Bandits remain perfect at home, cruise to 104-67 win over BlackJacks
The Langley Events Centre remains unconquered by opponents in 2024 as the Vancouver Bandits picked up a 104-67 win over the Ottawa BlackJacks on Saturday to remain perfect at home.
Vancouver is now a flawless 6-0 in front of their own fans this season, showing opposing teams the dangers of entering B.C. with the wire-to-wire victory.
“There’s a lot that’s special about this building,” Bandits’ head coach Kyle Julius said following the win. “The fans, organization … it’s really good. We’re going to be a tough team to beat in this building.”
Koby McEwen led the way with a game-high 28 points, six rebounds and five assists – including a game-winning three that got the West-leading Bandits back in the win column. He got plenty of help in the victory with Nick Ward and Zach Copeland chipping in 18 and 15 points each while Duane Notice and Kur Jongkuch (5-for-5 from the field) finished with 13 and 11 points off the bench.
Tazé Moore finished with just four points, below his usual 20.1 points per game, but found other ways to fill the stat sheet as the import racked up eight rebounds and 13 assists. His playmaking prowess tied the most dimes by a player in a single game this season.
On the other side, Brandon Sampson led the way with a team-high 17 points while going 4-of-10 from beyond the arc. He was helped by James Jean-Marie’s 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting off the bench and Zena Edosomwan’s nine-point, nine-rebound performance.
The 37-point defeat marked Ottawa’s largest loss of the season and the 67 second points scored was its fewest in 2024.
“We just came out flat,” said BlackJacks head coach James Derouin postgame. “It felt like they were locked and loaded from the opening tip-off, and we didn’t have enough to respond tonight.”
Entering the game, the Bandits had a clear edge when it came to size inside the paint. Edosomwan had the unenviable task of trying to protect Ottawa’s rim from the duo of Karnik and Ward as the four other BlackJack starters were more perimeter focused. And it didn’t take long for Vancouver to take advantage of that fact as they began the contest on a 20-6 run, almost all of which came right at the basket.
And although Edosomwan slammed down a highlight reel dunk at the 0:38 mark of the frame, it didn’t slow down the Bandits as they led 29-12 after 10 minutes of action.
Vancouver ended up finishing with 50 points in the paint (+18) while shooting 51 per cent from two-point range.
Things only slipped away further from the BlackJacks in the second quarter as the Bandits opened the floodgates from deep. Vancouver drilled five threes in the frame, compared to Ottawa’s one -- their only triple in the half -- as the gap ballooned to 30 points.
Much of that production came from McEwen as he scored 11 points in the quarter, hitting three shots from beyond the arc, earning the Bandits a 61-31 lead at the break. The Toronto native was on a torrid pace through the first 20 minutes of action as he scored a game-high 20 points through the first half on 8-of-10 shooting from the field.
“Just a straight killer,” Julius said of McEwen’s growth this season while reflecting on the scoring outburst. “Competitive fire through the roof and incredible work ethic … he’s just tough as nails.”
Ottawa did pick things up defensively in the third quarter, holding Vancouver to just 16 points, but their offence wasn’t able to capitalize. The BlackJacks scored 19 points of their own -- a Sampson triple in the dying seconds of the frame making it 77-50 ahead of the fourth.
And although the import wasn’t done there, scoring Ottawa’s first 11 points in the final frame that helped cut the deficit to as little as 17 points, it proved too little too late.
Vancouver took a 94-64 lead into Target Score Time and never let up from there. The Bandits missed just one shot from that point while limiting the BlackJacks to one made basket before McEwen ended things courtesy of a left-wing triple.
The 37-point margin was the second-largest point differential in a game this season, just shy of the 43-point mark set by the Niagara River Lions on May 30. Everything went right for the Bandits as they made 19 more shots, grabbed eight more rebounds, dished 12 more assists and forced 19 turnovers (+8).
Up Next
The Bandits will stay at home, hosting the Edmonton Stingers next Saturday for a rematch between the Western Conference’s top two squads.
Meanwhile, the BlackJacks head back to the nation’s capital to start a three-game home stand next Saturday, welcoming the Calgary Surge to Ottawa.
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