Honey Badgers end BlackJacks win streak with 86-75 home win

The Hamilton Honey Badgers won their second straight game in a 86-75 win over the Ottawa BlackJacks at FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton on Saturday. The BlackJacks drop to 3-8 on the season while Hamilton improves to 9-3 and earns the top spot in the Canadian Elite Basketball League standings.

Caleb Agada had a game-high 19 points including the game-winning three to go along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists to power Hamilton to victory. With Jeremiah Tillmon playing in the NBA Summer League, Prince Oduro stepped up inside for Hamilton with a 14 point, 10 rebound double-double. Nikola Djogo chipped in 12 points and 6 rebounds for Hamilton while the team’s leading scorer, Christian Vital, had an off-night with 8 points. 

Walt Lemon Jr. had 15 points for Ottawa while dishing out 7 assists. Lemon Jr. had an incredible third quarter, scoring 11 of his 15 points in the third frame. Chad Posthumus had 14 points and 9 rebounds for Ottawa while Cody John contributed 10 points. After going 0-8 from the field in the first half, Deng Adel picked things up in the second but finished with just 9 points. 

The Honey Badgers finished the game at 45 per cent from the field and 37 per cent from three. After struggling in the first half, Ottawa finished the game shooting 42 per cent from the field but shot just 18 per cent from three and crucially missed 10 free throws and shot 56 per cent from the line. 

The first quarter saw the Ottawa BlackJacks come out cold. The BlackJacks shot just 25 per cent from the field and 14 per cent from three and they trailed the Honey Badgers 25-13 heading into the second quarter. Entering the game at over 50 per cent from the field and three, Deng Adel went 0-5 in the opening quarter for Ottawa. 

The Honey Badgers stretched their lead to 34-14 before Ottawa was able to cut into it. A slithery finish from Walt Lemon Jr. and a three pointer from Tyrell Green made it a 14 point game heading into halftime. Caleb Agada led the Honey Badgers to their  44-30 halftime lead with 10 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists. Hamilton shot 41 per cent from the field after 20 minutes and 50 per cent from three while Ottawa struggled at 27 per cent from the field and 21 per cent from three. 

Lemon Jr had a huge third quarter for Ottwa, scoring 11 points on a variety of crafty interior finishes to go along with three free throws. The BlackJacks cut the lead to as low as 6 points but a pair of Prince Oduro free throws closed out the quarter for Hamilton to bring their lead back to double digits. The Honey Badgers carried a 66-56 lead into the fourth quarter. 

A Shamiel Stevenson transition jam opened the scoring in the fourth quarter for the BlackJacks. Adel and Chad Posthumus each scored a pair of buckets to cut into the Honey Badgers’ lead but Ottawa struggled to string together stops. A contested Cody John three cut the lead to 7 but Agada hit one from the free throw line to put Hamilton ahead 77-69 with a target score of 86 in the Elam ending.

Posthumus opened Elam time with a putback layup but Keevan Veinot answered with a layup of his own on the other end.  A Prince Oduro putback put the Honey Badgers a three away from victory. After missing several opportunities, Caleb Agada ended the game on a catch-and-shoot three. 

The Honey Badgers will visit the Montreal Alliance for a matchup at Verdun Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday. The BlackJacks will host the Saskatchewan Rattlers on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET at TD Place. 

The games will stream on CEBL+ live internationally and in Canada at cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app for iOS

and Android devices and the free CBC Gem streaming service. Games are also available on the CEBL’s official app, CEBL Mobile, available on iOS and Android devices.

Hamilton Honey Badgers season tickets are available at https://www.honeybadgers.ca/tickets while Ottawa BlackJacks season tickets are available at https://www.theblackjacks.ca/tickets. 

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