Montreal – July 24, 2022
Montreal Alliances 85 – 105 Newfoundland Growlers
The Newfoundland Growlers returned to the Verdun Auditorium today, where they defeated the Montreal Alliance forty-eight hours prior, hoping to keep themselves within range of a play-off spot.
With both teams tied for last place going into this contest, the second this weekend between the Newfoundland Growlers and the host Montreal Alliance, there was much to play for. Nobody wants to be at the bottom of the standings. The Alliance would once again be without forward Ashley Hamilton, who was injured early on against the Growlers in last Fridays match. Hamilton was seen with his teammates in a restrictive knee brace, indicating that his season is more than likely done.
Newfoundland opened the scoring with a sweet three-point shot, but Montreal replied quickly, keeping the score close for the opening ten minutes or so. Montreal came out with spark, and for a while looked the better team, but soon found themselves in trouble. The Alliance made nine turn overs in the first quarter, and found themselves trailing by a score of 23 to 17 – with 11 of the Growlers points coming directly from turn overs.
See Als0: Newfoundland Growlers defeat Montreal Alliance in Verdun
If the first quarter was a closely contested affair, then the second quarter was its polar opposite. The Alliance committed a barrage of fouls, many of which were hotly contested by the Montreal Alliance players and head coach Vincent Lavandier, who was visibly and audibly displeased with many of the decisions made by the officials. Furthermore, the Alliance continued to give away turn overs, and did so ten times in the second quarter alone.
If that wasn’t enough, Montreal were constantly called for fouls as the Newfoundland Growlers ran riot over the Alliance for practically the entire second quarter. By the time the buzzer sounded, Newfoundland had doubled up Montreal, and held a commanding and demotivating 54 – 27 lead going into half-time. Frustration seemed to be setting in as the game became chippy, with both squads growing more and more physical as the match progressed.
A rap battle between local rappers Voice and Helmé kept the audience entertained while the players had a rest, and perhaps a severe talking to in the Montreal dressing room.
Montreal again came out hard to start the third quarter, but had a really difficult time getting into the paint, as the Growlers defense proved to be near impenetrable. Rebounds weren’t coming for the Alliance, as the Growlers seemed to be consistently first to the ball, shutting down any second chance scoring from Montreal. At the other end of the court, the Growlers were finding rebounds galore, as they continued to nail buckets. A late quarter turn over lead to a Montreal break, an alley-oop off the backboard that was slammed home by Isiah Osborne. Still, the score at the end of the quarter told the same story, a total Growlers dominance. The Newfoundland Growlers held a massive 78-48 at the end of the third quarter, heading into the final frame.
Coach Lavandier gave his team an aggressive speech, while displaying aggressive body language and clearly not pleased with his team’s performance. Whatever message he screamed into his players ears seemed to hold weight, as Montreal played their best quarter of the match. Too little too late, however. With an Elam time set, with a target of 104 points needed to take the win, Montreal began to ball. Five straight scores went Montreal’s way, as the Alliance began to chip away at the mammoth Growlers lead. In the end, the Growlers would surpass the Elam target and win the match with a final tally of Newfoundland 105 to Montreal 85 with 3381 in attendance.
Newfoundland improves to 5 wins and 2 losses in their last seven games, after losing their first ten games of the season. Montreal next hosts the Saskatchewan Rattlers on July 29th, and tickets are still available.
