Sudbury plays its final regular season game today at home against the league-leading KW Titans, team will also pay tribute to Sudbury and Canadian basketball legend Eli Pasquale today
Nothing separates the good teams from the great teams quite like evenly matched, overtime action late in the season with the playoffs just around the corner.
The rematch between the Montreal Toundra and the Sudbury Five at Sudbury Arena on Saturday night was a lot closer than the game between the two teams just two nights prior.
The Sudbury Five went back to back against Montreal with a slim 126-121 victory, improving to 17 wins and eight losses heading into the final game of the regular season and remaining in second place in the Basketball Super League.
Sudbury’s offensive game was firing on all cylinders in the first quarter, outscoring Montreal 29-26, with returning veteran Charlie Marquardt scoring nine of Sudbury’s first quarter points.
The second quarter was even closer, with Montreal turning the tables and outscoring Sudbury by a 30-28 margin. Kyle Steward led the way for Montreal with 20 of his team’s second-quarter points.
Heading into the halftime break, the Sudbury Five held a slim 57-56 lead over the Montreal Toundra.
Both teams came out for the second half hoping to assert themselves on both ends of the floor, but it was the Toundra that held the slight advantage, outscoring Sudbury 25-24. Tafari Beckford scored 10 of Montreal’s third-quarter points to lead his team.
At the end of the third quarter, the teams were all tied up 81-81 heading into the fourth and final quarter of regulation time.
The fourth quarter was a high-scoring one, with each team notching 28 points apiece. Ketarrious Bouchum led Montreal in fourth-quarter scoring with eight points, while Marquardt once again led the Five with 11 fourth-quarter points.
The Toundra and the Five were all knotted up at 109 points each and overtime was needed to determine a winner.
The Five were not going to be denied in overtime, outscoring Montreal 17-12 in the extra quarter, with one of the newest additions to the Five, Emmanuel Akot, leading Sudbury with eight points in overtime action.
In post-game comments, Sudbury Five forward Alex Kotov said, “Today was a hard overtime battle. We showed resilience and composure when it mattered most, grinding out a tough win down the stretch.
“The energy from the bench and the trust within the locker room made the difference in the game,” he added. ”Credit also goes to the fans, whose support created a playoff-like and pushed the team through adversity. This win is a reflection of the entire coaching staff’s belief in us as well as our commitment to competing at the highest level.”
The first-place KW Titans visit Sudbury Arena today for the Five’s final game of the regular season. Sudbury is looking for a win here to tie Kitchener-Waterloo for first place in the Basketball Super League. The team will also pay tribute today to Sudbury Sports Hall of Famer, Canadian Basketball Hall of Famer and legendary Canadian basketball player Eli Pasquale. Pasquale is inducted into no fewer than six halls of fame.
Pasquale, a point guard, is considered one of the best basketball players in Canadian sports history. The basketball legend from Gatchell competed in two World Student Games, four FIBA World Championships and two Pan American Games in his career.
He was starting point guard and co-captain of the Canada men’s national basketball team, competing at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics.
At the University of Victoria, Pasquale and former Laurentian University head coach Ken Shields led the University of Victoria to five straight national championships. The accolades the Sudburian earned from his on-court exploits are numerous.
A young Eli Pasquale surveys the court during a game at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California. The Gatchell native is a legendary Canadian basketball player, inducted into the Sudbury Sports Hall of Fame, the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame and four other halls of Fame. The accolades he earned for his on-court exploits are numerous. The Sudbury Five pay tribute to him during their March 29 home game. Library and Archives Canada
Besides being UVic’s all-time leading scorer when he graduated, Pasquale was the Mike Moser Trophy winner in 1984 as the male Canadian university player of the year. Named a First-Team All-Canadian three times, Pasquale was a Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (now known as USports) national tournament MVP in 1981 and again in 1983, a CIAU tournament all-star in 1981, 1983 and 1984, and was a five-time first team Canada West all-star.
When he retired from playing, Pasquale ran popular basketball camps in B.C. from 1985 until his death from esophageal cancer in 2019.
Today’s tipoff is at 4 p.m.
Super fan Robert McCarthy covers Sudbury Wolves and Sudbury Five games for Sudbury.com. Got a question for Robert? Email it to [email protected].