Rainmen 2-0 in the Preseason - RAINMEN 108, KEBS 90

RAINMEN 108, KEBS 90

The Rainmen came out energized as their high from Friday night's win spilled into Sunday afternoon's matchup against the Quebec Kebs.

The Halifax Rainmen played full force from the beginning with the former Bradley Brave, Tony Bennett, getting hot early in the game.  With Bennett's hot hand, Halifax built up a 10-point lead after the first quarter and never looked back.  The Kebs had a tough time making shots against Halifax going 16 for 41 from the field in the first half. 

With their lightning quick speed  and ability to take it to the rim, Halifax fans are starting to see the strength at the guard position with Tony Bennett and Adris Deleon. Tony Bennett  had an impressive line with 28 pts, 9 assists and 2 steals while Adris Deleon put up 18 pts.

The matchup was a little chippy at points, with tempers between Halifax and Quebec getting a little heated in the first half and a few shoves amongst players.  Quebec's Cordell Jeanty and Jonas Pierre were two of the most heckled guys from the Halifax crowd. Despite that, they two combined for 54 of Quebec's 90 points.

Eric Crookshank had a couple of highlight-reel throwdowns and also had a game-high 14 boards to go along with his 16 points.  The highlight of the game was when former Dalhousie Tiger, Devon Norris, checked in, making his first basket as a Rainmen player which was followed by a nice applause from the Halifax crowd.

Key Notes:

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  Mark McCarroll, starting power forward for the Rainmen, had 18 pts, 8 rebounds and 3 swats
  
  
  
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  The Kebs outrebounded the Rainmen 49-39
  
  
  
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  Rainmen held the Kebs to just 19 points in each of the first two quarters
  
  
  
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  Quebec's #14 Fiwso Tshimbomba had the jersey of the day with the #1 penned in with what looked to be a blue marker
  
  
  
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  Empire State of Mind: The Rainmen have seven players out of New York on this season's roster
  
  
  
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  Big ups to Shaun "Mavs" Gillis and Jamie Kelly with their great call of the game right here on Haligonia.ca!
  
  
  
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  For those wondering on what a "Keb" is, I looked it up on Wikipedia: Kebs is short for Kebekwa, a phonetic spelling of the word Québécois, or "Quebeckers.", there you have it.
  
  
  

Game two of the Holiday Classic is in the books, with the Rainmen going 2-0.  Do you guys think they can go 3-0?  Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts!

The Rainmen take on Vermont Monday evening (7:00 pm), check out Haligonia.ca  for live online streaming coverage!

Romy Aquino covers the pro basketball game (the Canadian Flavour of the NBA, the PBL's Halifax Rainmen) from a fan's perspective.  He also can be found at NBA hoops blogs, Hip Hoop Junkies (A Member of TheScore.com's Sports Federation) and Hoop Heads North.  Follow him on Twitter: @romyaquino