Scarborough and Saskatchewan Meet with Championship Weekend on the line
The Scarborough Shooting Stars host the Saskatchewan Rattlers in playoff quarterfinal action at 3 p.m. ET at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre. The winner of this match will go on to play the Niagara River Lions at CEBL Championship Weekend 2022 in the semifinal.
Stream the game live on the CEBL Mobile App for IOS and Android devices, the CEBL’s OTT streaming service CEBL+, cbcsports.ca, the CBC Gem free streaming service, the CBC Sports App for IOS and Android devices and on NXT Level Sports in the U.S.
The Shooting Stars come in after a 12-8 regular season and slotted as the third seed. The Rattlers finished the regular season 11-9 and enter as the fifth seed. Both teams won a match against each other in the regular season, and the rubber match holds all the stakes as it’s single elimination.
The Shooting Stars win came 99-83 on June 15 in Saskatchewan. In that game, the Shooting Stars leader Jalen Harris scored 26 points and Kameron Chatman scored 22 points.
Jalen Harris ranks third in points per game with 20.1 and his performance is vital to the efficiency of the Shooting Stars. He goes against Devonte Bandoo who had himself a game in the Rattlers win. Saskatchewan took down Scarborough 91-85 on July 24 and Bandoo scored 25 points. The ability for both Bandoo and Harris to not only facilitate the offence, but attract defensive attention opening up the floor for teammates is important for the execution on both sides.
Who Harris and Bandoo are opening up the floor for is Isiaha Mike and Tony Carr. Carr and Mike are the second scoring pieces for each side, and their ability to work in and around the paint is important when the perimeter shots aren’t falling for either side. Carr scored 21 points in their 99-83 loss while Mike scored 20 in Scarborough’s 91-85 loss.
Consistency inside comes from Kameron Chatman and Kalif Young on the side of Scarborough, and Jordy Tshimanga for the Rattlers. Tshimanga and Chatman both give their sides size and strength at the rim and their ability to use their footwork to finish gives an added spark on offence.
The battle on the boards and for second chance points will be the tipping point for whichever side comes out on top. Scarborough won the rebounding battle 40-34 in their win over the Rattlers and it turned into 10 second chance points. Saskatchewan scored 15 second chance points and tied on the rebounds in their win over Scarborough. Tshimanga ranks fourth in rebounds per game with 8.0 and forward for the Shooting Stars, Kalif Young, ranks fourth in field goal percentage.
Saskatchewan shot 46 per cent from three in their 91-85 win over Scarborough, and that came from Bandoo and Malik Benlevi. Benlevi is the benefactor of many kick out opportunities for the Rattlers, and on the other side it’s Mike. Mike leads in three-point percentage with 47.4 per cent. The Shooting Stars forwards can spread the floor, and defending Benlevi on the perimeter, they will need to do so and the battle of threes between Benlevi, Bandoo, Mike and Chatman will be an important facet on each side.
Fans will be able to live stream all games including the playoffs on the CEBL’s OTT streaming service CEBL+, the CEBL’s official app, CEBL Mobile for iOS and Android devices, cbcsports.ca, the free CBC Gem streaming service, the CBC Sports App for iOS and Android devices and on NXT Level Sports in the U.S. As part of its playoff coverage, CBC Sports will broadcast the quarterfinal games Sunday, August 7, semifinal games Friday, August 12, and the Championship game on Sunday, August 14. For the complete broadcast and streaming schedule, click here. All times are subject to change.
The CEBL’s fourth regular season began May 25 and ends August 1. A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL is the largest pro sports league in the country with 10 teams located in six provinces. It has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with 71 percent of its current rosters being Canadians. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. The only First Division Professional League Partner of Canada Basketball, the CEBL season runs from May through August. Head to CEBL.ca for more information or follow us (@cebleague) on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook& YouTube.
