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Brampton Honey Badgers finish BCLA 2nd window action with 109-93 loss to host team Real Estelí in Nicaragua

Holly MacKenzie • January 19, 2023

The Brampton Honey Badgers dropped a 109-93 decision to Real Esteli on Wednesday in the second window of the Basketball Champions League Americas in Managua, Nicaragua.


As the loss moves the Honey Badgers to 0-4 in group play, Brampton is now officially eliminated from advancing to the quarterfinals, but will continue to represent Canada, as they enter the third window of group play in Brampton starting February 7.


Brampton lost despite a team-high 25-point performance from Rayvonte Rice and a 17-point effort from Steve Taylor Jr., who also filled the stat sheet with nine rebounds, five assists and a blocked shot. Joshua Ibarra added 11 points and Sean Miller-Moore added nine in the loss.


Real Esteli was led by a 33-point, 13-rebound double-double performance from Thomas Robinson, 27 points from Jezreel De Jesus, and 16 points from Angel Matias. Davon Jefferson added 11 points and nine rebounds. The team shot 49 percent in the win, including 46 percent from beyond the arc, while holding the Honey Badgers to 43 percent shooting, including 28 percent shooting from deep.


“We [take] our hats off to Real Esteli, they played a really good game,” Honey Badgers head coach Sheldon Kirt Cassimy said. “They played together. You can see the numbers, 31 assists, and 20 offensive rebounds. That’s the story right there, so we tip our hats to them.”


Real Esteli’s veteran roster coupled with its size proved to be a challenge for Brampton.


“Their team is good,” Cassimy. “They have vets, they have good size. The vets are their guards, [where they had] 31 assists. The size of Jefferson and Robinson, the team is solid.”


After a three-pointer from Taylor Jr. to start the game, Brampton led for 1:26 minutes before a 12-point run by Real Esteli moved the host team in front and Brampton was left playing catch-up for the rest of the game.


Free throws from Rice in the final seconds of the quarter trimmed Real Esteli’s lead to 13 points after the first 10 minutes of action, but it was a difficult opening quarter for the Honey Badgers who shot just 31 percent from the floor.


Rice helped ignite a solid second quarter for the Honey Badgers, scoring 13 of his 25 in the quarter as he played the aggressor and was rewarded with free throw after free throw. After a seven-point flurry from Rice, the deficit was within single digits, 36-27, with 5:49 remaining.


Brampton continued to keep pace with Real Esteli as a three from Jahvon Henry-Blair, followed by a dunk from a cutting Taylor Jr. baseline made it a six-point game. A last-second putback from Robinson gave Real Esteli a 54-46 advantage at the break.


“We started to gel together today better than yesterday, but as Coach said, it’s hard to win a game when they have 20 offensive rebounds,” Rice said. “They also had a lot of assists. They were playing together.”


Brampton bounced back from a 13-point opening quarter to explode for 33 points in the second behind a 13-point second-quarter effort from Rice who led the Honey Badgers with 20 points at the half. Rice was 13-for-14 from the free-throw line in the half, as Brampton’s aggressiveness resulted in 18 free throw attempts.


Unfortunately for the Honey Badgers, the third was all Real Esteli as they won the quarter 28-18, closing the quarter on an 11-2 run to go into the fourth with an 82-64 lead.


After the teams traded baskets to start the final frame, Rice continued to score, connecting from deep to trim the lead to 16 with 7:16 remaining. After the Real Esteli bench was called for a technical foul, Gelvis Solano made the free throw, and then followed with a three-pointer that trimmed the deficit to 88-76 as Real Esteli called timeout with 6:40 remaining.


From there, Real Esteli put together another mini-run, outscoring Brampton 12-4 to build the lead back to 20 points with 3:45 remaining. They went on to victory from there.


Though the result wasn’t what the Honey Badgers had hoped for, the experience was a positive one.


“This is my first time out here [in Nicaragua] and I thought the atmosphere was amazing,” Cassimy said. “It was great to see, fun to be a part of and I hope I can come back again. As we look forward to the window in Canada I hope we can bring the same type of energy.”


For Rice, who just joined the team prior to this second window, the opportunity to hit the court with his Honey Badgers teammates in front of a home crowd in Brampton is something he’s looking forward to.


“Be ready for us to compete, come out and get better energy,” Rice said. “We’re starting to gel. I feel like we’re trying to bring back these two wins.”

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The Vancouver Bandits announced Monday that the club is bringing back 6-foot-9 forward and homegrown talent James Karnik for his third season with British Columbia’s professional basketball team. Hailing from Surrey, B.C., Karnik has established himself as one of the league’s premier power forwards, thanks in part for his thunderous dunks and tenacious defensive presence. Appearing in 24 games for the Bandits across two CEBL campaigns in 2022 and 2024, he owns averages of 11.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 0.9 blocks in 22.2 minutes of action. “Being able to play two seasons of professional basketball in my home province has been an amazing experience; we are really building something special in BC,” said Karnik. “I’m looking forward to coming home and running it back with the team and our fans for another summer!” Karnik is currently playing overseas for Dutch club Donar Groningen in the BNXT League, where he is averaging a double-double with 16.2 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.1 blocks in 26.1 minutes per game, while shooting 53% from the field. Karnik will report to the Bandits at the conclusion of Donar Groningen’s season. His overseas basketball career has also featured stints in Switzerland with Geneva Lions (2022-23) and the Czech Republic with Basket Brno (2022-23). “James has been an incredibly impactful player in the CEBL, he is an absolute beast on the court and a great presence in our locker room. It is truly a privilege to be able to coach and work with someone like James.” Bandits head coach and general manager Kyle Julius said. Holding a Czech passport, Karnik represents the Czech Republic in international FIBA play. Most recently, he was called up to the national team at both the 2025 FIBA EuroBasket Qualifiers and 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup European Qualifiers appearing in four games across both competitions. Prior to turning professional, Karnik played in 130 games across a five year NCAA DI career. Split between Lehigh University (2017-20) and Boston College (2020-22), he owns collegiate career averages of 9.1 points on 56.2 per cent shooting and 6.1 rebounds in 23.5 minutes per game. Karnik played high school basketball at Earl Marriott Secondary in Surrey and BC Christian Academy in Port Coquitlam before wrapping up his high school career at Orangeville Prep in Mono, Ont., the alma mater of several current NBAers including Jamal Murray, Oshae Brissett, Luguentz Dort and other recent NBA draft selections. Season Tickets and Jam Packs are currently on sale for the Bandits’ seventh CEBL season and are available for purchase at this link . Single game tickets are expected to go on sale later this spring. The Bandits tip-off the 2025 CEBL campaign on Thursday, May 15 when the club hits the road to take on the Saskatchewan Rattlers. Fans will have their first chance to watch the club at home on Thursday, May 22 at 7 p.m. PT when Vancouver hosts the Niagara River Lions in a rematch of the 2024 CEBL Final. Vancouver will play a total of 12 regular season home games in 2025 between Thursday, May 22 and Sunday, August 3. The Bandits wrap up regular season action on the road in Ottawa on Sunday, August 10 at 12 p.m. PT. All CEBL regular season games including playoffs will be live-streamed on TSN+, as well as the CEBL’s OTT platform, CEBL+ , and on CEBL Mobile, the official app of the CEBL (available on Android and iOS devices). Individuals interested in learning more about tickets for the Vancouver Bandits’ upcoming 2025 season are kindly asked to call (604) 455-8881 or email [email protected] . A complete regular season schedule can be found by clicking here . More information is available at thebandits.ca and @vancouverbandits on Instagram and TikTok , as well as @vancitybandits on Facebook and Twitter . ### About the Vancouver Bandits: The Vancouver Bandits are British Columbia’s professional basketball team. As the westernmost club in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL), the Bandits offer an entertainment experience that combines a fast-paced game day atmosphere with a presentation of some of Canada’s top professional athletes within a world-class venue at Langley Events Centre (LEC). 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 12 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. More than 20 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+ , TSN, TSN+, RDS , Game+ and Next Level Sports & Entertainment . More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram , Twitter , TikTok , LinkedIn , Facebook & YouTube .
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