Hurricanes muscle through Magic for Game 1 victory

MONCTON, N.B. —The Halifax Hurricanes owned the paint all night on Thursday as they toughed out a 102-87 win against the Moncton Magic on the road, taking Game 1 of the best-of-seven NBL Canada Atlantic Division Finals. 

The Hurricanes shot poorly to start the game and were instead led by a tough-as-nails front court trifecta of Jordan Washington, Chadrack Lufile and Rhamel Brown, who grabbed every offensive rebound they could get their hands on and putting up second-chance buckets. The Hurricanes finished the night with a difference-making 24 second-chance points.

Trailing by 11 at the half, the Hurricanes came out and put together a 62-36 run in the second half to cruise to victory.

Washington was a standout player and a sparkplug for Halifax all game long. He scoring 23 points on 10-15 shooting while pulling down a game-high 14 rebounds, all in just 28 minutes of play.

Mike Poole went scoreless in the first half of the game, but erupted for a game-high 24 points in the second half, hitting five threes to help put the Hurricanes out of Moncton reach in Game 1. 

Terry Thomas had an excellent outing against his former team. He scored 21 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists.

Starting big men Rhamel Brown and Chadrack Lufile combined for 25 points and each grabbed eight rebounds in the win, while guard Joel Kindred scored nine points of the bench and grabbed five rebounds. 

Game 2 of the Atlantic Finals is scheduled for Saturday, April 20 at 7 p.m. in Moncton. That game will be broadcast on www.NBLCLive.ca. The series then shifts to Halifax, with Games 3 and 4 being played at Scotiabank Centre on Saturday, April 27 and Monday, April 29. Both games start at 7 p.m. and tickets are available at the Ticket Atlantic Box Office or online at TicketAtlantic.com/Events/Halifax-Hurricanes-Basketball.