March 29, 2024
Windsor hold on to beat Montreal at home. Windsor Express 122 – 119 Montreal Toundra.
The Montreal Toundra returned home after a month on the road, and hot off winning back to back matches against the Newfoundland Rogues, with three games scheduled in three days.
With Montreal currently sitting in last place in their division, they needed to pick up as many wins as possible over this triple-header long weekend. The Windsor Express, on the other hand, sit middle of the six team standings in fourth place. The two other teams they play this weekend are the first and second ranked teams in the league, meaning that the task at hand is not an easy one. Because the number of matches each team plays is uneven, the standings are solely based on win-loss percentage.
See Also: Without Poulin, Montreal lose to Ottawa in Laval
The Montreal Toundra had gotten off to a great start and were piling up points, making solid plays and causing Windsor all manor of headaches defensively as well. It seemed as if everything was going there way. The Toundra were up by ten points at half-time and looked to be firmly in control of the game.
There was a moment where a wet court caused players to slip and fall, causing a bit of a commotion that lead to a pause in play while one of the Toundra players took it on himself to dry the court with a towel.
Early into the second half, and the tables had began to turn. Windsor had come out on a mission to recover their ten point deficit and the bounces were now going their way. They were first on the ball and finding holes in Montreal’s defense as they charged up the court and invaded the paint hard. What was going in from throws was getting put in off the rebound and suddenly what had looked to be a bit of a one-sided match was now a very tightly contested match.
Windsor were physical and aggressive and while they were called on several fouls, escaped quite a few others. Both teams had multiple moments where they questioned the match officials and to be fair, a lot of the complaints were legitimate. At several moments, players from both teams were verbally displeased with the officiating at eventually both coaches too lost their patience with some of the calls – or lack of calls as it were.
Dominick Welch lead the Montreal offence, sinking eight three-pointers including all four of his attempts in the fourth quarter. It seemed that everything he throw found the bucket. At the final buzzer, Welch had put up thirty points, which is a season high for him.
In the waning moments of the match, the Windsor Express had edged just slightly ahead and were now on their heels as Montreal pressed hard trying to regain the lead. Both teams exchanged point drives and the already exciting game was now a thrilling back to back affair with time winding down. With 51.7 seconds to go, the score was tied at 119 a piece. Fans at the Pierre-Charbonneau center were on their feet, cheering on the home side, and the Toundra looked to have the game on their fingers just for it to dwindle away.
Amari Haynes had a chance to tie the game up with just fourteen seconds left in the game, but his shot bounced off the backboard, then the rim and out. Windsor rushed the ball up the court, but the play was stifled by the defense and Montreal once again had a chance to tie when Marc Fortin was fouled. With just four seconds remaining on the clock, Fortin needed to sink both free throws to send the game into overtime. Both throws, however, missed the mark and Windsor held on to win by just three points.
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This was a match that the Toundra really needed to win to move out of the league basement and to have any chance at reaching the post season. Things won’t be any easier for them tomorrow night when they play their second game in three nights, are harder still on Sunday.
Montreal remains at home for games tomorrow and Easter Sunday against the London Lightning and KW Titans. Tickets are available starting at $10 from this location.
