Three Thrillers in One CEBL Weekend
A game that went all the way down to the wire, an overtime thriller and the league leaders pulling off a comeback win were all seen in a single weekend of action in the Canadian Elite Basketball League.
The Hamilton Honey Badgers looked in control against the Guelph Nighthawks after dominating the first quarter and taking a double-digit lead in the second. Leading Hamilton’s offence was Sampson Carter, who would finish as the game’s top scorer with 25 points.
The Nighthawks kept plugging away from the low post, with additional success from beyond the arc. They saw seven players reach the double-digit mark by the game’s end, all of them working to give Guelph the lead going into the concluding quarter.
The Nighthawks led by five points with just under two minutes remaining in the game, but Hamilton fought back with ten unanswered points to lead by five in the final possession. Jamal Reynolds made a layup in the final seconds for the Nighthawks, and Marcus Lewis made another one to bring the scoreline to 104-103, but there was no time left for another.
The drama at the Sleeman Centre was over, and Hamilton were then able to celebrate the one-point win.
The Niagara River Lions looked to continue their dominance in a back-and-forth road game with the Saskatchewan Rattlers, who led by ten points early on. The River Lions’ superior close-range play saw them take control in the mid-section of the game, then dominate the final quarter, outscoring Saskatchewan 33-20.
Bruce Massey, Terry Thomas, Gentrey Thomas and Alex Campbell all finished in double-digits for Saskatchewan, behind top scorer Tavrion Dawson who had 22 in the game. Guillaume Boucard had 18 points for the River Lions with his team mate Yohanny Dalembert contributing 11 as they remain at the top of the table following a 94-83 win over the Rattlers.
Hamilton’s win and Saskatchewan’s loss meant that Hamilton moved into second place in the league and Saskatchewan replacing them in third. Niagara remain in first place while Guelph sit just outside the playoff zone.
Meanwhile, the Fraser Valley Bandits were still looking for their first win, and they looked good early on against the Edmonton Stingers, whom they led by eleven points early on. Edmonton stepped up their shooting and ate away at Fraser Valley’s lead, four times in the game, the last of which sending it into overtime.
Ten unanswered points in overtime from Edmonton sealed the win for the visitors to the Abbotsford Centre. Tyrrell Tate led the scoring for Fraser Valley with 21 points, behind Deondre Parks and Adika Peter-McNeilly for Edmonton, who respectively scored 30 and 25 points in the contest.
The Bandits’ search for their first win continues, while Edmonton maintain a winning record and fourth place in the league standings.
Play in the CEBL resumes on Wednesday.
