MILLRATS BEAT RAINMEN IN HALIFAX

(HALIFAX,NS)

On Sunday afternoon the Halifax Rainmen lost to the Saint John Mill Rats 91-89 in an exciting, closely contested game in front of 3456 fans at the Halifax Metro Centre.

In the first quarter the Rainmen were led by 11 points from Quinnel Brown, but he picked up his third foul with 1:42 to play and the Mill Rats took a 28-24 into the second. The Mill Rats also won the second quarter 27-26, and took a 55-50 lead into halftime, led by Kenny Jones with 14 and Julius Hodge with 10.

In the third quarter,  Quincy Okolie's fast-break dunk capped off a 15-8 Rainmen run, and gave the Rainmen a 70-63 lead. The Rainmen outscored the Mill Rats 24-16 in the third quarter, led by Quinnel Brown with 9 in the quarter. The fourth quarter was tightly contested, as the Rainmen took an 86-83 lead off a shot by Cedric Moodie with 4:44 to go, but the Mill Rats went on an 8-3 run to end the game, outscoring the Rainmen 20-15 in the quarter and winning the game 91-89.

The Rainmen shot an impressive 21/22 (96%) from the free-throw line, and 40% (8/20) from 3 point range. However they were out-rebounded by the Mill Rats 58-40, including a 22-8 advantage on the offensive glass, and were whistled for 19 fouls compared to 16 by the Mill Rats.

Rainmen forward Quinnel Brown led all scorers with 25 points, adding 6 rebounds and 2 steals, while Tyrone Levett and Cedric Moodie had 13 points each.

The Mill Rats were led by forward Kenny Jones with 20 points and 9 rebounds and guard Julius Hodge who had 16 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists in his second game with the Mill Rats. Cavell Johnson and Steve DeLuca had 12 each and Jerice Crouch and Kevin Francis added 10 a piece.

The Rainmen loss ended a 3-game winning streak and dropped their record to 16-16 on the season. The Mill Rats are also 16-16, however the Rainmen hold the tie-breaker with a 4-3 advantage in the season series with the Mill Rats with one matchup remaining, March 3rd in Saint John. The Mill Rats will have to beat the Rainmen by at least 31 in their final match-up to clinch the tie-breaker over the Rainmen, as the Rainmen have outscored the Mill Rats 690-659 over their 7 meetings.

The Rainmen next play on Saturday February 23rd, hosting the Montreal Jazz at 7PM.