St. John's Edge finding it cold on the mainland, too

It’s been chilly in Newfoundland lately. It’s also getting pretty cold away from home for the St. John’s Edge.
The Edge dropped their fifth straight road game Thursday night In London, Ont., losing 121-103 the defending National Basketball League of Canada Lightning.
St. John’s couldn’t find any scoring touch early in this one, missing its first seven shots and watching as London built up a 14-0 lead. By the time the first quarter was over, the Lightning were up by 20 points, a margin they would be stretched over the next two stanzaa.
As has been the case lately, the Edge mounted a fourth-quarter comeback, but on Thursday, it was just enough to make the score more respectable.
After watching his team lose Wednesday at Windsor in the opening game of a four-game swing through Ontario, St. John’s head coach Doug Plumb made a small lineup shuffle, moving Russell Byrd — in just his second game of the season with the Edge — into the starting five, with Dez Lee, Junior Cadougan, Diego Kapelan and Glen Davis, the lone true big man.
But this ended up being a night where the bench would see more than an average amount of playing time, and it showed in the stats, with only Lee (10 points) hitting double figures among the starters.
By contrast, there were four bench players with 10 or more points — Obinna Oleka (13, plus 14 rebounds for a double-double), Jared Nickens (11), Isaiah Tate (11) and Satnam Singh (10).
But on the whole, this was a night when the Edge’s sights were off, with the visitors shooting just 41 percent overall and only 25 per cent on three-pointers.
The Lightning, who were led in scoring by Mo Bolden with 25 points, hit on 52 per cent of their overall shots and nearly as well (48 per cent) from long range.
By winning percentage, St. John’s (17-13) still tops the NBLC’s Central Division, but Windsor (16-14) and London (18-16) are filling up the rearview mirror.
The Edge will look to pull away a bit as they take on the K-W Titans (13-15) in Kitchener in the lone league game Saturday night before closing out their divisional tour Monday against the expansion Sudbury Five (15-15).