Big Buckets in the Final Minutes Lead to Halifax Win - RAINMEN 119, FROST HEAVES 109

RAINMEN 119, FROST HEAVES 109

Rainmen Record: 3W-1L

A big bucket from Gary "G Smooth" Ervin last night helped seal the tight game between the Halifax Rainmen and the Vermont Frost Heaves at the Halifax Metro Centre.  The arch rivals went bucket for bucket up until the last few minutes in regulation when leading scorer Tony Bennett and Gary Ervin made some clutch baskets.  Saturday was also the debut of Rainmen's newest faces, Marc Mazur, DeAndre Thomas and Antwan "Antifreeze" Dobie.  Marc Mazur got the start at centre and put up 14 pts and 5 rebounds in 32 minutes of play.

Both teams shot the ball well, shooting 55+% from the field.  Vermont's Troy Jackson and Jawan Bailey helped keep the game competitive and combined for 42 of Vermont's 109 points.

For the Rainmen, Tony Bennett had an impressive night, slashing to the basket at every opportunity he could.  Tony Bennett finished with 28 points on 10 of 20 shooting.  Desmond "Moneyball" Ferguson was money with the three ball as well, nailing six threes.

The Halifax Rainmen and Rogers (sponsor of the Halifax Rainmen) helped raise $23,800 for Haiti disaster relief efforts as the communications company donated $200 for each Rainmen point scored last night.

Shaun "Mavs" Gillis and Ryan Dickison's Player of the Game

Desmond Ferguson - 23 pts, 6 threes, 5 rebounds and 4 steals

Romy Aquino's Player of the Game

Eric Crookshank - 22 pts, 15 rebounds, 4 assists

Hat-tip to the Frost Heaves

Jawan Bailey - 23 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 steal

Key Notes:

• Halifax shot an impressive 61.8% from the field
• Balanced scoring effort from the Frost Heaves as they had six players in double figures
• How the New Faces Performed: Mazur - 14 pts, Dobie - 2 pts, Thomas - 2 pts
• Vermont shot well from the FT line, shooting 82.8%
• The Bench: Vermont outscored the Halifax bench 53-17
• Vermont turned the ball over 16 times to Halifax's 12 turnovers
• New Nicknames: The Halifax crowd came up with a few nicknames for the new faces, there were chants of  "New White Guy" for Marc Mazur and "Baby Strick" for DeAndre Thomas
• The Halifax crowd also donned the nickname "Encino Man" to Ross DeMassi of Vermont due to his resemblance to Pauly Shore
• Canadian Watch:  Garry Gallimore was the only Canuck in action, he finished with 1 pt and 2 rebounds.

Next up, the Rainmen take on the Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry this Friday evening, tune in to Haligonia.ca for live online 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