Lightning top Hurricanes on the road to win 4th NBLC title in 7 years

The London Lightning won their fourth National Basketball League of Canada title in seven years with a 109-101 Game 7 victory over the Halifax Hurricanes on Friday.

As the final buzzer sounded, a near-silent Halifax home crowd watched jubilant London players dance and shout at centre court after overcoming an 0-2 series deficit to win four of the last five games.

The win solidifies the Lightning as the Canadian league's pre-eminent franchise, with Halifax emerging as their main rival with three consecutive head-to-head finals appearances between thetwo teams.

"This was a really tough-fought championship," Lightning owner Vito Frijiatold CBC at centre court whileclutching the championship trophy. "Seven games, it's great for the league, it's great for both franchises, great story."

Lightning guard Doug Herring Jr. was named game MVP after sinking six of 10three-pointers to pace a potent London perimeter attack. Herring Jr., a native of Poughkeepsie NY, said the win silenced doubters who predicted the team would take a dive after losing former NBA player Royce White to suspension.

"A lot of people think we can only play through Royce," said Herring Jr. "We've got a lot of pieces on this team and once he went down, itjust created more opportunities for some of our guys that took a back-seat role, and they stepped up and made plays."

Nip and tuck

The Hurricanes were paced by forwardBilly White's 25 points and wing Tyrone Watson, who had 21 points, but the squad was doomed by inconsistent perimeter defence and a 15-of-25 mark from the free-throw line. A transition layup by Halifaxat the start of the fourth quarter gave them an 88-85 lead and stoked the home crowd's hopes that their squad could repeat its 2016 championship performance.

It was the last lead the Hurricanes would enjoy, however, as London's six-foot-10sharpshooting giant, Mo Bolden, sank a three-pointer to tie the game 88-88 with nine minutes remaining. Teammate Julian Boyd followed up with another three to giveLondon a lead it would not relinquish.

Hurricanes coach has mixedfeelings

Hurricanes coach Mike Leslie, the league's coach of the year, emerged from a sombre home locker room Friday evening and said that despite the disappointment, he was "extremely pleased" at the team's league-leading regular-season record and off-court impact in Halifax.

"I am very proud of the players and the things that wewere able to do, building the roots of this franchise in the community," he said.

"Those are things that a week, two weeks, a month, two months from now, you look back and you smile and you feel good about those. Today it's just the disappointment of losing."

Rival league?

With seven seasons in the books, the NBLCis now the longest-lived Canadian basketball league in history, though it is still without a television deal, or any teams west of Ontario. The league could also soon have a rival on its hands. Niagara River Lions ownerRichard Petkotold CBCthat he's frustrated at the NBLC's vision and that he'll break away and form hisown circuit, called the Canadian EliteBasketball League.

Petko said the new league would have teams in Edmonton, Saskatoon, Fraser Valley, B.C., and two more Ontario-based teams(in Hamilton and Guelph)expected to join Niagara.

Meanwhile, Lightning owner Frijiasaid the NBLC is adding a team in Sudbury, Ont. nextseason, bringing the total number of franchises to 11.