Agada And Vital Carry Honey Badgers To First Championship In Club History

The Hamilton Honey Badgers are 2022 CEBL Champions. The Honey Badgers survived a furious push from the Scarborough Shooting Stars to get the 90-88 victory and claim their first championship in franchise history.

Hamilton was led by a 17-point performance from Christian Vital and 16 points from Koby McEwen in the win while Caleb Agada added 12 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocked shots as well as the game-winning free throw.

Vital was named Finals MVP after the game. This is his second championship this season after he previously won the NBA G League Championship with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in April.

“Every game that we’ve gone into, I’ve felt that we’re the best team,” Vital said. “[I’ve thought] the only way we don’t win is if we allow ourselves to lose. Not in a cocky or too confident way, that’s the work that we’ve put in. We gained that confidence from the work that we’ve put in from preseason, from camp, from challenges and obstacles that we’ve faced during the year.”

Agada’s free throw came after Scarborough went on a 24-8 run in the Elam Ending phase, including scoring 17 straight to get within a point of Hamilton, 89-88, with the game target score at 90. After passing up a difficult look from three, Agada drove to the rim and was fouled. He made his first free throw, clinching the victory and the championship for Hamilton.

“We saw on display what the Elam is all about,” Hamilton head coach Ryan Schmidt said. “I absolutely would have loved to win the game by double digits, but to me, it’s fitting that we won in this fashion because our group is resilient and they’ve persevered through a lot of things, a lot of tough moments. At the end of the day, we found a way to win. It was fun. A little tense for a second, but to be honest with you, I didn’t have any doubts. At the end of the day, we were going to find a way to get it done.”

It was the second time in as many games that Agada has won the game at the free-throw line for Hamilton.

“Just trust,” he said of his thoughts at the line with the game on the line. “Trust that my teammates gave me the ball and they believe in me."

With Hamilton leading 89-71 after a pair of free throws from McEwen put the Honey Badgers within a point of the win, Scarborough came storming back. After six straight points from Kassius Robertson, Jalen Harris had a right-handed dunk, a blocked shot and then a layup in transition to get the Shooting Stars within seven points. After four free throws from Kyle Alexander, the score was 89-85 Hamilton. Kameron Chatman’s three-pointer trimmed Hamilton’s lead to a point, and set up Scarborough to win with a two-point basket.

“These guys are true professionals,” Scarborough Shooting Stars head coach Chris Exilus said. “We were able to put some good offensive possessions together at the end. Everybody shared the ball toward the end. We were able to make shots. Defensively we were able to tighten things up towards the end of the game and the guys that were on the court did a fantastic job. The guys on the bench were really pushing, giving that energy. 

“I said to the coaching staff we’ve done everything we possibly could to win a championship this season and you saw a championship team on the floor, fighting until the end giving it their all," Exilus continued. "Kass shot the ball extremely well. He’s an elite shooter, one of the best shooters in the entire world.”

Robertson led all scorers with 23 points for Scarborough while Harris added 12 points and Alexander had 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocked shots in the loss.

“We had an amazing group of guys in Scarborough,” Robertson said. “I bonded with each and every one of them, especially the coaching staff, too. We had a really good time. We fought on the court, and on and off the court we became close. It was a pleasure. I’m always grateful to them for bringing me on. It’s been a great experience.”

As Hamilton struggled to score, as well as to take care of the ball in the Elam Ending phase, McEwen’s decision to drive to the rim was the right one.

Hamilton’s stifling defensive effort throughout the game allowed the team to build a 17-point lead to start the Elam Ending phase and they needed every point of that lead to pull out the win. 

“It’s good that we were up 20 going into it,” Agada said with a laugh. “We did our job the whole game. It’s crazy, it’s tough, but we’ve been here before.”

Nail-biting finish aside, it was a dominant effort from Hamilton who finished the game shooting 45 percent to Scarborough’s 42 percent, while also holding a 62-28 edge in points scored in the paint, and a 31-15 edge in fast break points scored. 

Scarborough shot 24-for-28 from the free throw line, compared to just 7-for-10 from Hamilton, including that game-winning free throw from Agada.

“We did what we do every single game,” Schmidt said. “We’re the number one defence in the league from start to finish. You see these guys, the level of execution on the defensive end is something I’ve never seen be done for long stretches, game to game for an entire season. There's no secret. There wasn’t anything we needed to say before the game to motivate these guys to play. They've worked all summer long to get to this point. You could see it in their eyes this morning in the pregame. It’s a tough team to play against on the defensive end.”

While the game started out close, with Hamilton holding a one-point lead after the opening 10 minutes, the Honey Badgers slowly began to pull away and opened a seven-point lead at the half. Hamilton’s first-half defence helped force Scarborough into 12 turnovers, compared to just six for the Honey Badgers who also held a 13-2 edge in fast break points. 

A thunderous dunk from Jeremiah Tilman opened the second half scoring, extending Hamilton’s lead to nine points. After a layup from Best, Hamilton led by double figures for the first time with 8:42 remaining in the third quarter. Scarborough wouldn’t get any closer than five points for the rest of the quarter and went into the fourth trailing 69-59.

“Definitely give them their credit, Scarborough, they played a good game,” Vital said. “They made us earn it at the end.”

After Scarborough's Isiaha Mike hit one of two free throws to open fourth-quarter scoring, Hamilton scored 10 straight points with a three-pointer from Vital giving the Honey Badgers a 19-point advantage with 6:05 remaining. After a basket from Chatman with 3:54 remaining, Tilmon was called for an offensive foul and the Elam Phase began.

“I’ve never seen a group as close as this group was,” Schmidt said. “Winning is the ultimate goal, but to me, I wanted it for them…to be able to cap it off in this fashion, to put a ring on it, what else can you ask for?”

Hamilton will represent Canada in the upcoming 2022-23 season of the FIBA Basketball Champions League of Americas (BCLAs).