Steve Marcus acknowledged there was a buildup of rust on his idle St. John’s Edge players Sunday afternoon, but not enough to prevent his charges from registering a 109-104 win over the Halifax Hurricanes at Mile One Centre.
Not bad, given it was the first National Basketball League of Canada tilt for the Edge, who brought new meaning to the term rested following a lengthy break.
“Yeah,” Marcus said following his team’s fifth win this season, “I guess there was some rust. We were five-for-20 from the three-point line.
“But we were good after the first eight or 10 minutes. It took the boys a while to get their legs back.”
No kidding.
Prior to Sunday, the Edge had not played since Jan. 8, when they evened their Atlantic Division record to 4-4 with a win over the KW Titans.
However, two games scheduled last week against the Sudbury Five at Mile One were postponed because of the winter storm which hit the city, forcing a State of Emergency.
The Edge and Hurricanes meet again tonight at 7 p.m at Mile One. The teams were originally set to play Friday and Sunday, but the Friday game was pushed to today because of the SOE.
“We had one practice in the last nine days, and that was Saturday,” Marcus said. “We were in the weight room for a lift, and going over video Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, but Saturday was our first time on the court.
“So when you take that into account, yes I’m happy with our effort and performance,” he said. “But, you know, we’re still learning how to win, learning how to finish out games.
“When we have a lead after a quarter, we need to go up to 15 in the next quarter, not go back to four.”
Despite their recent inactivity, the Edge starterd well and led 27-21 after the first quarter Sunday, but Halifax outscored their hosts 24-21 in the second to climb to within three points of St. John’s (48-45) at the half.
While the Edge, in front of 3,274, had their moments at the three-point arc, St. John’s shot 48.9 per cent from the field to the Hurricanes’ 43 per cent.
The Edge saw six players score in double figures, including starters Junior Cadougan (20 points), Tyrone Watson (a former Hurricanes player, with 16 points), Karrington Ward (14) and Mike Edwards (11).
Jesse Jones (14) and Cane Broome (13) contributed off the bench.
