Gameday in 5

A look to the week ahead — and a recap of the week that was (May 30-June 5) — for London’s teams and athletes.

The London Lightning celebrate their 2022 NBLC championship win — their fifth league title in franchise history. (Photo: Luke Durda).

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London Lightning

They did it. The London Lightning capped off a dominant season on the hardwood by winning the NBL of Canada championship Wednesday night in Kitchener. Their tight 97-96 win over the KW Titans at the Auditorium earned them a sweep of the best-of-five NBLC Finals and their fifth league title in franchise history.

As Game 2 did, Wednesday’s series finale came down to the wire — though it didn’t look as though it would early. The Lightning came out firing on all cylinders and led 31-14 after the first quarter to set the tone early on. London’s lead was cut to nine, 52-43, by halftime, and though they extended that to 12 by the start of the fourth quarter, the Titans fought back with everything they had in the final 12 minutes. Outplaying the visitors in the fourth quarter, KW took their first lead of the game, 93-92, with 2:55 remaining.

But the Lightning, once again, managed to come out on the winning side of a close contest. London re-took the lead on a pair of Mareik Isom free throws, and they wouldn’t give the lead back. On the next possession, Chris Jones drove to the hoop for a big layup to put London ahead by three with 1:06 left. The Titans’ Jesse Jones, who scored 27 points on the night, responded with a layup of his own, but KW was then forced to foul with the time on the clock dwindling. Isom made one of his two free throws to put the Lightning ahead 97-95. At the other end, Jabari Craig was fouled with 0.7 seconds left. He made the first free throw – and missed the second.

Terry Thomas was named Finals MVP. He scored 25 points in the series finale. Chris Jones had 16 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, while Amir Williams had 18 points in just 17 minutes to help lift the Lightning to their fifth title (first since 2018-19).

Series Recap:

2022 NBLC Finals: London Lightning (1) vs. KW Titans (3) (London wins series 3-0):

Game 1 | Lightning 116 vs. KW Titans 91
Game 2 | Lightning 115 vs. KW Titans 110 (OT)
Game 3 | Lightning 97 @ KW Titans 96

London Majors

The Majors improved to 6-1 on the season with a pair of weekend wins. They got things started with a 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs Friday night at Labatt Park (it was the first time the Maple Leafs had been back since last year’s IBL Finals). Jose Arias turned in a gem on the mound, pitching eight scoreless innings with nine strikeouts (just two hits and one walk allowed). Cleveland Brownlee got the Majors on the board first with a solo home run in the opening inning. The Majors added three runs in the seventh, with Keith Kandel, Drew Lawrence and Brownlee driving in the runs. After Fernando Fernandez allowed a pair of runs in the ninth, Braeden Ferrington came in to close the door for the save.

Sunday’s contest in Hamilton was defined by an offensive outburst in the 6th and 7th innings for the Majors, who scored a combined eight runs in those two frames en route to a 12-5 win over the Cardinals. Owen Boon, who got the start for the Majors, went 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits and four walks while striking out 10. He improved his record to 4-0 in the win. Starling Joseph went 3-for-6 at the plate, including two doubles and a pair of RBIs. Brownlee, Robert Mullen, Taylor Wright and Dan Perrier (3 RBI) also had multi-hit games.

Up next:

The Majors (6-1), who wrapped up the weekend in first place in the Intercounty Baseball League standings, percentage points ahead of the Welland Jackfish (7-2), will play a trio of games this weekend. Friday’s action against Kitchener will begin with the remainder of the suspended home opener contest, which the Panthers lead, 5-4, in the fifth inning.

Fri. June 10 (7:35pm vs. Kitchener Panthers) (6:05pm start to complete suspended game from May 20)
Sat. June 11 (6:05pm @ Welland Jackfish)
Sun. June 12 (2:00pm @ Kitchener Panthers)

FC London

Women’s team:

After suffering their first loss of the season last week, FC London’s women’s team bounced back this past weekend, beating Burlington SC 4-0 at home on Saturday. Sadie Waite opened the scoring just 3 minutes into the game. Maddy Michienzi doubled the lead in the 36th minute. Then, they did it again in the second half. Waite and Michienzi scored another each to lead FC London to the 4-0 win. It was the team’s fifth shutout victory of the season.

Up next:

The women (8-1-0) will hit the road Friday looking for their ninth win of the year. They’ll be at Kinsmen Park to face Pickering FC (1-6-1).

Fri. June 10 (8:00pm @ Pickering FC)

Men’s team:

The men’s team played to a 2-2 draw facing Hamilton United on Saturday at home. FC London got off to a good start, scoring the icebreaker in the 14th minute, with Mike Sneddon doing the honours. Ahead 1-0 after the first half, Hamilton United responded just a minute into the second, with Amir Shirazi tying the match. The visitors then took a 2-1 lead (Miles Green, 65’), but FC London’s Kuhle Bekwayo tied things up five minutes later to secure the draw.

Up next:

The men (1-5-2) are back in action Saturday on the road, where they’ll take on Simcoe County Rovers FC (4-2-2).

Sat. June 11 (7:00pm @ Simcoe County Rovers FC)