BlackJacks Deal Brampton 88-82 Loss and Secure Seventh Straight Win

Ottawa forward Deng Adel’s 10 points in the fourth quarter kept the BlackJacks’ franchise record win streak alive in an 88-82 victory over the Brampton Honey Badgers at CAA Centre on Wednesday. 

The BlackJacks extend their streak to seven straight wins as they tighten their grip on the top spot in the CEBL’s Eastern Conference with four games remaining in the regular season.

“It’s just knowing that when we [go] out there, we’re all comfortable with each other and it's always next man up,” Adel said of the streak. “And I think that's what we've been doing well all year.”

Adel scored Ottawa’s final six points in target score time and finished with a game-high 21 overall. After leaving the last game in Vancouver with an injury, Adel returned with a 10-20 performance from the field to go along with three steals.

Jackson Rowe has been a constant during Ottawa’s run of form and his strong play continued on Wednesday. Rowe tallied 13 points, seven rebounds and three steals in the victory.

Overall, five Ottawa players scored double-digit points in their third win over Brampton this season. Point guard Kadre Gray returned to the lineup after an injury with 11 points, eight assists, four rebounds and two steals.

Meanwhile, Maxime Boursiquot and Matthew Coleman III came off the bench to chip in 12 points and 10 points respectively.

On the other side, Brampton relied heavily on their big three of Christian Vital, Koby McEwen and Jeremiah Tilmon Jr. to lead their offence. Vital led all Honey Badgers with 19 points on 7-18 shooting while stuffing the stats sheet with seven rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block.

McEwen secured a double-double with 16 points and a game-high 11 assists, which is also a career-high. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year snagged six rebounds and three steals but turned the ball over five times as well. Meanwhile, Tilmon Jr. provided an inside presence for Brampton with 16 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

“I actually think we had a solid 40 minutes,” acting Brampton head coach Sheldon Cassimy said. “There were obviously a couple of lapses there – especially in the third quarter, defensively. Also, it didn't help on the offensive end when we had to go against their half-court defence the whole time.”

Both teams shot well from the field and Brampton dominated the points in the paint battle. However, Ottawa’s 13 threes at a 44 per cent clip – while holding the Honey Badgers to under 20 points in the third and fourth quarters – proved to be the difference.

“We're a skilled team, we're a three-point shooting team [but] we're not a big team,” Ottawa head coach James Derouin said. “For these guys to match that and maybe even take over the game with the physicality is something I'm really happy with.”

In the first quarter, McEwen got going early for the Honey Badgers to earn a 9-5 advantage. However, the BlackJacks went on an 11-0 run thanks to a pair of big buckets from Boursiquot. Tyrell Green hit a timely three for Brampton against his former team and Vital cut to the hoop out of a timeout to beat the buzzer, cutting the deficit to 24-18 after 10 minutes.

The Honey Badgers forced an early Derouin timeout in the second quarter after a run to tie the game that featured back-to-back Tilmon slams. The teams went back and forth for much of the second before Prince Oduro joined the action with back-to-back dunks of his own to give the defending champs a five-point lead. To close the half, McEwen drilled a wing three before Waterman hit a hook to give Brampton a 49-42 lead at the half.

“I think they caught our team by surprise with the level of fight, physicality [and] early shotmaking,” Derouin said. “At halftime, I had to make sure that these guys understood that we were getting outworked.”

The Honey Badgers extended their lead to 12 points to start the third quarter, but Adel went on a 7-2 run on his own for Ottawa to force a timeout. Shamiel Stevenson got some run in his first game with the Honey Badgers with back-to-back buckets to give his squad a five-point lead.

However, the BlackJacks caught fire from long range and went on a 12-0 run to close the quarter. They hit four threes with four different shooters to take a 71-64 lead into the fourth.

Oduro, Tilmon and Vital attacked inside to start the final frame on a 6-0 run for Brampton that made it a one-possession game again. Adel put a stop to the run with back-to-back buckets and Ottawa took a 79-75 lead into target score time.

Tilmon scored consecutive buckets to tie the game in target time, but Adel took over to ensure another Ottawa victory. He scored inside twice and drilled a long two to win the game.

Ottawa improves its league-best record to 11-5, while Brampton falls to 5-9. Up next for the BlackJacks is a meeting with the Scarborough Shooting Stars while the Honey Badgers travel west for a matchup with Vancouver on Friday night.

All games are available for streaming on TSN+, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor and on the CEBL Mobile app available on 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 per cent 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.