Breaking Down The Boxscore - RAZORSHARKS 115, RAINMEN 113 (OT)

RAZORSHARKS 115, RAINMEN 113 (OT)
Rainmen Record:  9W-5L
The Rainmen continued their slide Saturday as they dropped their third straight overtime game on the road.  A three from Rochester's Derik Hollyfield in OT proved to be the game winner as Desmond Ferguson missed the potential game-winning three for Halifax in the closing seconds.  Halifax had a 59-47 halftime lead but Rochester erased the lead quickly when the Razorsharks went on a 9-0 run midway through the third.

In the fourth quarter, Hollyfield nailed a huge three with under one minute to play that forced the overtime period.  Hollyfield finished with 16 points, which surpassed his season high of 4 points.  Former PBL MVP, Keith Friel, scored 6 of his 24 points in the overtime period to help the Razorsharks improve to 11-3 on the season.

Rochester's Jerice Crouch finished with 19 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and three steals.  Former Rainmen players, Glen Dandridge and David Bailey had 8 pts and 5 pts respectively.

Tony Bennett led the way for Halifax with 33 points.  Eric Crookshank had an impressive double double with his 19 points, 20 rebounds, 2 blocks and 3 steals.  Both Bennett and Ferguson struggled from three point land with a combined 8 for 23.

Key Notes:

• Glaring Stat of the Night:  21 turnovers for Halifax
• Huge Improvement:  Halifax had their best performance from the free throw line, making 22 of 25 (88%)
• Rebound Battle:  Crook and the rest of the Rainmen outrebounded Rochester 62-53
• Road Woes:  The Rainmen are now 2-5 on the road 
• New Kids on the Block:  Newly acquired Larry Turner had 4 pts and 6 fouls in 12 minutes, Eric Gilchrese had his best game as a Rainmen, scoring 14 points
• Canadian Watch:  Garry Gallimore - 3 pts, 2 rebounds, Jevohn Shepherd - DNP

Post Game Links:
DemocratandChronicle.com
"Consider the stroke located after Hollyfield hit the winning 3-pointer with 35 seconds left in overtime to lift the Rochester RazorSharks to a 115-113 win over the Halifax Rainmen in a Premier Basketball League game at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial Saturday."

The Chronicle Herald
"We had a couple good opportunities to stay in it and win and unfortunately that’s life on the road," said Berry, whose squad is a perfect 7-0 at home but only 2-5 away from the friendly confines of the Metro Centre after Saturday’s setback, which comes on the heels of overtime losses to Vermont on Feb. 28 and Quebec on March 5."

OurSportsCentral.com
"After being down by as many as 17 points, the RazorSharks tied the game at 77-77 on a three pointer from Derik Hollyfield. Keith Friel scored 10 third quarter points including two three-pointers as the quarter ended tied 79-79. Hollyfield scored seven fourth quarter points including the game tying three-pointer with 36 seconds left that sent the game into overtime."
 
Next up, the Rainmen are back home to face off against the Puerto Rico Capitanes on March 21st...

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