What’s at Stake During the Final Week of the Regular Season

(Preview: Week 14)

The CEBL’s longest-ever season is set to come to an end.

A monumental 120-game campaign has rarely been short on drama — it’s not hard to think back and remember scintillating Target Score Time endings (the River Lions authored quite a few), shattered records (Rattlers guard Nate Pierre-Louis dusted the single-season assists mark) and intense rivalries (the Battle of Alberta is only just heating up).

Yet while we’ve known the eight playoff teams for some time now, there is still plenty left to be decided.

And the final week of the season should provide plenty of entertainment, starting with a triple-header Wednesday before all 10 teams are in action on both Friday and Sunday.

Here are the key battlegrounds:

Eastern Conference, Seeds 2-4

Key games: OTT at MTL (Aug. 6), MTL at OTT (Aug. 8), MTL at SSS (Aug. 10)

Behind East champion Niagara, which has its ticket to Championship Weekend in Winnipeg, the middle of the conference is a muddled mess.

Each of the Scarborough Shooting Stars (11-11), Ottawa BlackJacks (10-10) and Montreal Alliance (8-13) know they’re headed to the playoffs — but seeding remains fully up for grabs.

The Shooting Stars are in the driver’s seat for a spot directly in the conference semifinal. If they win their final two games, the BlackJacks would also need to finish undefeated over their final three to steal the second seed.

Scarborough is rolling right now — it’s won two straight over title contenders in the Calgary Surge and the River Lions despite not having co-leading scorer Donovan Williams in the latter contest.

Instead, a balanced attack led by Terquavion Smith was enough to down the River Lions and keep Scarborough on pace for the all-important right to host a playoff game.

Lurking in third place, however, is Ottawa — another team that seems to be hitting its stride despite a bumpy season.

Javonte Smart has exploded onto the scene since signing with the BlackJacks in June, leading the league at 28.2 points per game (no one else is above 24) and smashing the franchise single-game points record with a 44-point outburst in a win over Niagara.

Quietly, Ottawa owns the third-best point differential in the league while claiming the fourth-best offence and second-stingiest defence.

And then there’s Montreal. The Alliance seemed transformed during their 4-0 start to the season, but they’ve won just four of 16 contests since then amid a player carousel and roller-coaster campaign.

Still, the Alliance are in the dance — and with three games this week, all against the BlackJacks and Shooting Stars, they can control their own fate.

However, Montreal just suffered a 17-point drubbing at the hands of the Surge on Monday.

Western Conference, Seeds 1-3

Key games: VAN at SSS (Aug. 8), NRL at EDM (Aug. 8), NRL at CGY (Aug. 10)

For most of the season, the Vancouver Bandits (17-5) have held a tight grip on top spot in the West.

Yet it’s still not a sure thing after the Surge (15-7) won yet again to move within two games of the Bandits.

Any Bandits win or Surge loss would clinch the No. 1 spot and the right to host the conference semifinal for Vancouver. But the Bandits, who’ve won two straight, including a key victory over the Edmonton Stingers (12-9), will face a pair of tough road tests against desperate teams in Scarborough and Montreal to close out their season.

Vancouver cannot fall lower than second, meaning it is guaranteed to host some sort of playoff game.

That’s because only Calgary can still catch the Bandits, while the best the Stingers can do is second.

Not only are the Surge hot on the Bandits’ heels, but they’ve had their number all year and won all three matchups, meaning they own the tiebreaker if they finish the season with the same record.

The Surge finish out the season with a pair of home games against teams with nothing to play for.

On Friday, it’s Saskatchewan at WinSport Event Centre — the same team that played spoiler to the Stingers last week. Then on Sunday, Calgary hosts Niagara at Scotiabank Saddledome for their third game at the historic venue, closing out the regular season. The River Lions will be looking to take some positive vibes into Winnipeg.

But even with little on the line for the Rattlers and River Lions, Calgary’s hustle-based style — top two in steals, rebounds, and blocks — could still be tough to match.

Meanwhile, the Stingers need to win out to have any shot at hosting a Battle of Alberta play-in game.

The Stingers get a rematch against the Rattlers on Wednesday following a devastating Target Score Time collapse on Sunday, then return home for a pair against the River Lions and Sea Bears, who are both headed to Championship Weekend.

As things stand now, Edmonton is fighting an uphill battle to join them. But plenty can change as we barrel toward the final week.

Numbers you should know

1 – Ottawa’s Smart was one point away from tying the all-time single-game scoring record with his 44-point performance in a win over Niagara on Thursday. Jalen Harris has the mark at 45 from last season with Saskatchewan.

9 – Calgary’s Greg Brown III and Saskatchewan’s Jaden Bediako are each nine blocks away from equalling the record of 46 set by Niagara’s EJ Onu in 2022.

53 – Stingers guard Sean East II needs 53 points over his final three games to match the single-season scoring record of 544 set by Winnipeg’s Teddy Allen in 2023.

71 – East II’s backcourt mate Scottie Lindsey is 10 three-pointers away from breaking the single-season mark, held by Saskatchewan’s Justin Wright-Foreman from the 2023 season.

226 – The Bandits and Stingers combined for the most points in one game during the Target Time Era by the end of Vancouver’s Friday victory.

Weekly schedule (13 games)

Game #15B -- Wednesday, Aug. 6 – OTT at MTL – 7:30 p.m. ET – Verdun Auditorium (CEBL+, TSN+, RDS.ca)

Game #109 – Wednesday, Aug. 6 – NRL at WPG – 7 p.m. CDT / 8 p.m. ET – Canada Life Centre (CEBL+, TSN+, NLSE)

Game #110 – Wednesday, Aug. 6 – EDM at SSK – 7:30 p.m. CST/MT / 9:30 p.m. ET – SaskTel Centre (CEBL+, TSN+)

Game #111 – Friday, Aug. 8 – MTL at OTT – 7:30 p.m. ET – The Arena at TD Place (CEBL+, TSN+)

Game #112 – Friday, Aug. 8 – VAN at SSS – 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT – Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre (CEBL+, TSN+)

Game #113 – Friday, Aug. 8 – BHB at WPG – 7:30 p.m. CDT / 8:30 p.m. ET – Canada Life Centre (TSN, CEBL+, TSN+, NLSE)

Game #114 – Friday, Aug. 8 – NRL at EDM – 7 p.m. MT / 9 p.m. ET – Edmonton Expo Centre (CEBL+, TSN+)

Game #115 – Friday, Aug. 8 – SSK at CGY – 8 p.m. MT/CST / 10 p.m. ET – WinSport Event Centre (CEBL+, TSN+)

Game #116 – Sunday, Aug. 10 – MTL at SSS – 2 p.m. ET – Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre (CEBL+, TSN+)

Game #117 – Sunday, Aug. 10 – VAN at OTT – 3 p.m. ET / noon PT – The Arena at TD Place (CEBL+, TSN+)

Game #118 – Sunday, Aug. 10 – WPG at EDM – 4 p.m. MT / 5 p.m. CDT / 6 p.m. ET – Edmonton Expo Centre (CEBL+, TSN+)

Game #119 – Sunday, Aug. 10 – BHB at SSK – 5 p.m. CST / 7 p.m. ET – SaskTel Centre (CEBL+, TSN+, NLSE)

Game #120 – Sunday, Aug. 10 – NRL at CGY – 6 p.m. MT / 8 p.m. ET – Scotiabank Saddledome (TSN, CEBL+, TSN+)

For the full 2025 CEBL schedule, please visit cebl.ca/games.