The St. John’s Edge built up and maintained a modest lead through three quarters, but the short-staffed Edge saw it quickly disappear in the fourth as they lost 107-100 to the Moncton Magic Saturday night in New Brunswick and fell behind 2-0 in the National Basketball League of Canada final.
The scene now moves to Mile One Centre in St. John’s where the next two games of the best-of-seven series are scheduled to be played, beginning Monday night.
On Saturday, before 3,505 at Moncton’s Avenir Centre, the Edge led 52-46 at the half and held on to that six-point advantage heading into the final quarter, but it took less than two minutes for the Magic to erase the deficit and take the lead. St. John’s did manage to draw even later in the quarter and was within three points of Moncton in the game’s final minute, but could not manage to go back in front again.
Glen Davis returned to the Edge lineup after missing Game 1 of the series — a 103-94 setback Wednesday in Moncton — because of a concussion. However, as was the case with the opener, St. John’s played with just nine men, three less than the norm. That was because Olu Ashaolu had since joined the list of injured Edge players and will not play again in the series.
What’s more, Davis did not finish Saturday’s game. Just over a minute into the fourth quarter, Davis was involved in a collision near the St. John’s bench and was forced out of the contest, leaving the Edge with just eight players for most of the final stanza.
Desmond Lee, who played all but three minutes Saturday, was St. John’s top scorer in Game 2, registering 26 points. Murphy Burnatowski added 19 and Jarryn Skeete scored 15 for St. John’s.
Russell Byrd contributed 14 points off the Edge bench, matching the total of Davis, who had seven rebounds, as did Lee.
The Magic, owners of the league’s best regular-season record, were led by Trey Kell’s 29 points. Jason Calliste (26) and veteran Billy White (23) were Moncton’s other top scorers in the game.
