The Halifax Rainmen’s futility against the Vermont Frost Heaves continued on Friday night.
The Rainmen lost 107-99 to the Frost Heaves, a team they have never beaten, in Premier Basketball League action in Burlington, Vt.
The two teams played in the American Basketball Association last season, when Vermont went 7-for-7 against Halifax before winning the league championship.
The Rainmen (3-2) trailed by just one point going into the final minute but the Frost Heaves (2-2) took
over and scored seven straight points to finish things off.
“That was a tough one to lose,” said Rainmen owner Andre Levingston. “They play good basketball. They played tough. It’s the same old, muffed possession, muffed possession, when we could have gone ahead, and it was a tough loss. A real tough loss.”
Rob Sanders led the Rainmen with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Jimmy Twyman added 16 points, Glen Dandridge 15, Kevin Hammack 12 and Zachary Ramey 11.
The Rainmen, first in the Atlantic Division, play on the road Sunday at 3:30 p.m. against the Manchester Monarchs, another team they have never beaten.
Also of note, seldom-used guard Rodney Mayes sported No. 20, the jersey previously worn by star forward Eric Crookshank, who was suspended for the entire season on Wednesday for undisclosed reasons.
Mayes’s larger No. 42 jersey went to John Strickland, a hefty 6-foot-8, 275-pound power forward who was signed on Wednesday after the Crookshank suspension.
“The league sent us 12 uniforms, and we’ve got 12 guys,” Levingston said, noting the numbers couldn’t be changed.
Strickland had six points in 17 minutes.
