Express Steamroll River Lions In Game 1

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Game 1 is in the bags, and the Windsor Express are off to a great start. They bounced back from a lackadaisical opening quarter, and controlled nearly the rest of the game. As the Niagara River Lions got its first taste of NBL playoff basketball, it seemed that an experienced Windsor team was doing everything right. The Express went on to grab a Game 1 victory, winning 95-80 over the River Lions.

For Windsor, Brandon Robinson put up 27 huge points, and grabbed 10 rebounds. Veterans Kirk Williams Jr. and Chris Commons combined for 25 points and 15 rebounds.

The Express picked up where they left off against the River Lions last Friday. Brandon Robinson got things going with a basket, and Chris Commons followed up with an early three-pointer. They helped their team take a 10-3 advantage just a couple of minutes in. Niagara slowly gained life, however. The visitors came within two points, and got the upper hand with a three-point shot late in the first. As the seconds were dying down, Windsor couldn’t sink a basket.

Early in the second, the two teams were going basket for basket, exchanging one-point leads. Windsor, however, began to miss key baskets. The River Lions closed in a little, but for the most part, were held off. Following media break, though, the train got back on track. Windsor’s defense stepped up and came up with big steals. Kirk Williams Jr. pulled off one of those steals, then proceeded to split Niagara players and rush for a dunk. The River Lions opted to take a quick timeout and collect themselves. It didn’t seem to help much as Maurice Bolden slammed down a leaping dunk. Robinson sank a three-point basket after that. Niagara couldn’t mount any offense, thanks again to Windsor’s defensive unit. The visitors were shooting airballs as the Express forced bad shots. At the other end, Windsor would go up by twelve. Niagara took yet another timeout before the quarter’s end, to no avail. The Express led 42-29 after the second quarter.

Making an impact to kick off the second half was Kirk Williams Jr. He was off to fast start to push the Express further ahead from Niagara. A little bit of back and forth action at both ends of the court kept a quick pace throughout the quarter. Soon enough, the River Lions were able to crawl to within five points. The Express pulled away near the end of the quarter. Sherron Collins laid it in to finish off the quarter.

Despite a charging River Lions squad in the final quarter, the Express stood strong. The teams exchanged baskets at either end. Niagara stayed close enough, only remaining behind by roughly ten points. Windsor stepped on the gas just a tad more to pull out of reach of the River Lions. Up by 15 points, the team simply killed the rest of clock in the final minute. The Express took Game 1 by a score of 95-80. They lead 1-0 in the best-of-five series.

Game 2 is set for this Wednesday, May 4th at 7:30pm at the WFCU Centre.