After more than a week of rest, the Montréal Alliance (-110) finish up a four-game home stand by hosting the Calgary Surge (-125) on Wednesday at 7:30 pm ET from the Verdun Auditorium.

The game will be available for streaming live on TSN+, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, and on the CEBL Mobile app available on iOS and Android devices.

It will be the second and final contest between these two squads this regular season, as both teams head into the final stretch of their 2023 campaigns. In their first matchup just under a month ago, it was the Alliance (6-7) who came out on top, with an 83-75 victory over the Surge (7-7).

What makes the win even more impressive is that it was Montréal’s first full game without the services of star guard Blake Francis. In the midst of averaging 19.3 points (fifth in the league), 2.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists a night, Francis went down early in their contest on July 13 and didn’t return from injury, prior to being released.

Despite the loss of their best scorer, the team came out on top, and it was because of all the other players who stepped up. Four Alliance members scored in double figures, and while it was Ahmed Hill who led the way with his 21 points, the big man duo of Treveon Graham and Nathan Cayo that did just about everything else. 

Graham contributed with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Cayo nearly tallied a triple-double himself, by way of 17 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists.

The forward pairing combined for over a third of the team’s total rebounds, helping the squad to a +4 advantage on the glass to end the night. Their success is even more impressive considering the team is second-last in the CEBL when it comes to securing the ball, averaging just 36.7 boards a game, yet finished with 43 against a top-five rebounding team in the Surge.

Entering this contest, Montréal has been trending in the right direction. What could have been a season crushing loss, having Francis go down, has actually turned into a spark to rally the troops. The Alliance are 4-2 in their games since and have pulled themselves out of last place in the East and into the fourth spot.

Their latest game ended with an impressive 89-85 win over the Western Conference leading Winnipeg Sea Bears. As the team’s battled back and forth, with a lead that felt like it changed sides after every basket, it was Montréal coming out on top due to a show stopping performance by Cayo. 

He tied a season-high with 28 points, to go with his 10 rebounds that capped a double-double performance on the night. The Montréal native has been showing out for his hometown as of late and has been a big reason why they’ve been so successful recently. 

In their last six games, Cayo has scored in double figures four times, and over the Alliance’s last three games he’s averaged a staggering 24 points a night. The forward has even pushed his name into the discussion for awards like Canadian Player of the Year, and if he can keep his stellar play up in this contest against the Surge, his case will get even stronger.

On the other side, the Surge remain in second place in the West, but have begun to lose steam in the back half of the season. They’ve won just one of their last five games and are in the midst of a two-game skid entering tonight. Their latest defeat came against bitter Alberta rival, the Edmonton Stingers in a 91-83 score just under a week ago.

In that game, the Surge managed just 83 points as they continue to struggle putting the ball in the basket as the league’s lowest scoring team (81.7 PPG) this season. Despite the team’s struggles, the trio of ‘Rugzy’ (Sean) Miller-Moore, Simi Shittu, and Stefan Smith did what they could as they all put up double-digit scoring nights. Miller-Moore led the way with 22 points and eight rebounds, while Shittu added a double-double via his 17 points and 11 boards, with Smith adding 14 points as well.

However, the rest of the team didn’t provide them much backup as they averaged just 4.3 points amongst the seven of them. Surge fans will hope some fresh faces can finally add a scoring punch, to a team that’s boasted the league’s best defense (82.5 OPPG) all season, but has lacked the scoring output required to come away with more victories.

Players like Jordy Tshimanga and Terry Henderson Jr. have the opportunity to be the missing pieces to the puzzle, as they try and get into form to end the year. In their debuts for Calgary last game, they both struggled putting up two and three points respectively, however, with more time to acclimate since then, and facing an Alliance team that allows 87 points a night (seventh), they could be in for bounce back performances.

Another area the squad will need to focus on is the turnover battle. Over their last five games, the team has committed more than 10 giveaways in every contest, averaging 17.4 turnovers during that span. The Surge now lead the league in the category at 16.4 a night, and if they hope to snap their losing streak and get back in the win column, taking care of the ball could go a long way.

Despite their struggles the team still has one of the best duos in the CEBL, with the aforementioned Miller-Moore and Simi Shittu. They’ve been Calgary’s top contributors all season and will hope to replicate some of their individual success from the last time they took on Montréal. Miller-Moore put up 20 points on an efficient 64 per cent shooting on that night, while Shittu nearly had a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds. 

The guard and forward pairing have also been two of the best Canadians in the league this season, and if they can help the Surge string together some wins – starting with one tonight against a red-hot Alliance team and fellow candidate Cayo – it’ll make it hard to ignore either player’s case for the award.

A win can also go a long way for both teams as Montréal coming out on top would put them just half a game behind third place Scarborough in the East, a spot many would’ve considered unthinkable a couple weeks ago, but here they are. Meanwhile if Calgary can get a victory they’ll be back to an even record, avoiding a tie with their Alberta counterpart Edmonton, and gaining some much-needed ground on top-seeded Winnipeg.

All games will also be streamed live internationally on the CEBL’s OTT platform, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, and on the CEBL Mobile app for iOS and Android devices. Full list of betting props available on BetVictor. Preview written by Zulfi Sheikh (@zulfi_sheikh).