Cat Barber Three Sends Scarborough Shooting Stars to 83-80 Win Over Montréal Alliance

Cat Barber drilled a three-pointer in target score time to give the Scarborough Shooting Stars (9-7) a 83-80 victory over the Montréal Alliance (7-10) on Wednesday night.

Seconds after Montréal’s Treveon Graham clanked a three off back iron, Barber raced down the court, evaded defenders between a Kalif Young screen, and pulled up from the right side of the arch to get the game-winning bucket to drop.

“I’ve been doing this the whole year, so my team looked at me and they know I can do it,” Barber said after the game. “I just came out and made the shot.”

Barber, who entered tonight’s game as the third highest scorer in the league with a 21.5 point per game average, finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Although Barber got the game’s final three points, it was Chaundee Brown Jr.—making his CEBL debut—who stole the show for most of the night.

The Orlando, Florida native, who played collegiately at Wake Forest and the University of Michigan, scored 20 points in the first half on his way to near double-double in his first game with the Shooting Stars.

Barber briefly played with Brown Jr. on the Atlanta Hawks in 2021 and was confident in his abilities heading into his debut.

“I know what he can do,” he said. “The coaches told me he’s going to be around and I was like ‘yeah, he’s a good player.”

Brown Jr. totalled 32 points and nine rebounds on the night. He also shot 4-7 from three point range.

On the other side of the court, Treveon Graham provided a spark for the Alliance all over the floor, scoring 18 points and 15 rebounds.

It was Graham’s hustle, however, that kept Montréal in the game—especially towards the target score time.

Late in the fourth, having trailed the whole game, Alliance guard Derek Brown Jr. had the ball bounce off his foot in transition. Graham, however, who was trailing the play, sprinted to the sidelined to save the ball inches from going out of bounds, and found Brown Jr. in the corner to bring Montréal within two points heading into target score time.

The energy was helpful as the Alliance were without guard Alain Louis, who averages over nine points and five assists this season. Graham said that the team missed Louis’ hustle and communication on defence tonight.

“With Alain being out, he’s our energy guy. He did a lot of the talking which helped us out in a lot of those situations,” Graham said. “You don’t realize until it’s not there that we’re missing that.”

In target score time, Montréal took their first lead of the game on a Nathan Cayo three pointer, but Barber’s final three prevented them from pulling off the comeback and earn some breathing room over the Brampton Honey Badgers, who are now one half game behind the Alliance for the east’s final play-in spot.

Barber started the game strong, scoring seven points primarily off layups by going downhill to the basket. Brown Jr. recorded 11 of his 32 points in the frame that helped give Scarborough a two-point edge after one.

Ahmed Hill struggled to find a groove in the first, but started to come alive in the second—going on an individual 5-0 run to cut a 10-point lead in half by halftime.

After the break, Montréal primarily played in a zone defence that proved effective at points, especially in slowing down Brown Jr. The Alliance, after shooting 37 per cent from the field, also started to get their shots in drop in the third, finishing with a 50 per cent shooting percentage inside the arch.

Scarborough, though, stayed ahead with strong play on the offensive glass.

The Shooting Stars recorded 23 offensive rebounds on the night and turned that into 25 second chance points. Scarborough also won the rebound battle 53-39, although Montréal was able to nab 14 offensive rebounds of their own.

“It was a playoff level of competition,” Montréal head coach Derrick Alston Sr. said. “I thought the guys played their assess of, we had opportunities to win the game, they beat us up on the boards, their physicality hurt us.”

Kalif Young led the way for Scarborough with five offensive boards, while three of Brown Jr.’s nine rebounds came on the offensive glass. Three other Shooting Stars—Isiaha Mike, Daniel Waldin-Mullings, and Elijah Lufile—hauled in three or more offensive rebounds.

Nathan Cayo finished with a team-high 21 points for Montréal—highlighted by a four-point play in the third that brought the Alliance to within two. And after his slow start to the game, Hill matched Graham with 18 points on the night.

With the win, Scarborough tied the Niagara River Lions (who play tomorrow night in Ottawa) for second place in the eastern conference.

Scarborough and Montréal will renew hostilities on Friday night at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre at 8:00 p.m. ET.

“To make the playoffs is special,” Alston Sr. said of Montréal’s goal heading into their final three games of the regular season.

“We’ll lick out wounds, regroup, get on the bus and us coaches will do our work to find ways to help us out on the road.”

Full broadcast schedule of CEBL Games of the Week on TSN can be found here. All games will also be streamed live internationally on the CEBL’s OTT platform, CEBL+, and on the CEBL Mobile app for iOS and Android devices. 

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 71 percent of its 2022 rosters being Canadian. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. Nine players have moved from the CEBL into the NBA following a CEBL season, and 28 CEBL players attended NBA G League training camps during October. The CEBL season runs from May through August. More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.