Sudbury Five christen their new home court with win before sellout crowd

The over 3,000 fans who welcomed the Five to Sudbury Arena Thursday Night might not have all been well-versed in basketball, but knew which team to cheer for.

"We're big hockey fans, but we're bigger Sudbury fans and we wanted to support the local sporting events and we're open to learning stuff about basketball, absolutely," said Brad Atkins, standing by the souvenir shop while his kids bought Sudbury Five sweaters.

Up in standing room, Lisa Wright was cheering loudly, but admittedshe doesn't know much about basketball.

"Not especially, but I'm happy to have something different come to Sudbury. Just the energy. Having something new come to the city is always good," said Wright, who came to the game with her two daughters.

The Five's play-by-play announcer Robert Esmie, better known for winning a gold medal in sprinting in the 1996 Olympics, tried many times to lead the crowd in the familiar basketball chant of "Dee-fence."

But whatever their basketball IQ, Sudburyfans were treated to an entertaining game, a 112-107 home win over the defending champion London Lightning which makes three straight wins for the Five to start their inaugural season.

Bill Luciw, sporting a Toronto Maple Leafs jacket, was taking in his very first live basketball game, but said it was too early to say whether he'd go out and get a ticket for another game.

"You never know. We'll see how it goes," he said.