Scarborough Shooting Stars Use the Paint to Knock Off Calgary Surge 79-65
The Scarborough Shooting Stars (6-5) scored 56 points in the paint to defeat the Calgary Surge (7-6) 79-65 and jump into a tie for first place in the eastern conference.
Cat Barber scored a game-high 27 points, however, the Shooting Stars flexed their muscles inside to rebound from a disappointing loss in Saskatchewan on Sunday.
Three days ago, Scarborough scored a season-low 65 points and shot just 1-26 from three point range in a 14-point loss to the Rattlers to kick off their three-game road trip.
Despite shooting only 4-19 from three and converting 3-14 free throws, Scarborough outrebounded Calgary 46-37 and scored 12 more points in the paint to earn their first win of the road trip.
The Shooting Stars also held Calgary to 37 per cent shooting from the field and 16 per cent from three.
“Everything starts with us on the defensive end,” Scarborough head coach Chris Exilus said after the game. “We were committed to putting the ball down low offensively, but defensively we were committed to locking down and making sure they only completed one shot.”
Three Scarborough bigs—Kalif Young, David Muenkat, and Thomas Kennedy—recorded eight rebounds or more in the game. And Kennedy, specifically, finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds off the bench.
“We had a plan to go inside-out and go at them,” Kennedy said. “It was a team effort to start at the basket and finish strong.”
The game started with a furious pace from the tip, with both teams looking to get out on transition and capitalize on turnovers.
Kylor Kelley, who is leading the CEBL in blocks per game, made his second consecutive start for the Surge and scored 6 points in the first quarter. But Barber responded with 9 of his 27 points in the frame, while Kennedy chipped in with 8 points—highlighted by a pair of offensive rebounds and quick put backs—to give Scarborough a 20-17 edge after one.
“He’s a great player,” Barber said. “He stepped up scoring the ball, put them in a bind in the paint, and he played good.”
Not to be outdone by the Shooting Stars’ forwards, Simi Shittu started to get going in the second.
Shittu racked up 10 points in the quarter to keep Calgary afloat as leading scorer Sean Miller-Moore struggled to find his footing offensively. Miller-Moore, who entered today with a team-high 17.3 points per game average, scored only 6 points and shot 2-10 from the field on the night.
Shittu, a native of Burlington, Ontario, finished with a team-high 21 points and a double-double with 12 rebounds.
Kennedy, though, nearly recorded a double-double in the first half with 12 points and 9 rebounds, and Scarborough went on a 8-0 run at one point to take a nine-point lead going into half.
After the break, Scarborough sunk a couple of three pointers and extended their lead to 20 at one point, but Calgary went on a late run at the end of the quarter—boosted by a pair of three-point plays—to cut the lead to 12 entering the fourth.
“We stayed together,” Shittu said. “Win or lose, doesn’t really matter what it is, we stay together as a team.”
A pair of Mason Bourcier free throws made it a 72-60 game entering target score time, but with the game clock turned off, Barber went back to work.
The fast-twitch guard scored five straight points for Scarborough, and set up Kennedy on a set-play coming out of a timeout to secure the win. Taking the inbound pass, Barber curled to the left side of the three point line and fed a pass to Kennedy inside, who dropped a layup—Scarborough’s 56th point in the paint on the night—to clinch the victory.
“I feel like me being a leader on this team… I look at it in Elam time, ‘we gotta get this win.” When it’s Elam time, I gotta take over,” Barber said.
Scarborough will have little time to enjoy the victory, as they are set to complete their road trip tomorrow night in Edmonton.
Calgary, meanwhile, will have a one-week break before returning to CEBL action next Wednesday in a date with their Alberta rivals, the Edmonton Stingers.
“Obviously, we’ve taken a couple losses but I feel like every time we bounce back,” Shittu said. “We always get better after each game.”
Full broadcast schedule of CEBL Games of the Week on TSN can be found
here. All games will also be streamed live internationally on the CEBL’s OTT platform, CEBL+, and on the CEBL Mobile app for 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 percent 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
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