Vancouver Bandits survive massive comeback by Calgary Surge in 82-77 win

Giorgi Benzhanishvili’s 27-point double-double helped the Vancouver Bandits (3-4) hold off a 20-point comeback from the Calgary Surge (5-2) in what ended up being an 82-77 win on Wednesday night.

After scoring eight points in the first half, Benzhanishvili took over down the stretch, scoring 21 the rest of the way while shooting 50 per cent from both the field and distance. He also dominated the glass, as the league’s top rebounder (11.8 RPG) grabbed 13 boards on route to his team’s second win in a row.

He was supported by Nick Ward, who’s 13 points were the second most by any Bandit’s player despite him only playing 16 minutes due to injury. Malcolm Duvivier also contributed by way of his nine points and nine rebounds.

On the other side it was Stefan Smith’s 23 points and 10 rebounds that led the Surge in the loss, his first double-double of the season. Joining him was Simi Shittu who notched 19 points, 11 of which came in the final frame of the contest, and 10 boards.

The game-plan coming into the night for the Bandits was clear, attack the glass and win the rebounding battle. That’s how they won their first matchup against the Surge, as they finished the game a +9 on said glass. They executed that plan to perfection in the first period as Vancouver hit double-digit boards less than six minutes into the contest.

Along with dominating the glass, the best rebounding team in the CEBL also applied a ton of interior pressure to the number one defense in Calgary, as they were +10 on points in the paint. Vancouver was subsequently rewarded with a 22-9 lead heading into the second, a spot relatively foreign to them. The 13-point difference was the largest lead the Bandits have held after a first quarter in any game this season.

The team’s inexperience being ahead seemed to be showing as they went cold to start the frame. An 8-0 run by the Surge in the first four minutes of the second had them back within three points. However, it was the same person who caused Calgary problems last time these teams faced-off in Ward who weathered the storm for Vancouver. He scored four consecutive baskets for his team and sparked an 11-3 run to give the Bandits a 35-24 lead at half-time.

After dominating through two quarters via his game-high 13 points, Nick Ward seemed to take a hit to his right knee early in the third and ended up missing the rest of the game. Without their interior leader, it was looking set-up for the Surge to mount a comeback.

The Bandits however demonstrated some major poise by limiting the damage, notably, Benzhanishvili took charge as he dropped 10 points in the frame to keep his team up 11 as the quarter expired.

His strong shooting immediately carried over to the fourth frame as the forward strapped two triples in the first two minutes, helping his team to an 11-2 run and a 70-50 lead with 7:33 to go. With the biggest lead of the game on hand, things seemed all but over, but that’s when the Surge showed some poise of their own by going on a 16-2 run to make it a six-point game. 

The momentum clearly frustrated Vancouver as M.J. Walker committed a hard foul on Deon Ejim, his second unsportsmanlike of the game, subsequently ending his night as his team held a slim 72-67 lead with Target Score Time to go.

Calgary’s strong play carried right over as they outscored their opponents 10-3 to start the final period and go up 76-75 for their first lead of the game since they were up 5-2 at the 7:59 mark of the first quarter. The crowd was (pardon the pun) surging as their team was about to pull of yet another historic comeback, but the Bandits found just enough to hold on. 

It was Benzhanisvili who knocked down a triple to give his team a three-point lead before Duane Notice iced things by converting a lay-up at the end, 82-77 the final. The Bandit’s ended the night a +11 on the glass, which led to 14-4 advantage on second chance points as well. Their ability to do the dirty work and dominate inside the paint both with and without Ward ended up being the difference as Vancouver picked up their back-to-back wins for the first time this season.

Calgary remains on top of the Western Conference standings despite the loss, but their two losses so far have both come at the hands of the Bandits. Something they’ll be looking to correct as these teams face-off one last time in two weeks.

The Surge will continue a three-game home stand on Friday where they’ll take on the Montréal Alliance, while the Bandits head back to the Langley Events Centre to host the Saskatchewan Rattlers on Saturday.

All games are available on TSN+ and CEBL+ Powered by BetVictor.

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