Balanced Attack Leads Honey Badgers to 93-80 Win Over Surge

Prince Oduro’s poster dunk in target score time put an exclamation point on a 93-80 statement victory for the Brampton Honey Badgers over the Calgary Surge on Wednesday night at CAA Centre.

Oduro was one of eight Honey Badgers to score at least eight points in the win, with five players reaching double figures. Cody John led the way for Brampton with 17 points on 6-8 shooting, while Koby McEwen contributed 15 points, five rebounds, five assists and the game-winning free throw.

“We just had to focus on taking away their transition because one through five can bring it up,” McEwen said. “So it's kind of hard to match up in transition against them, but once we take that away, I think teams have a hard time scoring on us in the half-court.”

After missing the previous game against Scarborough, Brampton guard Christian Vital returned to the lineup with 12 points on 4-18 shooting to go along with six assists. Zane Waterman had a stellar all-around performance for Brampton with 10 points, nine rebounds, five assists, four blocks and one steal. Meanwhile, the Honey Badgers couldn’t completely leave their former home behind, with recent acquisition Ashley Hamilton adding 12 points and six rebounds off the bench.

It was a record-breaking night for the Honey Badgers, as Vital became the franchise leader in both steals and field goals made, while Oduro was crowned franchise leader in rebounds.

For the Surge, Stefan Smith returned to the lineup after a two-game absence with a double-double and a red-hot fourth quarter. The 23-year-old tallied 16 points and 10 assists on 6-12 shooting for Calgary. Big man Simi Shittu also notched another double-double with 17 points and a monstrous 16 rebounds. Sean Miller-Moore added 17 points and seven rebounds to Calgary’s attack, while Trevon Scott scored 14 points.

Wednesday’s contest marked the first time Calgary allowed more than 84 points in a game this season. Brampton shot 45 per cent from the field and hit 17 free throws in the victory, while the Surge suffered 17 turnovers.

“At the end of the day it was just missed assignments,” Calgary head coach Nelson Terroba said. “We got back in the game, we were connected on defense [but] we had a couple bad switch calls and a couple bad shot choices. But that's how the game works.” 

Calgary opened the scoring in the first quarter but a three from Vital and a layup from Kyle Johnson caused Terroba to call an early timeout. The game was tied at 13, but a 10-0 run from Brampton gave them control of the game. The Surge were ice cold from three in the opening frame at 0-8 and trailed 23-14 heading into the second.

Waterman drilled a three to start the next quarter and the Honey Badgers were able to hold on to their lead for the duration of the period. John had his mid-range game working throughout the first half, including an elbow jumper and a fadeaway in the second quarter. Shittu double-clutched and completed an and-one to cut the deficit to seven but John responded with a jumper to give Brampton a 44-35 lead after 20 minutes.

Shittu continued to carry the Surge offensively to start the second half, scoring the team’s first seven points. Later in the quarter, a transition slam from Miller-Moore capped off a 6-0 run for Calgary to make it a one-possession game. However, the Honey Badgers answered with a run of their own to extend their lead back to 10. Calloo closed out the quarter with a clutch three to make it 66-60 after 30 minutes.

McEwen and Smith duelled in the fourth quarter, with the pair of guards trading buckets early in the frame. A triple from Smith cut the deficit to nine, but a 6-0 run from Brampton gave them their largest lead of the night at 15. The Honey Badgers had an 84-72 advantage heading into target score time.

John opened target time by cutting to the hoop for a layup and followed that up by hitting a pair of free throws. Later, Prince Oduro put Miller-Moore on a poster with a vicious and-one slam that inched the Honey Badgers closer to victory. McEwen closed the game at the line and improved Brampton’s record to 5-4, while the Surge fall to 6-4.

Following Wednesday’s matchup, Brampton will host the Edmonton Stingers on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET while Calgary visits Niagara on Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

All games are available for streaming on TSN+, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor and on the CEBL Mobile app available on iOS and Android devices.

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