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