Gibson dazzles in final frame as Bandits bounce back with victory over Growlers

Shane Gibson scored 23 of his 25 points in the second half as the Fraser Valley Bandits pulled out an 88-81 win over the Newfoundland Growlers on Tuesday in St. John's, N.L.

Fraser Valley (9-4), which was again missing starter Thomas Kennedy, who is competing for Canada's under-23 team at GLOBL JAM, did not play to their usual level against Newfoundland (1-11) early in the game.

An adjustment or two ended up doing the trick in the second half as the Bandits pulled away behind Gibson's big night.

"We just started getting out into transition and really locking in on defence. In the first half, we were playing more of a half-court game and it was going to their type of game," Bandits guard Malcolm Duvivier said post-game.

Newfoundland, coming off its first win of the season, turned an early 7-2 deficit into an 11-7 lead following a 9-0 run capped off by a Brandon Sampson three-pointer in the opening frame.

Never surrendering the lead again in the quarter, the Growlers went into the second up 24-18, where a trend of trading runs commenced.

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