Australian Standout Forward Creek Returns to Bandits

Training camp officially gets underway today and runs until May 12 before they take on the Niagara River Lions in preseason action on May 13 at home in the CAA Centre

Tristan Jass and the Bandits to face Sikh Warriors in May 10 charity matchup in Vancouver

The Saskatchewan Rattlers of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) announced Friday that the franchise has set a new record for season ticket memberships ahead of their home opener against the Vancouver Bandits on May 15 at SaskTel Centre. The 82 per cent increase of season ticket sales over the 2024 season will continue to climb for the 2025 season as fans have the ability to secure season tickets at a prorated price. The Rattlers saw strong growth in 2024 with season ticket sales up 45 per cent, setting a new single game attendance record of 3,500 on June 20, and hosting over 25,000 fans throughout the 2024 season at SaskTel Centre. “We are very pleased to see the meteoric growth of the Rattlers as we head into the 2025 campaign in what will be our largest season in history,” said Rattlers President, Lee Genier. SaskTel Centre is the second-largest venue in the CEBL with a capacity of over 15,000. The Winnipeg Sea Bears play out of Canada Life Centre which has a capacity of 16,345. The Sea Bears had an average attendance of 7,843 throughout their 10 home games, including their home playoff game. The Calgary Surge and Edmonton Stingers hosted the Battle Of Alberta Game at the Saddledome at the start of the 2024 season setting a league single-game attendance record of 12,327 fans. The Rattlers look to compete with their conference rivals for the league attendance record. “The Rattlers Front Office is working extremely hard to make the 2025 season, the Year of the Snake,” said Rattlers Manager of Ticket Sales and Premium Seating, Graham Forrester. “We have seen incredible support from the community and we are very excited to announce this milestone as the Rattlers organization continues to grow.” The Rattlers are positioned to have a packed house for their home opener on May 15, 2025 at SaskTel Centre proudly presented by Ens Toyota. Ticket sales are on pace to surpass previous home opener attendance records, with the addition of recording superstar Rebecca Strong performing at halftime . Strong performed on June 20, 2024 which happens to be the single-game franchise record. The Rattlers have built a recipe of success with their home opener filled with entertainment and activations throughout the game. Tickets are available now through Ticketmaster starting at $20 for single-game tickets, with additional group pricing discounts available through bulk purchases. Premium seat options are available including VIP tables, Luxury Suites, and the Rattlers Courtside Lounge. All tickets options can also be purchased through the Rattlers Front Office in Downtown Saskatoon (306) 244-2181, Saskatchewan Rattlers website , or via Ticketmaster . For more seating options, and partnership opportunities; fans can contact a member of the Rattlers Front Office . The full 2025 Rattlers schedule has been released, which features a new 24-game slate. The 2025 CEBL Playoffs are scheduled to begin Thursday, August 14 with the Conference Play-In games, followed by the Conference Semifinals on Saturday, August 16. The winners will advance to CW25 to join the Winnipeg Sea Bears (host team) and the top-ranked team from the Eastern Conference who are automatically seeded into the Conference Finals. The full playoff schedule with tipoff times will be announced at a later date. General public and returning season ticket members can claim their seats for the entire Rattlers 2025 season by using Account Manager . Season tickets starting at $235 in the bronze. All tickets can also be purchased through the Rattlers Front Office (306) 244-2181, Saskatchewan Rattlers website , or via Ticketmaster . Flex Ticket Bundles can be purchased online or at the Rattlers Front Office , which features a minimum of four-tickets in any section with a bonus gift card to Moxies. Single game tickets are available now via Ticketmaster . For more seating options, suites, and group rates; fans can contact an account executive . ### About the Saskatchewan Rattlers The Saskatchewan Rattlers are Saskatchewan’s professional basketball team, one of the six original teams in the CEBL – the Rattlers won the 2019 inaugural season championship. Playing out of SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – the Rattlers offer an entertainment-focused environment surrounded by some of the world’s top professional athletes. The Rattlers are a community-first organization and take pride in their ability to bring communities together while making sport more accessible to the province.

Chad Posthumus’ No. 33 jersey is officially retired during the team’s 2025 home opener on May 16

The George Mason University product attended NBA summer league last year with the New York Knicks

Par Myles Dichter La LECB est de retour, et elle commence fort avec une nouvelle édition de la Bataille de l’Alberta. L’ailier des Stingers d’Edmonton, Nick Hornsby, ressent déjà l’animosité. « Même si je ne viens pas d’ici, je le comprends. Je sais que les partisans le comprennent. Même quand on joue à Calgary, ils le ressentent aussi. C’est agréable, j’aime vraiment ça. Ça rend les matchs plus amusants et vraiment excitants », a-t-il déclaré à la station Sports1440 d’Edmonton. Les Stingers et le Surge de Calgary se retrouveront pour le match d’ouverture de la saison de la LECB dimanche au Centre EXPO d’Edmonton à 18 h (HE) / 16 h (HR), avec une couverture en direct sur Game+ ainsi qu’en diffusion continue sur TSN+ et CEBL+. Originaire d’Irvine, en Californie, Hornsby, 29 ans, amorce sa troisième saison avec les Stingers. Il comprend désormais ce que cette rivalité provinciale représente. La saison 2024 s’est amorcée avec le même affrontement, alors que les Stingers s’étaient imposés 97-79 au Scotiabank Saddledome de Calgary. Toutefois, leur saison s’est terminée par une défaite en quart de finale contre ce même Surge, à domicile. Le 19 juin, les deux équipes s’affronteront à nouveau, cette fois à Red Deer, en Alberta — à mi-chemin entre les deux villes. Pour l’instant, Edmonton se concentre sur la course vers un troisième championnat de la franchise. Les Stingers comptent sur des visages familiers : Elijah Miller, Aaron Rhooms et Taye Donald, sans oublier Hornsby, qui a mené l’équipe l’an dernier avec une moyenne de 6,9 rebonds et 4,7 passes décisives par match. Le meneur Scottie Lindsey s’est joint à l’équipe après une saison avec les Sea Bears de Winnipeg, au cours de laquelle il a inscrit en moyenne 13,3 points par match. De son côté, Cameron McGriff, un joueur ayant disputé trois matchs dans la NBA, fait également partie de l’effectif. À Calgary, la formation est majoritairement composée de nouveaux visages dans la LECB, mais elle compte sur le retour du spectaculaire Sean « Rugzy » Miller-Moore, qui entame une troisième saison avec le Surge. Originaire de Thornhill, en Ontario, il a terminé deuxième marqueur de l’équipe l’an dernier avec une moyenne de 16,4 points en 19 matchs. Il sera épaulé par Gabe Osabuohien, un ailier canadien polyvalent qui a connu de solides débuts avec l’équipe la saison passée. Un troisième Canadien, Abu Kigab, revient dans le circuit après une année d’absence, tandis que les amateurs pourraient reconnaître Jameer Nelson Jr., fils de l’ancien joueur vedette de la NBA avec le Magic d’Orlando, ainsi que Karim Mané, un Montréalais passé par Vanier qui a disputé 10 matchs avec le Magic lors de la saison 2020-2021. Un niveau de talent à son sommet Alors que la LECB entame sa septième saison, une chose demeure constante : la hausse du niveau de talent d’année en année. Avec un nombre record de joueurs de haut calibre répartis dans les formations à travers le pays, tout est en place pour ce qui s’annonce comme la meilleure saison de l’histoire de la ligue — et assurément la plus longue, puisque chaque équipe disputera désormais 24 matchs. Défendre un titre, comme doivent le faire les River Lions de Niagara cette saison, n’a jamais été aussi difficile. À titre d’exemple : 45 joueurs comptent de l’expérience dans la G League, et 39 ont signé un contrat avec une formation de la NBA — deux sommets dans l’histoire de la ligue. De plus, 10 joueurs ont même disputé des matchs en NBA. Encore plus impressionnant : 73 % des joueurs de la ligue sont Canadiens, dont 33 qui ont représenté le pays sur la scène internationale. Pour assurer une progression durable, la stabilité est essentielle — et la LECB en bénéficie, avec 86 joueurs de retour pour la saison 2025. Quelques statistiques marquantes : 98 joueurs ayant évolué dans des ligues professionnelles à l’étranger 96 anciens joueurs de la NCAA 77 anciens joueurs issus de U SPORTS ou de l’ACSC (Association canadienne du sport collégial) Cinq joueurs internationaux provenant de l’Australie, la Barbade, l’Afrique du Sud et le Soudan du Sud Horaire hebdomadaire (un seul match cette semaine) Match #1 – Dimanche 11 mai – CGY à EDM – 16 h HR / 18 h HE Lieu : Centre EXPO d’Edmonton | Diffusion : Game+, CEBL+, TSN+ Pour consulter le calendrier complet de la saison 2025 de la LECB, visitez le site cebl.ca/fr-ca/games .

By Myles Dichter The CEBL is back, and it’s diving right in with the Battle of Alberta. Edmonton Stingers forward Nick Hornsby already feels the bad blood. “Even though I’m not from here, I understand it. I know the fans understand it. Even when we go to Calgary, they understand it. So it’s nice, I really enjoy it. It makes the games fun and makes it really exciting,” Hornsby said on Edmonton’s Sports1440 radio station. The Stingers and Calgary Surge will meet in the CEBL season opener on Sunday at the Edmonton EXPO Centre at 6 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. MT, with live coverage available on Game+ as well as streaming on TSN+ and CEBL+. Hornsby, 29, hails from Irvine, Calif., but heading into his third season with the Stingers, it’s become apparent what the provincial rivalry represents. The 2024 campaign opened with the same matchup as the Stingers marched into Calgary’s Scotiabank Saddledome and left with a 97-79 victory. However, the Stingers’ season ended with a quarterfinal loss to the Surge in their own barn. On June 19, the teams will do battle in Red Deer, Alta., about the halfway point between the two cities. For now, Edmonton will concentrate on the chase for the franchise’s third championship. The Stingers enter with familiar faces in Elijah Miller, Aaron Rhooms and Taye Donald in addition to Hornsby, who led last year’s team with 6.9 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. Meanwhile, point guard Scottie Lindsey came over after a season with the Winnipeg Sea Bears in which he averaged 13.3 points per game, and G Leaguer Cameron McGriff, who played three NBA games, is also in the mix. In Calgary, a roster full of fresh faces to the CEBL has one marquee returnee in Sean ‘Rugzy’ Miller-Moore, set for his third season with the Surge. The Thornhill, Ont., native was second on the team with 16.4 points per game in 19 contests last year. He’ll be joined by Gabe Osabuohien, the do-it-all Canadian forward who enjoyed a strong debut with the team last season. A third Canadian, Abu Kigab, joins the holdovers after a year out of the league, while fans might recognize Jameer Nelson Jr., whose father was a longtime NBAer with the Orlando Magic, and Karim Mane, a Montreal native who played at Vanier and spent 10 games with the Magic in the 2020-21 season. Talent at an all-time high As the CEBL enters Year 7, one constant has been year-over-year talent improvement. With more high-level basketball players littered on rosters across the country than ever before, the stage is set for what should be the greatest season yet — and what will definitely be the longest, as the schedule expands to 24 games per team. Defending the title — as the Niagara River Lions are tasked with this season — has never been more difficult. To wit: the 45 players with G League experience and the 39 who have signed NBA contracts both represent league records, while 10 players own NBA game experience. Even more impressive, perhaps, is that 73 per cent of the league is Canadian, including 33 players who have represented the country in international play. But the only way to continue growing is by having a stable foundation – and the league has certainly found that as 86 players enter the 2025 season with previous CEBL experience. Some other notable stats: 98 players with professional experience playing overseas 96 former NCAA players 77 players from U SPORTS / CCAA (Canadian College Athletic Association) Five international players from Australia, Barbados, South Africa and South Sudan Weekly schedule (one game) Game #1 - Sun., May 11 - CGY at EDM - 4 p.m. MT / 6 p.m. ET - Edmonton EXPO Centre (Game+, CEBL+, TSN+) For the full 2025 CEBL schedule, please visit cebl.ca/games .

16 players to join the team at Verdun Auditorium from May 10-17

16 joueurs rejoindront l’équipe à l’Auditorium de Verdun du 10 au 17 mai