The Halifax Rainmen stormed out of the gates on the opening weekend in the Premier Basketball League.
The Rainmen beat the Quebec Kebs 110-108 on Friday and then edged the Montreal Sasquatch 127-125 in overtime on Saturday. It was their first regular season action since March 15 in the American Basketball Association.
The narrow road wins came without the help of two of their top players, Eric Crookshank and Rob Sanders. Sanders (heel) didn’t make the trip, while Crookshank played just 16 minutes after twisting his ankle against the Kebs.
Centre Tyronne McNeal (groin) also didn’t play.
“We got a measuring stick for what we can expect,” said Rainmen owner Andre Levingston. “They were tough games, two games that went down to the wire, down to the last shot. It’s good when you can win games like that on the road.”
Brian Silverhorn (21.5 points per game); Cordell Jeanty (21 points, 7.0 rebounds); Glen Dandridge (18.5 points, 3.5 assists, 2.5 steals); and Jimmy Twyman (16 points) were standouts.
Guard SirValiant Brown returned from injury and averaged 13 points per game. Levingston said the former George Washington sensation “made some big shots and did what we know SirValiant Brown has been doing all his life.”
The Rainmen return to practice tomorrow and make their home debut on Friday against the Kebs at 7 p.m. Levingston expects a big crowd and said the Rainmen have “more than doubled” their season ticket base to an estimated 2,000.
“They’re doing extremely well and they’re still selling,” he said. “We’re going to do well in numbers this year.”
