Sudbury Five season ends

The Sudbury Five were back at home on Friday night, hoping to extend the Basketball Super League semi-finals to a fifth and deciding game against the London Lightning.

The Sudbury Five lead 47-46 over the London Lightning at halftime of Game 4 of the Basketball Super League semi-final series on May 10, 2024. (Sudbury Five/Facebook)

A fourth-quarter push by the Sudbury Five resulted in a disappointing defeat in what might have been a stunning comeback.

A missed chance to tie in the dying seconds of the game along with some clutch free-throw shooting from the Lightning ended the Five’s season at home in a 114-111 decision at Sudbury Community Arena.

“We had our letdowns and it shows, because it’s a long series with a lot of bus rides for us, but man, they finished strong and I wish they would have gotten rewarded with the win,” said Five head coach Logan Stutz after the game.

“We could have kept ourselves out of that position with a couple more rebounds and 50-50 balls where we just didn’t quite have our adrenaline to fight the fatigue, but once we got the adrenaline going, they played.”

Rebounding was certainly a key statistic in the contest with the Lightning edging the Five 50-34 in Game 4.

“It is what it is. You live and you learn and you move on,” said Stutz.

“You have to take a couple of days. I’ll be back in the office Monday, but you’ve got to take a couple of days to evaluate, to settle back down. The job really doesn’t stop.”

“I’ll take a little time off eventually, but it’s hard to just let it come to a hard stop. It will probably be a couple more weeks before I really relax,” he added.

London got the start they were looking for in this contest with a lead by a score of 34-23 after the first quarter of play.

The Sudbury dominated the second quarter, scoring 24 points in the quarter, while holding the Lightning to just 12 points of their own, and at the halftime break the Five led the game by one point, 47-46.

London came out strong to start the second half outscoring the Five 33-18 in the third quarter to head into the fourth quarter with a 79-65 lead.

The Sudbury Five were 79-65 against the London Lightning going into the fourth quarter of Game 4 of the Basketball Super League semi-final series on May 10, 2024. (Sudbury Five/Facebook)

JD Miller, A.J. Mosby Jr. and Ja’Myrin Jackson were the scoring leaders for Sudbury in Game 4.

Stutz only had kind words for the team’s many loyal fans.

“They were great, man. They were great. Even when we were down 16 points they stuck around and watched a great finish to a basketball game,” said Stutz.

“They were there, they were loud, it’s a great environment for us to play. Thank you to Sudbury, thank you to the fans, thank you for letting this be a fun place to play basketball.”

The London Lightning advance to the Basketball Super League championship series, where they will take on the Kitchener Waterloo Titans.