With 2.4 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Dexter Williams Jr. inbounded in London Lightning territory, sending the basketball over to JR Holder, who threw up a desperation three, with opponents in his face.

The contested shot fell heavy off the backboard and dribbled away — Sudbury Five 136, Lightning 139 on Sunday afternoon in London at the Budweiser Gardens, in National Basketball League of Canada action.

Asked if he believed Holder was fouled on the final play, Five head coach Logan Stutz said it was tough to say.

“We got a decent look,” Stutz added. “JR did exactly what I asked him to do. Looking back, I should have put us in a better play to get a better look, maybe using one dribble.”

The loss dropped Sudbury to 2-3 on the season.

Five guard Jaylen Bland led all scorers with 44 points, to go with nine rebounds and nine assists. Bland was 10 for 17 from three-point range and made one steal.

Marlon Johnson chipped in with a well-played game, too, with 32 points, nine rebounds, one assist and three blocks, Williams scored 21 points, while collecting 10 rebounds and four assists, while Holder scored 14 points off the bench, with three rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block.

For the Lightning, Garrett Williamson scored 30, Randy Phillips 28, Xavier Moon 25, and AJ Gaines and Marcus Capers 22 each.

The Five led 36-34 after the first quarter and, after both teams finished the first half tied 58-58, the Lightning led 105-98 after three quarters of action.

Sudbury started the fourth quarter with a 17-9 run, but the game quickly turned into a back-and-forth contest, with both teams pouring on the offence.

With 41.1 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Bland drained a corner three to cut the Lightning’s lead to 137-134.

On the next play, a strong defensive effort by the Five caused a turnover, which led to a layup by Williams, who decided to not attempt a three-pointer and instead took the ball to the paint. At this point, only 7.1 seconds remained, with the score 137-136.

Sudbury was then late to administer the foul, after not getting a turnover, cutting down the remaining time to 2.4 seconds.

Five guard Braylon Rayson was held out of Sunday’s lineup for precautionary reasons.

“We are going to get an evaluation tomorrow,” Stutz said. “We were being very careful this early in the year and felt safer resting him.”

Sunday’s loss came one day after the Five picked up a 120-116 win at the WFCU Centre in Windsor.

Holder had 25 points and five rebounds, Johnson 24 points and a game-high 11 boards and Bland poured in 21 points to go with five assists.

Other key contributors for Sudbury included Rayson, who had 12 points and six assists, and Williams, who collected 17 points, 10 rebounds and four assists of his own. Malcolm Duvivier pitched in with 14 points, shooting a perfect five for five from the field as the locals won, at the time, their second straight, following back-to-back losses to open the season.

Chris Jones was a standout for Windsor, with 26 points and 11 assists, while Sam Muldrow had 22 points and nine rebounds on the night.

“We made great steps forward this trip as a team,” Stutz said. “Lots of good things to build on.”

The Five return to action on Thursday, as they travel out east to Halifax to battle the Hurricanes at 7 p.m. On Friday, they will visit the Island Storm in Prince Edward Island.

“Keep everything positive and moving forward,” Stutz said. “We are on the right path, and need to keep putting in the work.”

Twitter: @keith_dempsey