Lightning Take a Two Game Lead Over River Lions

Saturday, April 7, 2018 (LONDON, ON) –  The London Lightning scored 80 points in the second half take a two-game lead over the Niagara River Lions in round one of the NBL playoffs with a 124-98 win.  

Head coach, Keith Vassell, made key adjustments to the Bolts offense at halftime to adjust to the Lions defensive strategy. "They threw in a couple zones in the beginning and it took us out of our rhythm. At half time we figured it out and were able to get going in the second half.  We bounced back hard and got it done. We can't take them for granted, we played well these two games at home, but every game matters and if we give them daylight things can change. We just try to close it off the best we can, we play with energy, focus on the defensive end and respect our opponents."

Garrett Williamson lead all scorers with 26 points along with six rebounds. "They came out strong, they came out with some pride, they didn't want to go out like that and they jumped on us. They dictated the tempo early on, but once we found our rhythm we chipped away in the second half. We pride ourselves on defense; we get stops and hold teams down, we know we can build a run and play our tempo… we know its hard for teams to keep up with us. It was a good win for us, we are playing well as a team, as a unit, so we just have to build on this, we have one more to go."

The Lightning had contributions all across the board; Royce White had 24 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, Mo Bolden notched a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Ryan Anderson, Julian Boyd and Doug Herring Jr. all added 11 points.

Game three is this Tuesday, April 10 at seven P.M. at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines. Games four and five are only if necessary. Game five will be in London and Budweiser Gardens on Sunday, April 15 at seven P.M. To follow along with game three stay tuned to London Lightning on Facebook and Twitter and to www.lightningbasketball.ca.

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