With 1,639 Big Macs up for grabs, the Halifax Rainmen made sure their fans didn’t go away empty-handed.
The Rainmen earned their second straight blowout win over the Montreal Sasquatch yesterday, 147-109 at the Metro Centre, in a game that meant nothing to either team and had all-star calibre highlights and defensive effort.
With a Premier Basketball League playoff spot already out the window, the Rainmen made Big Macs the priority in their final game of the year. And they finally cracked the 10-three-pointer barrier to make good on a promotion that gives anyone with a ticket stub a free snack at McDonald’s.
“We shoulda got that for the fans (in Saturday’s 130-89 win), but we missed it by one,” said Jimmy Twyman, who heaved up 16 three-pointers and converted on eight.
“They came out to support us and I’m just glad we could finally give our fans a treat — and that’s Big Macs.”
Tony Bennett set the tone, knocking down two three-pointers in the first 37 seconds. Twyman hit five straight in a 1:46 stretch at the end of the second quarter. Zach Ramey clinched the Big Macs with a trey 29 seconds into the second half.
“Big Macs were the main thing,” said Bennett. “Coach Les (Berry) was joking and said, ‘Don’t shoot no threes in the first quarter.’ So what do I do? Come out and shoot five straight three-pointers. It was all fun and games for the fans.”
The Rainmen, who finished the season 12-8, followed through on their pre-weekend promise for an “air show” against the lowly and shorthanded Sasquatch (3-13), with enough flashy dunks for a lengthy Youtube video montage.
Yesterday’s attendance gave the Rainmen an average of 2,778 this year, almost 1,000 more than last season.
“These last two games were all about the fans, get some oohs and ahhs out of them, give them something to look forward to next season,” Bennett said. “Put a smile on their face. Without making the playoffs, that’s the only thing we could do.”
Twyman had 30 points and Bennett 21. A.J. Millien, a mid-season acquisition, added 19 to unofficially claim the PBL scoring title with a 24.7 points-per-game average.
