A’s win in final second over Windsor

February 12, 2016 · 0 Comments

Friday night’s game between the Orangeville A’s and the Windsor Express couldn’t have been more exciting from a fan perspective when the entire game came down to the final few seconds with the A’s trailing by two points.

The A’s took the lead in the first quarter and finished off with an eight point gap with 27 points to lead into the second quarter.

The Express tied the game with a series of three point shots in the second quarter, but again the A’s managed to pull ahead, ending the quarter with a 49-43 lead.

The third turned out to be a low scoring quarter with 34 points scored between both squads.

The A’s lead was cut to a single point with just over six minutes left to play with the Orangeville squad rebounding to end with a 65-61 four point lead.

The game turned into a tense couple of minutes for fans with the scored tied at 86 in the final minute of the fourth quarter.

An Orangeville foul sent the Express to the line with three seconds left on the clock and the successful free throws gave Windsor a two point lead with 3.3 seconds left on the clock.

Orangeville coach Chris Thomas called a time out to put a plan together.

With time left for a single attempt, Rick Bodiford took the pass and placed the ball through the hoop for the three-pointer to give the A’s a one point 89-88 win.

“My thought was this: Rick (Bodiford) had hit two three’s in front of our bench before that,” said A’s coach Chris Thomas of the final setup with Bodiford taking the final shot. “I’m a coach that plays a lot by feel. Because of the back-to-back (Sunday game against Niagara) tomorrow, because of the fact we’ve got Niagara, a tough physical hard playing team coming in, I wanted to end it with a three. I knew in the huddle he was going to make that shot. I have faith in all my guys. If we would have went for two, we would have tied it up and won in overtime – there’s no doubt in my mind.

“Because Rick had shot the ball relatively well tonight, it was an easy decision. I felt it from him. I saw his eyes in the huddle and I knew it was going to go in. I give all the credit in the world to that kid.”

It was win number five for the A’s after 11 games into the season.

The A’s have six road games ahead including three games against Atlantic Division teams on the coast.

They will return to their home court at the Athlete Institute on Sunday, February 28, to host the London Lightning.

The game is scheduled for 3 p.m.

By Brian Lockhart