Edmonton Stingers debut victory couldn't have had 'a better script'
The Edmonton Stingers didn’t just win a game in their franchise-opening debut, they absolutely put on a show Friday at the Edmonton Expo Centre.
After jumping to an early 15-point lead and staying in front of the Niagara River Lions for the first three-and-a-half quarters of their inaugural Canadian Elite Basketball outing, the Stingers all of a sudden found themselves trailing with six minutes to go.
Mamadou Gueye hit one of two free throws to tie the score 100-100 and send it into overtime, where they once again found the gas pedal and floored it to a 118-105 win.
“If we would have won by 30, everyone would have gone home in the third quarter, so we tried to keep it interesting for people hoping they’d come back,” Stingers forward Jordan Baker said, half-joking.
But if you didn’t know any better, it almost looked like the Stingers wanted to make things dramatic
“If we were WWE, we couldn’t have drawn a better script, to have that comeback like that on the opening night,” said Stingers head coach and general manager Barnaby Craddock. “We don’t win that without the crowd, this is a win for Edmonton basketball.”
Email: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge