Lightning take down Titans for BSL title

With a 117-112 win over the KW Titans Saturday night, the London Lightning captured the first BSL title. It marks a third straight year they’ve won a league championship.

(Photo: Barry Field Photography).

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Fittingly, it ended with a close contest. Ranked 1-2 during the regular season, the KW Titans and London Lightning played close, competitive contests all year long – save for a Game 3 statement win by the Lightning Thursday at Budweiser Gardens.

The home side carried that momentum into Saturday, and it resulted in a 117-112 Game 4 win and, most importantly, the first Basketball Super League championship title. With the win, London took the series over the Titans, three games to one, and won a league championship for a third straight year.

This time, it was a BSL title, the league’s first, and the Lightning hoisted it proudly after a hard-fought game in front of 1,545 fans at the Bud. Chris Jones hoisted another trophy proudly. He was named BSL Finals MVP, capping off a great series by scoring a team-high 34 points to go with six rebounds, four assists and four steals.

It wasn’t lost on many the significance of that award. The team’s engine, Jones was acquired earlier in the year from the Windsor Express in a controversial trade that sent then-fan favourite Shadell Millinghaus to Windsor. There was a minor uproar.

But it was Jones – and the Lightning – holding the championship trophy Saturday night, having worn down a talented, young Titans team with their experience and depth.

Antoine Mason, brought in before the signing deadline after a big year with the Montreal Tundra, came up big in Game 4, scoring 23 important points for a Lighting squad whose offense was inconsistent after a bigtime Game 3 win.

Billy White, the longtime vet, came through with 17 points and seven rebounds in the championship-clinching win. His free throws with 1:34 left in the contest put London up for good.

And then there was Jeremiah Mordi, a scrappy guard who missed Game 1 due to suspension (and picked up one of seven London technical fouls Saturday). He tallied 14 points, seven boards and three assists while providing a much-needed veteran presence when it mattered most.

Jermaine Haley Jr. (11 points) and Jachai Taylor (10 points) turned in strong efforts, while Freddie McSwain Jr. played his usual solid defense.

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The Lightning, who trailed by 10 with 7:29 left in the third quarter, never led by more than six themselves. But they managed to come back and put the series to rest without having to travel back to Kitchener Sunday for a Game 5.

It was the fourth quarter where London turned the tide and won it down the stretch. Ahead 26-23 after a quarter of play, the Lightning went to the dressing room at halftime down 56-49 after a big second quarter by the visiting Titans. They extended that lead to 10 in the third, but London cut the deficit to four by the end of the third frame.

A McSwain Jr. three-pointer with 9:31 on the clock in the fourth tied things 92-92, and then the Lightning took their first lead in a long time on a Mason layup with 8:21 left. The Titans certainly didn’t collapse. They re-took the lead multiple times in the fourth, including as late as 4:05 left in the contest.

But a dagger three-pointer from Mason with 3:48 left, gave London the lead again. Jones drove to the hoop and converted a bigtime three-point play to make it 109-106 with 2:59 left. Missed free throws – a pair each by White and Mason – kept Kitchener in the game, and Titans star Curtis Hollis, who scored a game-high 46 points, tied things at 109 with one of his eye-popping 23 made free throws on the night.

But the Lightning stepped up when it mattered most. White knocked down four consecutive free throws, Jones made a pair, and Mordi essentially put the Titans on ice, making two of his own to make it a two-possession game with just 14 seconds on the clock.

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BSL Playoffs (Finals) - London Lightning (2) vs. KW Titans (1) (London wins series 3-1) 

Game 1: London 104 @ KW Titans 116
Game 2: London 111 @ KW Titans 106
Game 3: KW Titans 83 @ London 105
Game 4: KW Titans 112 @ London 117