2015–16 NBL Canada season

The 2015–16 NBL Canada season was the fifth season of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBLC). The regular season began on December 26, 2015 and concluded on April 30, 2016. There were 40 total games played by each team, eight more than the previous year. The new expansion Niagara River Lions team are competing in their first season. The Halifax Hurricanes also began play, replacing the defunct Halifax Rainmen. During the offseason, the Mississauga Power folded to make way for Raptors 905 of the NBA Development League. Prior to the season, the league also enforced new policies to help improve its standard, including rules regarding sportsmanship, addressing the brawl that ended the 2015 NBL Canada Finals. The first regular season game featured the Island Storm and the Saint John Mill Rats.^[1]

2015–16 NBL Canada season
League	National Basketball League of Canada
Sport	Basketball
Duration	December 26, 2015 – April 30, 2016
Number of games	160 (40 per team)
Number of teams	8
Total attendance	187,939 through 94 Games (1,999 per game)
TV partner(s)	EastLink TV, The Score, Rogers Media
Draft
Top draft pick	Erik Copes
Picked by	Niagara River Lions
Regular Season
Top seed	Halifax Hurricanes
Top scorer	Logan Stutz (Niagara River Lions)
Playoffs
Finals
Champions	Halifax Hurricanes
Runners-up	London Lightning

Transactions

Coaching changes

Coaching changes

Offseason
Team	2014–15 season	2015–16 season
Halifax Hurricanes		Hugo López
London Lightning	Carlos Knox	Kyle Julius
Niagara River Lions		Ken Murray
Orangeville A's	Dave Magley	Chris Thomas
Saint John Mill Rats	Julian King	Rob Spon
Windsor Express	Bill Jones	Tony Jones (interim)

• On May 7, 2015, the Saint John Mill Rats hired Rob Spon as head coach.^[2]
• On May 8, 2015, the NBL Canada suspended Windsor Express head coach Bill Jones for one season.^[3]
• On May 29, 2015, the NBL Canada hired Brampton A's head coach Dave Magley as league commissioner.^[4]
• On July 14, 2015, the Windsor Express hired Tony Jones as interim head coach, temporarily replacing his brother, Bill.^[5]
• On July 29, 2015, the London Lightning fired head coach Carlos Knox after one year with the team.^[6]
• On August 19, 2015, the London Lightning hired Kyle Julius as head coach.^[7]
• On February 12, 2016, the Moncton Miracles hired Paul Mokeski to replace Serge Langis.

Preseason

Out-of-league

On October 23, 2015, Raptors 905 of the NBA D-League, who replaced the Mississauga Power earlier in the offseason, announced that they would be facing two NBL Canada teams—the Windsor Express and London Lightning—in their three-game preseason schedule. The team would visit the WFCU Centre to face the Express on the road and compete with the Lightning at their home arena, the Hershey Centre.^[8][9] On November 5, Raptors 905 defeated the Express, 117–114. Adrian Moss, who scored 38 points, helped Windsor make a comeback after facing an 18-point deficit at halftime.^[10] Raptors 905 picked up another win over the Lightning on November 9, after pulling off a 126–111 victory. Tyshawn Patterson, a draft combine addition, led London with 26 points.^[11] The Windsor Express played another preseason game against the Lima Express of the Midwest Professional Basketball Association (MPBA) on December 13 at the St. Clair College SportsPlex in Windsor, pulling off the 108–82 win.^[12] Maurice Bolden led Windsor with 24 points while Lima's Jody Hill put up a game-high 26 points.^[13]

November 5 7:30 pm

Recap

Raptors 905 117, Windsor Express 114

Hershey Centre, Mississauga, Ontario

November 9 7:30 pm

Recap

London Lightning 111, Raptors 905 126

WFCU Centre, Windsor, Ontario

December 13 7:30 pm

Recap

Windsor Express 108, Lima Express 82

St. Clair SportsPlex, Windsor, Ontario

In-league

On December 18, 2015, the Halifax Hurricanes and Island Storm competed in a preseason game at Centre 200 in Sydney, Nova Scotia, with the Hurricanes winning, 106–103.^[14] Centre 200 is expected to be the home of the future NBL Canada team, the Cape Breton Highlanders. On December 19, the London Lightning defeated the Windsor Express, 97–87, behind 19 points from Chad Posthumus and Stephen Maxwell.^[15] The Hurricanes also won their second preseason contest over the Moncton Miracles, that same day, pulling away for a 110–91 victory.^[16] On December 21, the Miracles defeated the Storm, 115–110, in a fundraising game at Crandall University. Moncton's James Justice led all scorers with 27 points.^[17] On December 23, the Saint John Mill Rats defeated the Miracles, 128–110, behind 33 points from Doug Herring, Jr. They set a franchise record for most fans at the Harbour Station, with an attendance of 6,646.^[18][19]

December 18 8:00 pm

Recap

Island Storm 103, Halifax Hurricanes 106

Centre 200, Sydney, Nova Scotia Attendance: 1,100

December 19 7:00 pm

Recap

Windsor Express 87, London Lightning 97

Budweiser Gardens, London, Ontario Attendance: 5,000+

December 19 7:00 pm

Recap

Moncton Miracles 91, Halifax Hurricanes 110

Scotiabank Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia Attendance: 2,000+

December 21 7:00 pm

Recap

Island Storm 110, Moncton Miracles 115

Crandall University, Moncton, New Brunswick

December 23 6:00 pm

Recap

Moncton Miracles 110, Saint John Mill Rats 128

Harbour Station, Saint John, New Brunswick Attendance: 6,646

Teams

2015-16 National Basketball League of Canada
Division	Team	City	Arena	Capacity
Atlantic	Halifax Hurricanes	Halifax, Nova Scotia	Scotiabank Centre	10,500
	Island Storm	Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island	Eastlink Centre	4,000
	Moncton Miracles	Moncton, New Brunswick	Moncton Coliseum	6,554
	Saint John Mill Rats	Saint John, New Brunswick	Harbour Station	6,603
Central	London Lightning	London, Ontario	Budweiser Gardens	9,000
	Niagara River Lions	St. Catharines, Ontario	Meridian Centre	4,030
	Orangeville A's	Orangeville, Ontario	Athlete Institute	1,000
	Windsor Express	Windsor, Ontario	WFCU Centre	6,500

Map of teams

Hurricanes

Storm

Miracles

Mill Rats

Lightning

River Lions

A's

Express

Atlantic Division Central Division

Regular season

Standings

Atlantic Division

#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Div	GP
1	Halifax Hurricanes	29	11	0.725	0	14-7	40
2	Saint John Mill Rats	25	15	0.625	4	13-9	40
3	Moncton Miracles	15	25	0.375	14	10-13	40
4	Island Storm	14	26	0.370	15	7-15	40

Central Division

#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Div	GP
1	London Lightning	26	14	0.650	0	14-9	40
2	Windsor Express	21	19	0.525	5	15-10	40
3	Niagara River Lions	16	24	0.400	10	10-13	40
4	Orangeville A's	14	26	0.350	12	7-14	40

Statistics

As of February 24, 2016.

Individual statistic leaders

Category	Player	Team	Statistic
Points per game	Logan Stutz	Niagara River Lions	23.8
Rebounds per game	Stephen Maxwell	London Lightning	12.7
Assists per game	Sammy Zeglinski	Niagara River Lions	8.8
Steals per game	Brandon Robinson	Windsor Express	2.8
Blocks per game	Anthony Stover	Saint John Mill Rats	3.9
Turnovers per game	Sammy Zeglinski	Niagara River Lions	4.3
Fouls per game	Gabe Freeman	Saint John Mill Rats	4.2
	Billy White	Halifax Hurricanes
Minutes per game	Brandon Robinson	Windsor Express	41.2
FG%	Mike Glover	Halifax Hurricanes	0.640
FT%	Corey Allmond	Saint John Mill Rats	0.923
3P%	Brandan Kearney	Moncton Miracles	0.519
Double-doubles	Stephen Maxwell	London Lightning	13
Triple-doubles	Anthony Stover	Saint John Mill Rats	1

Individual game highs

Category	Player	Team	Statistic
Points	Anthony Anderson	Saint John Mill Rats	51
Rebounds	Stephen Maxwell	London Lightning	22
Assists	Sammy Zeglinski	Niagara River Lions	18
Steals	Adrian Moss	Windsor Express	7
Blocks	Anthony Stover	Saint John Mill Rats	10
Three Pointers	Clinton Springer-Williams	Niagara River Lions	10

Team statistic leaders

Category	Team	Statistic
Points per game	Saint John Mill Rats	111.6
Rebounds per game	Niagara River Lions	50.8
Assists per game	Windsor Express	25.2
Steals per game	Halifax Hurricanes	10.6
Blocks per game	Saint John Mill Rats	5.9
Turnovers per game	Niagara River Lions	20.4
Fouls per game	Halifax Hurricanes	29.1
FG%	Halifax Hurricanes	0.486
FT%	Saint John Mill Rats	0.773
3FG%	London Lightning	0.376

Attendance

Team	Home Games	Average	Total
London Lightning	20	5,659	113,176
Island Storm	20	1,950	39,009
Halifax Hurricanes	20	1,929	38,581
Saint John Mill Rats	20	1,774	35,480
Moncton Miracles	20	1,545	30,896
Niagara River Lions	20	1,305	26,108
Windsor Express	20	1,262	25,249
Orangeville A's	20	341	6,822
League	160	1,971	315,321

^[20]

Awards

Players of the Week

Week	Player	Team	Ref.
Dec. 27	Doug Herring, Jr.	Saint John Mill Rats	[21]
	Logan Stutz	Niagara River Lions
Jan. 3	Justin Johnson	Halifax Hurricanes
Jan. 10	Brandon Robinson	Windsor Express
Jan. 17	Tyshawn Patterson	London Lightning
Jan. 24	Mike Glover	Halifax Hurricanes
	Stephen Maxwell	London Lightning
Jan. 31	Nick Okorie	London Lightning
Feb. 7	Anthony Stover	Saint John Mill Rats
Feb. 14	Kyle Hunt	Halifax Hurricanes
Feb. 21	Anthony Anderson	Saint John Mill Rats
Feb. 28	Brian Addison	Island Storm
Mar. 6	James Justice	London Lightning

Playoffs

	Division Semifinals					Division Finals					NBL Canada Finals
	1	Halifax	3
	4	Island	0
						1	Halifax	4
	Atlantic Division
						2	Saint John	0
	2	Saint John	3
	3	Moncton	1
											A1	Halifax	4
											C1	London	3
	1	London	3
	4	Orangeville	0
						1	London	4
	Central Division
						2	Windsor	2
	2	Windsor	3
	3	Niagara	0

Notable occurrences

Offseason

The A's relocated from Brampton (top) to Orangeville, Ontario (bottom) during the offseason.

• The league established a team from St. Catharines, Ontario called the Niagara River Lions. They begin play at the Meridian Centre as a member of the Central Division.^[22]
• The NBL Canada unanimously hired Brampton A's head coach and general manager Dave Magley as commissioner, succeeding Paul Riley.^[4]
• The Mississauga Power franchise folded with the creation of Raptors 905, a D-League affiliate to the Toronto Raptors of the NBA. Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) acquired the team's rights.^[23]
• The Halifax Rainmen filed for bankruptcy in the fallout of the 2015 NBL Canada Finals brawl. The franchise later gets new ownership and is rebranded as the Halifax Hurricanes.^[24][25]
• The Brampton A's relocated from Brampton to Orangeville, Ontario. Their home arena changed from the Powerade Centre to the Athlete Institute. They were also renamed the Orangeville A's.^[26]
• The league announced the Cape Breton Highlanders, a new expansion team from Sydney, Nova Scotia, who were expected to operate in the 2015–16 season in the Atlantic Division.^[27] However they later announced they would not join until the 2016–17 season.
• The Saint John Mill Rats unveiled a new logo, slightly resembling their previous one, and an official slogan "Building Amazing Now".^[28]
• The Mill Rats signed two former NBL Canada Most Valuable Players in Anthony Anderson and Gabe Freeman in a key offseason acquisition.^[28]
• The league's Board of Governors approved of a stricter drug policy, a dress code, and created rules to promote sportsmanship.^[29]
• The defending champions Windsor Express got new members from a private local partner to add to its ownership.^[30]
• The Mill Rats set a franchise record with an attendance of 6,646 in a preseason game vs the Moncton Miracles on December 23, 2015.^[18]
• Doug Herring, Jr. of the Mill Rats and Logan Stutz of the River Lions become the first co-Players of the Week on December 27, 2015.^[31]

References

1. "Scores & Schedule". NBL Canada. Archived from the original on 2 December 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
2. "MILL RATS RETURN CHAMPIONSHIP COACH". NBL Canada. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
3. "Windsor Express coach Bill Jones fined $4K, suspended 1 year". CBC. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
4. "NBL Canada Unanimously Hires New Commissioner". NBL Canada. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
5. "Express Hire Tony Jones as Interim Head Coach". WindsorExpress.ca. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
6. "Lightning dismiss Knox". LightningBasketball.ca. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
7. "London Lightning welcome Kyle Julius to club". LightningBasketball.ca. Archived from the original on 11 September 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
8. "Raptors 905 Announce Preseason Schedule". NBA.com. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
9. "Windsor Express to play Raptors 905 from NBA D-League". CBC. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
10. Shalapata, Ian. "Windsor Takes Raptors 905 To The Wire". Windsor Square. Archived from the original on 10 December 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
11. Dalla Costa, Morris. "D-League Raptors beat London Lightning in exhibition game". London Free Press. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
12. "LIMA EXPRESS TO JOIN MPBA". TheLimaExpress.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
13. "Express Beat Lima in International Exhibition Game Sunday". NBL Canada. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
14. Jala, David. "Hoops sneak preview at Sydney's Centre 200". Cape Breton Post. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
15. "Lightning Zap Express in Pre-Season Match". OurSportsCentral. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
16. Mosher, Monty. "Criswell makes case for roster spot with 20 points in Hurricanes win". The Chronicle Herald. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
17. "MonctonMiracles on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
18. "RECORD CROWD SEES MILL RATS DISMANTLE MIRACLES 128-110". MillRatsBasketball.ca. Saint John Mill Rats. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
19. "NBL Canada Takes Show On The Road". NBL Canada. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
20. "NBLC Weekly Report Feb21". NBL Canada. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
21. "NBL Players of the Week" (PDF). NBL Canada. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
22. "Niagara River Lions Officially Arrive in the NBLC". NBL Canada. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
23. "The Mississauga Power Join MLSE To Become Raptors 905". NBL Canada. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
24. "Professional basketball returning to Halifax for 2015-16 NBLC season with local ownership". NBL Canada. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
25. "Halifax Rainmen file for bankruptcy". NBL Canada. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
26. Inscoe, Robin. "UPDATE: National Basketball League of Canada approves Brampton A's move to Orangeville". Orangeville Banner. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
27. MacDonald, Glenn. "Group expected to announce NBL team for Sydney on Tuesday". The Chronicle Herald. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
28. "Mill Rats Unveil New Logo and Sign Two NBL Canada MVP's". NBL Canada. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
29. "NBL CANADA Board Make Rulings to Improve League". NBL Canada. Archived from the original on 10 December 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
30. "NBL Canada's Defending Champion Adds Local Ownership Group". NBL Canada. Archived from the original on 19 December 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
31. "Logan Stutz & Doug Herring Jr. Named NBLC Co-Players of the Week". NBL Canada. Retrieved 28 December 2015.^{[permanent dead link]}