The Jamestown Jackals’ Deon Stroud goes up for a shot inside against the London Lightning during Tuesday’s Basketball Super League playoff play-in game at Jamestown Community College’s Physical Education Complex. Photo courtesy of Shelly Phillips

Late baskets from Deon Stroud and Devante Jamison allowed the Jamestown Jackals to win their Basketball Super League play-in game Tuesday night.

Their reward?

A long road trip to northern Ontario.

The Jackals will open a best-of-five semifinal series against the Sudbury Five at 7 p.m. today at Sudbury Community Arena.

“The last game was a little bit of a wakeup call … realizing that the playoffs are a little bit different,” Jamestown head coach Raheem “Radio” Singleton said of the Jackals’ play-in victory over London. “Watching the defensive effort that the other team put up, knowing it was a team we played against who hadn’t played that hard until the playoffs … our young guys have become really focused.”

Jamestown embarked on the seven-hour bus ride to Sudbury this morning to prepare for tonight’s game, which will be followed by Game 2 on Sunday afternoon at 4.

The series shifts to Jamestown for Game 3 Wednesday with an if-necessary game Friday at the Physical Education Complex. If the series is tied, Game 5 would be back in Sudbury next Sunday.

“We’ve struggled on the road for a little bit, we haven’t been able to get a win at Sudbury. I think this is going to be a statement game,” Jamison said. “Sudbury is a really good team, but I think we’re a really good team, too. I’m not really worried.”

The Five earned the top seed for the postseason after a 20-9 regular season that saw them finish one game better than the second-seeded Windsor Express. The KW Titans earned the No. 3 seed with an 18-10 record and beat the sixth-seeded Pontiac Pharaohs in Wednesday’s other play-in game.

“Sudbury moves the ball and they do a good job, as soon as you fall asleep, they make you pay. They shoot the ball at a high clip,” Singleton said. “We have to make them play defense. We have to make them grind it out and play the whole possession on defense.”

Sudbury finished the regular season as the second-highest-scoring team in the eight-team league at 117.4 points per game on 46.4% shooting from the field, including 37.1% from 3-point range.

“They’re a really good scoring team. Individually, they have some really good players,” Jamison said. “We are defense-oriented. Most of our wins, we’ll have a sequence where we go on a run.”

Jamestown finished sixth in the league in scoring at 112.5 points per game on 46.4% shooting from the field, including 35.1% from 3-point range.

The Five’s Ja’myrin Jackson led the league in scoring during the regular season at 22.7 points per game, while teammate Charlie Marquardt was the top 3-point shooter in the league at 45% and was tied for eighth in scoring at 19.0 points per game. Sudbury’s Duane Notice averaged 16.8 points per game and Jalon Miller averaged 16.0.

“They have a bunch of shooters and a bunch of capable scorers over there,” Singleton said. “We have to stay locked in to what we do well.”

The Jackals’ leading scorer was Derrick Colter, who averaged 17.4 points per game, which was good for 13th in the league. Tyshon Pickett averaged 16.0 points per game, Stroud averaged 15.8 and Jamison averaged 14.1.

“We’re legit 13-deep. That’s the biggest thing about our team and that’s kind of how I recruited them,” said Singleton, whose Jackals scored 88 points off the bench Tuesday. “For me, it’s about strength in numbers. The more guys we’ve got that can go out there and contribute, the better suited you are for the playoffs.”

Tafari Beckford finished fifth in the league in rebounding at 7.9 per game while Miller was just behind in sixth at 7.8 per game. Notice averaged 5.1 assists per game for the Five and Jamison averaged 4.9 per game for the Jackals.

The teams met four times during the regular season.

On Jan. 17 in Sudbury, the Five won 114-104. Six players scored in double figures for Sudbury, led by Jackson with 24 points. The Jackals shot just 39.2% from the field, including 13 of 41 from 3-point range.

The next day, Sudbury won 123-117 behind 30 points from Jackson and 25 off the bench from Diego Bernard. The Jackals committed 37 fouls, sending the Five to the foul line 52 times.

“For our guys, it’s more about their focus; being on the road and not worrying about the things we can’t control. Here, it’s a little easier when things start to go bad, fans rally behind you,” Singleton said. “For some of our younger guys, they are still learning how to be the villains. … It’s way more rewarding winning on the road when all of the odds are stacked against you, but you have to have focus to do that.”

On Feb. 27 in Jamestown, the Jackals won 133-113. Jamestown took control of a 58-56 game at halftime with a 42-27 third quarter. Pickett scored 29 points, while six other Jackals also scored in double figures. Jackson was limited to just 13 points on eight field-goal attempts.

March 1 in Sudbury, the Five won 128-111. Notice and Marquardt had 29 points apiece for Sudbury, which again held a 17-point advantage at the foul line.

The winner of the Sudbury-Jamestown series will take on the winner of the Windsor-KW series in a best-of-five championship series.

“I want to win them all. I don’t go into anything not trying to win. … We’re not going there to just win one. That’s not how a series works,” Singleton said. “If we can get three in a row, we want three in a row. … The biggest thing for us is locking in on the task at hand and taking advantage of the opportunity we have.”