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Things could only get better for the Halifax Hurricanes.

Since suffering a humiliating 158-141 setback at home to the Sudbury Five on Jan. 9, the Hurricanes had over a week to correct themselves as the humiliating loss languished.

During that time, they had a road game to P.E.I. postponed which meant more practice time. And, more importantly, a coaching change which saw Mike Leslie return as head coach and former bench boss Ryan Marchand back as his assistant.

It all paid off in spades on Friday night. The Hurricanes snapped a five-game losing streak with an impressive 108-104 victory over the defending NBL Canada champion Moncton Magic at Scotiabank Centre.

"This is such a relief," said Halifax's Joel Kindred, who scored 16 points in the game.

"We had a whole week of good practices and that transitioned and carried over into this game. Those practices were tough. Coach didn't go easy on us. But that's what we needed. Hard work only makes us better. Everything worked out in our favour and played into our hands. That last game we didn't play hard as a unit. We came in tonight with the focus of playing hard with a lot of grit and it showed out there."

The Hurricanes were a marked improvement from last week's debacle, especially on the defensive side of the ball. They matched the Magic in rebounds (43 apiece) and limited their shooters to under 40 per cent from the field.

It was noticeable from the get-go that this was a different Hurricanes team despite them falling behind early in the contest. Undaunted, they took their first lead midway through the second quarter thanks to Kindred.

The flashy guard, in his second season with Halifax, was on the receiving end of a slick behind-the-back pass from Cliff Clinkscales, who found an open Kindred down the lane. Kindred put away the jam and was fouled in the process. He finished the three-point play.

Moments later, on a Moncton turnover, Kindred broke free and dazzled the 2,000-plus in attendance with an emphatic slam to put Halifax ahead by one.

"My main job out there is give our team energy wherever and whenever I can," Kindred said. "It could be on the bench or on the court, offensively or defensively. I will do anything that the team needs and I'm happy that I can provide that for my team."

The Hurricanes, though, couldn't sustain the momentum and the Magic went on a 25-14 run to close out the first half. Six-foot-10 centre Nick Evans found a scoring touch from beyond the arc with three treys and Ronald Delph closed the half with a three-pointer at the buzzer. Moncton led 57-47 at intermission.

Undeterred, the Hurricanes, who trailed by as much as a dozen, came out of the break with guns a blazing and started the second half on a 20-6 run.

They regained the lead at the 5:41 mark when Clinkscales hit C.J. Washington on an alley-oop pass. The Halifax centre put away the slam and was fouled on the play. His free throw – and subsequent three-pointer moments later – put Halifax ahead 67-63.

Halifax outscored Moncton 31-15 in the quarter and headed into the fourth with a 78-72 advantage.

"We knew we gave up a couple easy baskets that gave them that 10-point lead," Kindred said. "But that lead was because of us. It wasn't anything they were doing. We came out of halftime eliminating those mistakes which pulled us together."

A thrilling finish saw Moncton get to within a point on possessions late in the game. The Hurricanes bent but didn't break and upped their record to 2-6.

The teams play each other again Sunday afternoon in Halifax.

"Nothing changes for us; we'll come back and play hard," Kindred said. "We expect them to be motivated by the loss. But for us, the main thing is just to play hard. We have a lot of talent. If we put that together with grit, we can beat anybody."

Notes: Antoine Mason paced Halifax with a game-high 26 points while Washington had 21. Jeremiah Mordi topped Moncton (5-2) with 23 points. ... Evans returned to the Moncton lineup after playing pro in Albania. He fouled out with 1:41 left in the fourth. ... The Magic, who also signed former St. John's Edge guard Desmond Lee earlier this week, traded former Hurricanes forward Billy White to the Windsor Express for guard Kemy Osse and the rights to seven-foot centre Ty Walker.