Vancouver Bandits and Edmonton Stingers try to get back in win column with Canada Day clash

The Vancouver Bandits (-133) and Edmonton Stingers (-105) will tip off a home-and-home on Saturday with the first outing set for Langley Events Centre at 7 p.m. PT. 

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

It’s the first matchup of the season for two of the CEBL’s original franchises, with the second half of the home-and-home slated for Monday in Edmonton and the third and final meeting of the regular season set for July 21 in B.C. 

Both teams enter Saturday’s Canada Day contest coming off of back-to-back losses. The Bandits fell to the Calgary Surge at home 93-88 last weekend and on the road to the Winnipeg Sea Bears 93-84. Vancouver has had a full week to make adjustments after their loss to Calgary, while the Stingers are less well-rested. 

Edmonton lost a 91-89 nailbiter to the Scarborough Shooting Stars on Thursday after dropping a game in Montreal 93-88 last week. The Stingers have played in close games throughout the season thus far, with all of their losses decided by six points or less. 

The Stingers sit third in the Western Conference standings at 5-6, a half-game ahead of the fourth-place Bandits at 4-6 and a full game in front of fifth-place Saskatchewan. Winnipeg’s league-best 8-3 record has them atop the west, while Calgary is two games back at 7-6.

The two-time champion Stingers will look to improve their chances of a trip back to Langley in August for CEBL Championship Weekend. Due to hosting the event, Vancouver has a spot in the Western Conference final secured. 

The Bandits will rely on their elite frontcourt duo of Nick Ward and Giorgi Bezhanishvili to reach championship form in the second half of the season. The Vancouver bigs have given opponents fits all season on a roster that has endured a lot of change from game one. 

Bezhanishvili leads the CEBL in rebounds per game at 11.2 and is one of three players to average a double-double. “Giorgi B” also ranks in the league’s top 10 in points per game with 18.4 on 46 per cent shooting from the field. Ward has been a paint beast for the Bandits as well. He’s top five in the league in both offensive rebounds and field goal percentage, while averaging 18.3 points per game. 

However, Vancouver will search for consistency from its supporting cast on Saturday. MJ Walker is the only other Bandit to average double-digit points with 13.3 per game. Shaquille Keith, Duane Notice, Diego Maffia, Malcolm Duvivier and Jahenns Manigat will all look to contribute as the season continues. 

“Some guys… haven't been coming ready to play and haven't been playing to anywhere near their potential,” Vancouver head coach Kyle Julius said after the Calgary loss. “We’ve got to sort that out and deal with that.”

Journeyman guard Doug Herring also signed with the Bandits this week, bringing 13 years of professional basketball experience in nine countries to the squad. 

Meanwhile, Edmonton has depended on an array of talent to lead them on both ends of the floor. The Stingers are top-five in the CEBL in points per game, field goal percentage, three-point percentage and assists without a single player averaging over 15 points. Brody Clarke is closest at 14.7 points per game on 47 per cent shooting. 

However, Nick Hornsby has been one of the Stingers’ most impactful players in all areas of the game. The 6’7 power forward is averaging 13 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.2 steals in 11 starts for Edmonton. Aher Uguak, Isiah Osborne and Adika Peter-McNeilly are all averaging double-figures too, with Geoffrey James, Martynas Varnas and Elijah Miller not far behind. 

In the tight loss to Scarborough on Thursday, Clarke paced the offence with 21 points and the Stingers jumped out to an early lead but were unable to hang on. 

“It was a back and forth game, you get out to an early lead, you can’t expect to run away with it,” Edmonton head coach Jordan Baker said. “They’re professionals over there… For us, it’s how do you string together 40 minutes of consistent basketball.”

The Stingers will look to lock in for 40 minutes on Canada Day against the Bandits. 

All games are available for streaming on TSN+, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor and on the CEBL Mobile app available on 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 per cent 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 Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.