Bandits look to secure playoff spot in battle against resilient Surge
Vancouver is within grasp of the playoffs. Calgary is still fighting for its life.
The Bandits visit the Surge on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. MT / 6 p.m. PT with post-season implications for both teams beginning to come into focus. Live broadcast coverage from WinSport Event Centre is available on Next Level Sports & Entertainment, while you can stream the game on CEBL+ and TSN+.
For Vancouver (10-4), which currently sits first in the Western Conference, a victory combined with a Saskatchewan Rattlers loss would secure a playoff berth.
Calgary (7-7), meanwhile, ranks fourth in the conference, just two games ahead of the last-place Rattlers. Beating the Bandits, then, would provide some cushion as the regular season enters its final stretch.
The Surge are coming of a blowout victory over the Edmonton Stingers on Tuesday in which it held its Alberta rival to a franchise-low 58 points and snapped a two-game skid in the process.
Despite losing three key players -- Gabe Osabuohien, Justin Lewis and Trhae Mitchell – to NBA Summer League, Calgary put together arguably its best performance of the season in the 87-58 rout.
It’ll need a similar effort to topple the Bandits, against whom it’s already dropped two games while failing to score 75 points in either one.
However, the Surge did not have the services of lead guard Stefan Smith in either of those defeats. Smith, who returned to the team late after finishing his campaign overseas, has averaged 17.4 points and 4.4 assists in five games, providing a backcourt boost to a team that leads the league in both overall and three-point field-goal percentage.
Vancouver, meanwhile, sits top-three in both categories, tops everyone with 93.1 points per game and owns the stingiest defence, allowing just 83.9 points per game.
The Bandits are led by guard Tazé Moore, possibly the MVP frontrunner, whose 8.2 assists per game are nearly two dimes more than second-place Justin Wright-Foreman of Winnipeg. Moore is also second leaguewide in rebounds at nine per game and 10th with 17.7 points per game.
The B.C. squad stormed to a 7-1 start to the season but is even in six games since, perhaps showing some vulnerability from its perch atop the West as it’s fallen to Winnipeg and twice to Edmonton in that span.
Thursday marks the final game of the season between the Bandits and the Surge. Vancouver won 100-74 on June 1 and 70-65 six days later.
Key matchup
In Calgary’s previous game, centre Jordy Tshimanga stepped up in the absence of fellow big men Osabuohien and Lewis.
Tshimanga, the Montreal native, poured in 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting, to go with 13 rebounds and stout interior defence.
But he’ll face a tough test in Bandits big man Nick Ward, who sits fifth league-wide in both blocks per game (1.4) and field-goal percentage (57.2). Ward is also Vancouver’s third-leading scorer with 17.6 points per game.
Given the low-scoring nature of the previous contest between Vancouver and Calgary, paint points from Tshimanga and Ward could ultimately prove the difference on Thursday.
Milestone watch
- Calgary’s Smith is 29 points away from 500 for his career, regular season only
- Calgary’s Mathieu Kamba is three rebounds away from 250 for his career, regular season only
- Vancouver’s Koby McEwen is four assists away from 200 for his career, regular season only
- Vancouver’s Moore is 13 assists away from surpassing the single-season league record of 110, set by Tony Carr in 2022
- CEBL -
About the CEBL
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 75% of its rosters being Canadian and a record 10 players with NBA experience in 2024. Players also bring experience from the NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, NCAA programs, as well as U SPORTS and CCAA. Fourteen players have signed NBA contracts following a CEBL season, and numerous CEBL players attend NBA G League training camps every year. The CEBL season runs from May through August with games broadcast live on CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, TSN, TSN+, RDS, Game+, Next Level Sports & Entertainment and Courtside1891. More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.