Showdown in Sudbury; Remember the Titans?

Around the Perimeter: London puts perfect road record on the line; Lightning looking to go on the offensive; Mordi away, Isom returns; Plumb Coach of the Month. Catch the latest Lightning news & notes …

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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STARTING FIVE

1. Streaks and sweeps. After playing 13 games in 32 days to start the season, this last week has seemed like an eternity between games for the London Lightning. Where did they leave off? A big sweep of the Windsor Express – four wins in four straight contests against their 401 rivals. In a rare four-games-in-a-row regular season series, the Lightning ran the table, winning two at home and two on the road.

Playing with a short bench on Family Day, London outlasted Windsor (despite the latter’s late push for a comeback), 103-97, on the backs of Elijah Lufile (20 points, 14 rebounds) and Justin Jackson (21 points, 7 rebounds), the former slamming home a decisive dunk late, the latter nailing a big three-pointer in the final minutes.

Back home last Thursday (Feb. 23), the Lightning completed the four-game sweep with a 98-91 win at Budweiser Gardens, again holding off a Windsor comeback attempt in the final quarter. Jordan Burns led the way in that one, tallying 23 points and nine assists, while Cameron Lard had 16 points, eight rebounds and four blocks.

And that made it seven. Seven wins in a row for the Lightning, who sit atop the NBLC standings with a record of 11-2 heading into Thursday’s game against the Sudbury Five …

2. Sudbury showdown. The Five have enjoyed their own winning ways so far this season, and they’re just one game back of the Lighting heading into Thursday’s matchup (10-3 record). Two of those losses came against London, a back-to-back weekend series Feb. 4 and 5 at Budweiser Gardens. This is London’s first trip of the season to Sudbury.

“It’s a big game. We’re only one up on Sudbury. They beat us on home court [in the season opener], and then last game I thought we didn’t deserve to win,” said Lightning head coach Doug Plumb, who this week was named NBLC Coach of the Month for February.

That last game was a 104-102 win where London benefited from officiating late to hold off the Five. So, London is 2-1 against Sudbury this year, including a home loss on opening night (which marked their first loss at Bud Gardens since before the pandemic).

Sudbury leads the NBLC in scoring, averaging 114.7 points per game. They’re also tops in field goal percentage (48.2%), three-point shooting (37.2%) and assists (21.6 per game). But they’re now playing without their star, Jaylen Bland, who left to play in Iraq for the remainder of the NBLC season. (He’s eligible for playoffs, and he’s expected to return to the team at that point).

Like London, Sudbury has four wins against the Newfoundland Rogues. They also have a pair of wins against another TBL opponent, the Oakland County Pharaohs, and they’re taken one each against Windsor and London. They’re coming off two straight victories over the KW Titans. Jeremy Harris is the team’s new leading scorer at 24.0 ppg. AJ Mosby is averaging 18.0 ppg, while JD Miller is at 17.6.

London will be shorthanded again Thursday. The team didn’t sign anyone when they parted ways with Antwon Lillard. Point guard Jeremiah Mordi is now away for three weeks competing with the Nigerian men’s national team. And Elijah Lufile is expected to miss Thursday’s contest due to a personal matter. Plumb isn’t too worried.

“Honestly, I think that can be better when you go on the road. Obviously, you have to bear in mind foul trouble, and it would be nice to have Lufile because he’s a bigger body, but when you go on the road, sometimes it’s nice to have a tight-knit group.”

Sudbury is no easy place to play for opposing teams. The Lightning have racked up their share of frustrations – and technical fouls – at the Sudbury Community Arena. The hope is they can escape with a win and keep that winning streak alive heading into Saturday …

Doug Plumb was named NBLC Coach of the Month for February. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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3. Remember the Titans? They’re back. The team from Kitchener-Waterloo, that is, who got off to a late start this year in a unique scheduling situation. The Titans have gotten off to a slow start, losing each of their first three games, including a pair to Sudbury and a 109-101 loss to Windsor on Wednesday night.

The last time the Lightning were at the Auditorium in Kitchener, they were hoisting the NBLC championship trophy, last spring, after completing a three-game sweep over the Titans for the 2022 title, their fifth league championship in franchise history. Both teams have undergone significant roster overhauls since then – the Titans even more so.

In their first three games, it’s been Sam Akano leading the charge. He’s averaged 23 points (54.7% shooting) and 7 rebounds a game, including a 26-point effort on 12-of-20 shooting in a losing effort Wednesday. Mike Poole had 18 points and 8 rebounds in that game, while Kedar Edwards scored 15 off the bench.

After Saturday’s game in Kitchener, the Lightning will return to the Auditorium the following Sunday (March 12) for their next game, a rare 8-day break between games. It’ll be the third straight road contest for London, as they’re away from Budweiser Gardens until March 15 due to the Brier curling event.

The good news? The Lightning have been solid on the road thus far in 2023. In fact, they’ve yet to be beaten (heading into Thursday’s contest in Sudbury). Besides the two Windsor road wins last week, London’s three wins on ‘the rock’ in Newfoundland has them at a perfect 5-0 away from London.

4. Going on the offensive. It’s rare for a first-place team, one with a record of 11-2, to be averaging fewer points per game than a team with a 5-6 record – especially when they just beat that very same team four times in a row. And yet, that’s exactly the case for the London Lightning, who have yet to find their offensive stride. They’ve been stellar on defensive end, allowing just 96.5 points against in 13 games. But the offense has yet to fully click. They’re averaging 104.6 points per game.

“That’s not nearly good enough for the talent that we have offensively,” Coach Plumb said. “So, we’ve put a huge emphasis on that in the last week here. We’re really tightening the screws. If we take care of that, the guys handle what they need to do, and we execute our stuff, we’ll be in a really good spot.”

Jordan Burns is the team’s leading scorer to this point, ranked third in the league behind Sudbury’s Bland and Harris at 19.0 points per game in his 10 contests this season. He’s coming off a 23-point effort, and he’s scored in double figures in all but one game this year. His high was a 37-point showing in Newfoundland back on Jan. 28.

After Burns, Terry Thomas, who last game became the all-time leading Canadian scorer in NBLC history, has posted the next-highest points-per-game average at 15.1 in his eight games. The Lightning are currently rostering six other players averaging double figures, a great sign for a balanced offense.

Mareik Isom, who will return to the lineup this week after missing several games due to injury, has scored 12.6 per game in his 10 contests, and he’ll be a welcome re-addition to the offensive fold. Mike Nuga (11.4 ppg, 13 G), Cameron Lard (10.5 ppg, 12 G) and Justin Jackson (11.3 ppg, 8 G) are each averaging double-digit points. As is Elijah Lufile (13.0 in 5 games) and Jeremiah Mordi (11.6 in 5 games), who will be away from the team until late March.

Jordan Burns is the Lightning’s leading scorer, averaging 19.0 points in his 10 games this season. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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5. We talkin’ ‘bout practice. It might sound odd, more than a month into a season, to point out that a basketball team hasn’t had much time for practice. But that’s true for the London Lightning. They work out nearly every day – often multiple times a day – but with 13 games in 32 days to start the year, shooting work, cardio, film and player meetings, actually doing the X’s and O’s and working on the finer points of the offense has been difficult to fit in.

“We had training camp, we were building the roster, guys were coming in and out, just craziness, so we couldn’t practice much,” said Plumb. “It was a lot of film work. So, from an offensive standpoint, we’ve been really sloppy, even though we’ve been winning.”

With a week between games, and a lighter schedule moving forward, Plumb is thrilled to have the opportunity to devote more time to working out the kinks on offense.

“We have time to practice now, and I told the guys, ‘We’re cranking it up a level,’” the coach said. “We’re in an interesting spot right now. Much like last year, we’ve survived the first part of the year where it’s been fast and furious. But now, we have such a massive opportunity.

“We can put ourselves in a really good position going into April, to get completely healthy for playoffs and practice like crazy and get everyone on the same page. So, I’m excited for that.”