Bandits Hot First Half Carries Them to 95-75 Win Over Alliance

Koby McEwen matched his CEBL career-high with five made threes to lead the Vancouver Bandits (1-0) in a season-opening 95-75 win against the Montréal Alliance (0-1) on Friday Night.  The Toronto native shot 62 per cent from beyond the arc in his first game with the Vancouver Bandits, finishing with a game-high 22 points to go with six rebounds and four assists. He wasn’t the only offseason addition to make a difference for the Bandits however, as Zach Copeland chipped in with 19 points while Tazé Moore added 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Meanwhile, 2023 team MVP Nick Ward also had a productive evening finishing with 17 points and six rebounds on an efficient 55 per cent shooting from the field.

“For having three days of practice ... it was pretty good,” said general manager and head coach Kyle Julius on first impressions following the impressive win. “I knew this group was going to gel, I could just feel it. There’s already chemistry in there, and that part is impossible to coach, it happens naturally, and fortunately we’ve got great guys in the locker room and that’s happening early.” On the other side, newcomer Chris Smith led the Alliance with a near-double-double of 18 points and nine rebounds. Ahmed Hill, Montréal’s leading scorer last season had a quiet first game as he scored 12 points on 5-for-16 shooting from the field and a game-high four turnovers.

For Julius, there were two main objectives when adding Copeland and Moore to the Bandits – inject scoring and improve last season’s team three-point percentage. And through the first quarter of game one it was safe to say Julius’ investment was paying off. The import guards helped Vancouver carve out a six-point lead through the first 10 minutes, combining to hit all three of the Bandits’ three-points throughout the opening frame.

Copeland, specifically, was feeling it early as he led all players with 10 points after the first quarter, going 2-for-5 from distance. Not surprising considering the American shot 37.8 per cent from deep in his most-recent international season with Bamberg Baskets of the German Basketball Bundesliga.

Come the second quarter however, McEwen made sure fans didn’t forget that he was also a splash signing for Vancouver in free agency. The former Brampton Honey Badger and Sixth Man of the Year had 13 points by halftime, all coming in the second frame. McEwen was brought in mainly for his championship pedigree – having won a title in 2022 – and an innate ability to get downhill and score, yet through his scoring outburst he seemed determined to show he could also join in on the three-point barrage.

The 26-year-old went 3-for-4 from distance in the second quarter, even converting a four-point play that helped Vancouver extend their lead as high as 20-points before going into the halftime up 54-36.

“We made tough shots,” said Julius on his team’s strong first half from distance. “We actually want to get the ball moving even more ... that’s how we built it. We want to be able to play different styles, inside and out, and we’ve got the guys to do it.” 

To their credit, Montréal did show signs of life after the break, cutting what was an 18-point deficit to single digits at the 1:42 mark of the third quarter after a Jahenns Manigat triple. That make was part of six points in the frame for Manigat against his former squad of two seasons. The Alliance’s biggest adjustment to claw their way back was finding a way to shut the taps on the Bandit’s three-point shooting. Vancouver didn’t hit a single shot from beyond the arc in the third quarter after hitting eight triples in the first half.

Montréal’s revived defence got the lead down to as low as six-points in the early minutes of the fourth, but Vancouver’s composure proved better in this one as the Bandits went on an 18-5 run from that point to go into target score time with a 19-point lead.

The Alliance basically went shot-for-shot with the Bandits in target time but couldn’t manage another defence-lead run as Ward put an end to the contest with a layup right underneath the basket.

“That (third) quarter we showed we can be a good group of guys that can make some things happen positively,” said Montréal’s interim head coach Ryan Thorn reflecting on what his takeaway from the loss will be. “It has to be (what we focus on), because if we only dwell on the negative we won’t find out what we need to be successful, so we have to look at some of the positives, like our fight in the third quarter.”

Up Next:

The Alliance won’t have much time to process this game as they’ll be back in action on Saturday, staying on the road to take on the 1-0 Saskatchewan Rattlers.

Meanwhile, the Bandits remain home and welcome back the defending champion Shooting Stars to the Langley Events Centre on Sunday, the site Scarborough claimed its first title a season ago.

- CEBL –

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A league created by Canadians for Canadians with a mission to develop Canadian players, coaches, sports executives, and referees, the CEBL boasts the highest percentage of Canadian players of any pro league in the country with 75% of its rosters being Canadian and a record 10 players with NBA experience in 2024. Players also bring experience from the NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, NCAA programs, as well as U SPORTS and CCAA. Fourteen players have signed NBA contracts following a CEBL season, and numerous CEBL players attend NBA G League training camps every year. The CEBL season runs from May through August with games broadcast live

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