July 26, 2024
Montreal Alliance defeated the Saskatchewan Rattlers at home by a score of 89 to 72
Montreal tipped off their second to last home game tonight against the Saskatchewan Rattlers in a battle between the two last place teams; last in the East versus last in the West – but one of these two teams is already guaranteed a playoff spot.
The early going saw Montreal come out strong and amass a slight lead. Saskatchewan seemed slow to start but soon found their rhythm and made the first quarter a fairly tightly and evenly contest one.
See Also: Montreal Alliance defeat Winnipeg Sea Bears at home
The Alliance took a lead into the second quarter and slowly began to pull away from the Rattlers on the scoreboard, largely off the strong play of Guillaume Boucard and Curtis Hollis.
Bouchard put up 21 points while Hollis put up a further 17 as the duo lead the way for Montreal who snapped a four game skid and got the Alliance back into the win column, helping the squad insure that this wouldn’t be the teams lowest season win tally in franchise history.
While not necessarily an overly physical game, there were a few moments where tempers flared. Following a play in the Rattlers paint, James Montgomery shoved Ahmed Hill to the ground from behind and Hill didn’t appreciate the gesture. Hill jumped to his feet and charged at Montgomery who probably was lucky that Hill slipped and the ensuing altercation was stymied before it had a chance to fully unfold. Following a lengthy review process, the referees huddled together and decided to eject Montgomery for the incident, making him the second player to be ejected from the game.
Montreal’s Chris Smith had been sent to the showers for far less earlier in the contest, for kicking the ball after a failed free throw attempt, then for something he allegedly had said to the officials. This earned the ire of the Montreal faithful who began to boo the officials over the call.
A promotion on the night had handed out mini basketballs to fans, who now threw them onto the court. While Alliance players urged players to stop throwing the projectiles, Rattlers star Teddy Allen was throwing them back into the crowd with a giant smile on his face. Thankfully, the mini basketballs are soft and offered no threat to anyone that might be struck by one.
Montreal has struggled in the third quarter all season long, and tonight was an improvement but again their weakest area of play. On several occasions, the Alliance have held leads at half-time, only to blow the lead in the third quarter and battle back to make it close in the final moments of games. Tonight, as hard as the Rattlers pushed, the Alliance managed to hold onto their lead although Saskatchewan had taken a considerable bite out of it.
Montreal built on their lead in the final frame and outscored the Rattlers by a tally of twenty-two points to ten, and put an end to their losing streak by doing so.
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Montreal’s final regular season home game takes place this Sunday when the leagues top team, the Vancouver Bandits, roll into town. The Alliance would surley love to end their regular season on a winning streak, especially with the Championship weekend coming up – but to do so, they’ll need to find a way to beat the leagues best team; and one they’ll potentially face should they make the finals in August, at CW24.
Following that, the Alliance will wait to see who they host in the Eastern Conference semi-finals when the Scarborough Shooting Stars and Ottawa Blackjacks face off in a play-in match to determine who makes the final four.
