Edmonton Stingers strike back in Battle of Alberta with 91-83 win over Calgary Surge

Aher Uguak’s second-half heroics helped the Edmonton Stingers (7-7) rally to a 91-83 win over the Calgary Surge (7-7) on Wednesday night.

Despite scoring just three points in the first half, the forward tallied 16 in the back end of the game to help his squad get their first victory in the battle of Alberta, after being swept in their previous two matchups. He finished with a team-high 19 points on 40 per cent shooting from the field and distance.

While Uguak did the brunt of the scoring, he was joined by Brody Clarke who did a bit of everything as he finished the night with a 16-point, 12-rebound, double-double. The Stingers had two other double-digit scorers as Nick Hornsby and Isiah Osborne put up 17 and 14 points respectively.

On the other side it was Sean Miller-Moore who led the way for the Surge as he put up a game-high 22 points and eight rebounds, as he shot 43 per cent from the field and 60 per cent from distance. He was joined by Simi Shittu who notched 17 points and 11 rebounds in a double-double performance, while Stef Smith did it all with his 14 points, six rebounds, and seven assists.

The battle of Alberta was touted as a hard-nosed rivalry of two teams that do the dirty work, and that is exactly what fans were treated to early on. Both squads found much of their success in the trenches, as over half of all baskets made in the first quarter by either team came from the interior, as both clubs efficiently shot over 50 per cent from two-point range.

It was looking like Edmonton and Calgary were going to be tied at 20 a piece heading into the second, but a Shane Gibson triple splashed at the buzzer gave his Stingers a slim 23-20 lead after one. That three-ball was just the third shot from distance to go down in the quarter as the teams went a combined 15.5 per cent from beyond the arch.

The feeling of there being a lid on the basket whenever a shot from deep went up continued as the second quarter got underway, but unfortunately for home fans at the Expo Centre, it was just for the Stingers. They scored 11 points the entire quarter and went 1-8 from distance on route. The Surge capitalized on those struggles by going on a 13-0 run, giving themselves the first double-digit lead of the game, 35-25 at the 3:48 mark of the quarter.

However, Edmonton did eventually respond by finding some offense as they used a 5-0 run at the end of the half to cut down the lead to single digits, 41-34 at the break.

Part of Calgary’s early success in this contest wasn’t just that their opponent was struggling scoring the ball, it was also their ability to secure those misses at an effective rate. The Surge dominated the glass through the first half of the contest as they held a +7 edge and nearly matched their 39.6 rebounds per game through just two quarters of play.

When you consider the size mismatch up front in favour of Calgary, their edge on the boards may not come as a surprise. Their starting forward duo of Shittu and Kylor Kelley have an average height of 6-foot-11 compared to Edmonton’s 6-foot-7 front court pairing of Uguak and Hornsby.

However, it wasn’t the bigs who led the way on the glass, it was 6-foot-4 Miller-Moore. He was the game’s leading rebounder at half-time with six, and impressively two thirds of those boards came on the offensive end. Despite Calgary being a bottom-three offensive rebounding squad, averaging 9.2 a game, the guard grabbed four on his own through the first half as he helped the Surge take a 7-2 edge on second chance points.

After gaining some momentum prior to halftime, the Stingers looked to capitalize on that traction as the third quarter got underway. Unfortunately, that idea was abruptly halted as play stopped when Elijah Miller went down with injury. The guard landed awkwardly after trying to contest a layup, and after receiving medical attention on the court, exited the game in a wheelchair with what appeared to be an ankle injury.

He did not return the rest of the night, and once action resumed, Edmonton seemingly rallied around the loss of Miller as they went on a quick 7-2 run to cut Calgary’s lead down to just two points. That margin is where the score remained for much of the frame until the 2:42 mark when an Uguak layup gave the Stingers their first lead in over 20 minutes of action.

“Obviously Elijah [Miller] goes down, other guys need to step up,” said Edmonton head coach Jordan Baker. “We have a variety of guys handle the ball for us and made some right decisions…I think we did a good job of that tonight.”

Someone who noticeably stepped up after the injury was Uguak. That basket he made was part of an 11-point burst by the forward in the third quarter that gave Edmonton a 68-63 lead going into the fourth.

Things didn’t seem to get any easier for the Surge as they were forced to sit Shittu after he committed his fifth foul less than three minutes into the final frame. After putting up 17 points and 10 rebounds – a game-high in both categories to that point – the big man ended up riding the bench for a majority of the period.

While Shittu watched from the sidelines the Stingers went on an 11-3 run, taking their biggest lead of the contest, up 82-73 ahead of Target Score Time.

Entering this contest, Edmonton had yet to win a game against Calgary this season, notably having blown a 16-point lead in Target Score Time in their previous face-off. It was clear Edmonton looked ready to strike and avenge that historic loss as they went on a quick 7-2 run to take a 14-point lead and bring the game within one possession of being over.

Calgary did make a late push as they brought the game within six points while the Stingers searched for someone to put an end to the contest. Edmonton finally found their closer, and who else but Uguak to nail a mid-range jumper that ended the game and give his team a 91-83 victory.

With the victory the Stingers are now back to an even record and tied with the Surge for second place in the West. Edmonton is now 2-0 during their current four-game homestand and will host the conference leading Winnipeg Sea Bears on Saturday.

The Surge will get some time to rally from the loss as they’ll be off for one week before returning to action to continue their three-game road trip on July 12 where they’ll take on the Montréal Alliance.

“Just stick to the plan,” said Miller-Moore on his team’s outlook for their break. “Staying consistent as a team, staying together as a unit…trust the coaches and the plan.”

All games are available on TSN+ and CEBL+ Powered by BetVictor. Recap written by Zulfi Sheikh (@zulfi_sheikh).

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