Lightning take lead early and Cruize to victory over Medicine Hat
The St Mary's University Lightning headed Southeast to take on the Medicine Hat College Rattlers in the snake pit. With playoffs locked in for both sides, they both looked to build momentum going into the second season. The game started with both sides playing tight defense and a relatively even production on offence. With the midway point of the quarter passing the Lightning held a slight lead up 10-7. The Lightning was able to extend this lead adding 3 more in the next minute. The Lightning continued to press, increasing their lead to 10, 17-7 with 2 minutes on the clock. The Rattlers responded but the Lightning were able to match any rattlers advance maintaining their lead. As the quarter came to a close the Lightning had added to the lead, up 25-14 at the break.
The Rattlers were able to score right away on some second chance points to start the quarter. The Lightning were able to respond and pull further in front hitting back to back 3 pointers. With 7:30 on the clock the score read 33-18 in the Lightnings favor. This deficit saw the Rattlers take an early timeout in the quarter. The Rattlers came out of the break to hit a 3 but St. Mary's responded quickly with a layup. The match settled in to a more even affair through the middle of the quarter, but the Rattlers still had to play from far behind. St. Mary's pulled away further in the late stages of the quarter, scoring at will on the Rattlers defense. They jumped ahead to a 49-26 lead with 90 seconds left in the half. The Rattlers again failed to convert on offense and allowed an easy basket on the other end to see the Lightning leading by 25. The Rattlers got one back and finally got a stop on defense but they had put themselves in a deep hole down 51-28 at the half.
The third quarter got started with the Rattlers getting to the line early but only scoring one. The Rattlers were able to start the half getting stops on defense as they looked much sharper on the back end. They still were struggling to find the basket on a consistent basis on the other end of the court. The Rattlers were very slowly chipping away but half way through the quarter trailed 56-40. Medicine Hat continued to come back in the quarter narrowing the lead even further after a quick 5-0 run they trailed by only 11. The Lightning extended their lead once again right at the end of the quarter going up 60-45.
The fourth quarter started with the Lightning scoring on their first possession on a 3rd chance trip to the line. The Rattlers responded right away with two of their own staying the same distance away. The teams both struggled to score in the early going as the defensive play was at a premium the teams continued to struggle to score as the clock neared the halfway point. St. Mary's led 66-51 with the Rattlers taking a timeout with 6 minutes on the clock. No matter what they did the Rattlers could not get close to the lightning as time continued to run off the clock. With both teams in bonus, the game started to slow down with over 4 minutes left. The Rattlers increased their defensive pressure, but remained vulnerable to the Lightning's quick ball movement. St. Mary's cruised to an easy victory despite a very hard fought effort from both sides 77-57