The National Basketball League (NBL) of Canada game will be held at EastLink Arena, with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m.
The Storm will be down to nine players against the Rainmen due to a recent rash of injuries. Power forward Mike Williams (dislocated shoulder) and guard Julian Allen (lower back strain) were the latest two Storm players to go down in Sunday afternoon’s 113-99 loss in Halifax on Sunday afternoon.
Williams and Allen join forward Chris Cayole and guard Eric Gilchrese on the injured list.
Help inside
With Williams out, the Storm could potentially look to McKinney, who plays the power forward position, to help on the inside against Halifax’s big man, Richard Anderson.
McKinney, who is 6’9” and 235 pounds, has scored 17 points in 10 regular-season games with the Storm. Five of those points came in Monday night’s 110-95 road loss to the Moncton Miracles.
Storm head coach Joe Salerno had this to say in regards to McKinney’s performance in Moncton: “Doug played hard in Moncton. All of our guys who were there played hard being so short-handed. No one on this team showed any quit, and a lot of fight, including Doug.
“He (McKinney) rebounded the ball well, and was aggressive defensively. Hopefully, he can carry some of that momentum over to Thursday’s game.”
The Storm goes into Thursday’s game with a 9-16 (won-lost) record. The second-place Rainmen are 16-6.
www.stormbasketball.ca.
