Breaking Down The Boxscore - KEBS 100, RAINMEN 97 (OT)

KEBS 100, RAINMEN 97 (OT)
Rainmen Record:  9W-4L
No one in the NBA wants to lose to the New Jersey Nets and no team in the PBL wants to lose to the Quebec Kebs.  Unfortunately, the Rainmen were the unlucky ones to be the league's last place team's second win of the season.  But this wasn't the same Kebs team that held the 1-10 record in the first half of the season.  Quebec had just recently signed three new players this week.  Quebec added Brandon Morris, Brandon Cotton and Marlon Pompey before the game against the Rainmen in an effort to salvage the second half of the Kebs' season.

The Rainmen were outscored 29-20 in the fourth as the Kebs forced the Rainmen to OT.  This was Halifax's second straight overtime game on the road.  Quebec's Brandon Morris buried a three pointer in the closing seconds of overtime to put away Halifax.  Desmond Ferguson had an opportunity to tie the game at the last second but missed the three ball.

Samuel Audet-Sow led the Kebs with 23 points and eight rebounds.  Power forward, Jamaal Wise scored 22 points and also pulled down 8 rebounds while John Ruffus had a double double, scoring 11 and grabbing 12 boards.   Newly-acquired Brandon Morris, who had the winning three in overtime, scored 17 points in his Quebec debut.

For the Rainmen, Desmond Ferguson scored a team-high 22 points.   Point guard, Gary Ervin, who had the franchise's first triple double a couple weeks back, had another impressive line with 18 pts, 8 rebounds and 7 assists.  Ervin has been logging heavy minutes after the departure of Adris DeLeon and had 44 minutes of PT last night.

Key Notes:

• Glaring Stat of the Night:  Halifax got outworked on the glass as they lost the rebound battle to Quebec 58-39.  22 of Quebec's boards were offensive rebounds.
• Those Darn Free Throws:  The Rainmen still struggled with their free throws, only making 11 of 21 free throws
• Points in the Paint: 64-56 for the Kebs
• Road Trend:  Halifax is 0-4 on the road when they let the opposing team score 100+ points
• New Kid on the Block:  Newly acquired Eric Gilchrese had 2 pts, 2 rebounds in 9 minutes
• Canadian Watch:  Jevohn Shepherd - 14 pts, 4 rebounds, Garry Gallimore - 1 assist, 4 fouls
• 4th Place:  The 9-4 record puts the Rainmen at fourth place in the PBL, and would face off against Puerto Rico if the playoffs started today

Post-game Links:
Metro Halifax

"The Kebs rallied from a nine-point in the fourth quarter and sent the game to extra time with a put-back from Jamaal Wise with six seconds to go. Berry called overtime “competitive,” but said an Eric Crookshank outlet pass off a rebound was stolen with the game tied in the dying seconds and Brandon Morris of the Kebs nailed a three-pointer to win it with 1.9 seconds left."

The Chronicle Herald

"The last-place Kebs (2-10) outscored the fourth-place Rainmen (9-4) 29-20 in the final quarter to pull off a 100-97 shocker. The Rainmen led by two points with less than two minutes remaining but it was Brandon Morris’s three-pointer at the buzzer that sealed the shocking win."

For all you Francophones, Le Soleil

"(Québec) Les Kebs auraient rêvé le scénario de leur deuxième victoire qu'ils n'auraient pas fait mieux. Devant plus de 1500 partisans survoltés, les basketteurs de Québec ont vaincu les Rainmen de Halifax 100-97 en prolongation, hier soir. Un spectaculaire tir de trois points de leur nouveau meneur de jeu, Brandon Morris, a scellé ce premier gain en plus de deux mois."

Next up, the Rainmen face off against the Rochester Razorsharks on March 13th...

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