Patrick Whelan continued to cement his leadership credentials as the Caledonia Gladiators travelled south for a hard-fought victory over the Surrey Scorchers.
He started well to create the cushion, and stepped up when the home team closed the gap to secure a road victory.
Surrey Scorchers starting five:
Abdul Mohamed, Cameron Gooden, Saiquan Jamison, Padiet Wang, Justin Robinson
Caledonia Gladiators starting five:
Ian DuBose, Princeton Onwas, Patrick Whelan, Clifton Moore Jr, Lukas Palyza
First Half
Much as he’s done throughout the first few weeks of the season, Patrick Whelan paced the Caledonia Gladiators early on their trip south to face the Surrey Scorchers.
His drive and spin into a layup scored his ninth point in the first quarter, which put the visitors up by seven.
Josh Steel had the answer for the home side, with his own drive to the rim. And some solid team defence, including a big block from Padiet Wang forced the Gladiators into a couple of turnovers, which the Scorchers converted into points late in the quarter to cut the gap to three at the end of 10 minutes.
Caledonia’s Trent Buttrick hit a mid-range jumper to open the gap back up in the second quarter, before his teammate Whelan hit his third three of the game to make it an 11-point lead.
The physicality of Gladiators newcomer Mike Bothwell started paying dividends, as his defensive rebound shut down a Scorchers play to get a bucket on the other end. He followed his own missed layup to grab the rebound and score a put-back on the ensuing possession.
Cameron Gooden had been keeping Surrey within touching distance by scoring for most of the first half, but he helped Saiquan Jamison cut the deficit to seven on a beautiful pick-and-roll lob for a highlight-worthy alley-oop.
The Caledonia lead stayed at nine as the teams went into the locker room.
Second Half
When times are tough, it’s good to have a two-time league MVP on your team, and Justin Robinson proved with back-to-back threes that pulled the Scorchers back within seven.
This, along with a typically rowdy Surrey crowd, inspired a huge block from Abdul Mohamed, which sparked Gooden on the break for an acrobatic layup around and about Caledonia’s defence.
It was a zone defence that threw Caledonia off their offensive rhythm, and Surrey cut it to six until Lukas Palyza and Whelan hit consecutive threes to slow the home team’s momentum.
But Lawrence ratcheted it right back up to finish the quarter with a tough drive to the rim and a three on the buzzer that brought the Scorchers to four at the end of the third.
The reason Caledonia Gladiators have been battling for a spot at the top of the Championship table this season was on full display to open the final quarter, as a solid team effort regained control of the game.
Scoring from DuBose, Moore Jr, and Fraser Malcolm pushed the lead back up to nine within two minutes and the Gladiators maintained this control through to the final buzzer.
Player of the Game
Clifton Moore Jr did a little bit of everything, including a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds, as well as 3 assists and a big three-point shot down the stretch that helped the Caledonia Gladiators maintain a lead under the pressure of an away crowd.
| Team | Player | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Surrey Scorchers | Cameron Gooden | 18 | 1 | 3 |
| Surrey Scorchers | Saiquan Jamison | 17 | 8 | 2 |
| Caledonia Gladiators | Patrick Whelan | 17 | 4 | 2 |
| Caledonia Gladiators | Ian DuBose | 15 | 5 | 8 |
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