The Halifax Rainmen were stunned by the worst team in the Premier Basketball League on Friday and have lost their foothold in the race for first overall.
The Rainmen fell 100-97 in overtime to the Quebec Kebs to suffer their second straight setback to a basement-dwelling team. They also lost in overtime to the Vermont Frost Heaves on the road last weekend.
But head coach Les Berry isn’t panicking with his team now fourth at 9-4, two-and-a-half games behind the first-place Puerto Rico Capitanes.
“Life on the road, you’ve got to get used to it,” said Berry. “There are no easy places to play, you don’t get many breaks, and you have to make your own breaks. We had an opportunity to close out the game and we didn’t execute.”
The Kebs rallied from a nine-point in the fourth quarter and sent the game to extra time with a put-back from Jamaal Wise with six seconds to go. Berry called overtime “competitive,” but said an Eric Crookshank outlet pass off a rebound was stolen with the game tied in the dying seconds and Brandon Morris of the Kebs nailed a three-pointer to win it with 1.9 seconds left.
Desmond Ferguson, who had a team-high 22 points, attempted a trey to tie it after a timeout but came up short.
Berry said the Kebs had seven players the Rainmen had never seen before and looked nothing like a team with a 1-10 record.
“They’re a competitive team,” he said. “Trust me, they’ll win some games.”
The Rainmen continued to struggle from the free-throw line, hitting just 11-of-21. They’ve gone just 49-for-103 their past four games, a trend that’s starting to get concerning.
Gary Ervin had 18 points, Tony Bennett 15 and Jevohn Shepherd 14. Eric Gilchrese made his Rainmen debut after signing last week and played almost nine minutes, recording two points.
The Rainmen hope to solve their road woes on Saturday, March 13, when they visit the two-time defending PBL champion Rochester RazorSharks. The RazorSharks are gunning for revenge after losing to the Rainmen in Halifax on Jan. 31.
