By Janet S
Coming off of a triple overtime victory against the Erie BayHawks, the Raptors 905 picked up a deciding 113-95 victory against the Windy City Bulls this Tuesday.
Devin Robinson opened up the scoring on a driving layup from point guard Tyler Ennis en route to a seven to nothing start for the 905. The Bulls would subsequently follow with a nine to nothing run of their own from the 9:04 mark to 7:33, grabbing what would be their first and last lead of the game. The lead change prompted a Raptors timeout for the 905 to regroup, and a back and forth battle ensued in what would be a trey-ball riddled first quarter, with both teams taking over 10 threes on less than 22% shooting. Forward Justin Anderson was active early on for the 905 on the defensive end, snagging two rebounds, one steal as well as two blocked shots, including a monster block on Milton Doyle under the basket. Robinson, along with Paul Watson, found their stroke early, as they racked in 17 of the 905’s 25 points in the quarter. Darel Poirier and Doyle were the high scorers for the Bulls, scoring 5 apiece of the team’s 20.
The second quarter saw a great deal of missed shots for both teams, and the three-point shooting woes continued as both teams retained their below 22% shooting with at least 20 shots taken. Guards Duane Notice and Shamorie Ponds were highlights for the Raptors as they both punched in seven points in the quarter. It was Max Strus and PJ Dozier who kept the Bulls afloat scoring nine and eight points, respectively, in the quarter, bringing their totals to 11 and 10 at the half. Tyler Ennis was generous with the ball as he dished out six of the 905’s 10 assists in the first half, and finished with a team high 9 assists for the game. The 905 lead the Bulls 53-41at halftime.
The second half saw the Toronto Raptors’ Oshae Brissett starting in place of Paul Watson, who suffered an apparent calf injury and would not return to the game. Brissett, a two-way contract player, had a huge throw down via an outlet pass from Shamorie Ponds for two of his 16 points in the contest. Devin Robinson turned things up on offense as he scored 12 of his game-high 25 points in the 3rd quarter alone, helping the 905 expand their lead to 23, and carry a 21 point lead into the final quarter on nearly 47% shooting from the field.
Milton Doyle had himself a quarter for the Windy City Bulls, scoring 11 of his team high 20 points in the 4th alone. Bulls’ Simi Shittu got things going on offense as well as he racked up seven points in the quarter, finishing the game with 17 points in 15 minutes. The Bulls made numerous attempts at late runs to get themselves back into the game, unfortunately for them it wasn’t enough and the lead had never been cut to less than 14 for the rest of the game and the 905 went on to win by 18 points.
In addition to the poor 3 point shooting, both teams had a high number of turnovers during the contest. The Bulls scored 13 points off of 19 Raptors turnovers, and the 905 were ultimately able to capitalize on the Bulls’ 20 turnovers, scoring 20 POT. 6 Raptors finished with double figures in scoring, in comparison to the Bulls’ 4.
The 905 will look to make it 3 wins in a row as they’re back in action on Friday at home vs the 1-5 Long Island Nets.
