Calgary Surge Drop Edmonton Stingers 82-81 in Record-Setting Comeback Win

Stef Smith led the Calgary Surge to an improbable 82-81 win over the Edmonton Stingers on Sunday that set the CEBL record for largest comeback in target score time at 16 points. 

The previous record was held by the Ottawa BlackJacks after they came back from a 14-point deficit to defeat the Scarborough Shooting Stars last season. 

Calgary trailed 73-57 heading into target score time and outscored Edmonton 25-8 during the final stretch to emerge with a record-setting victory.  Smith scored the final seven points for the Surge and completed the comeback at the free throw line. 

“Stef’s a dog, man. Stef’s a dog,” Calgary’s Sean Miller-Moore said after the game. 

Smith scored 17 points and grabbed 7 rebounds for Calgary, while Miller-Moore netted a game-high 23 points. Simi Shittu had another strong performance for the Surge as well with 21 points and 7 rebounds.  Smith says strong defence allowed the Surge to come back and complete the weekend sweep of Edmonton after winning 74-70 at home on Saturday. 

“There's a lot of tired legs and we were sore, but it was great. I think one thing about this team is we're gritty and we're tough,” Smith said.  “We're very talented. We haven't put it all together yet and we're a young team but one thing for sure is we're tough.”

Brody Clarke bounced back for Edmonton with 15 points and 6 rebounds on 5-11 shooting after a 3-17 outing on Saturday. Adika Peter-McNeilly was the only other Stinger to reach double figures with 10 points, but Martynas Varnas and Elijah Miller each tallied 9 points. Carlton Bragg Jr. also had a solid night for Edmonton with 8 points and 11 rebounds. 

Both teams shot close to 40 per cent from the field on Sunday while struggling from long range and the free throw line. Edmonton shot 60 per cent from the charity stripe overall and went 5-10 in target time. The Stingers won the rebounding battle once again and hauled in 16 offensive boards. However, they also tallied 22 turnovers, including 6 in the fourth quarter. 

“I think the biggest thing for us was just inexperience with the [target score] ending,” Edmonton head coach Jordan Baker said. “We've got six rotation guys that have never played in a [target score] ending situation outside of yesterday and today…for us, I think it's a great learning experience but we need to be better moving forward.”

After a difficult start to the season on Saturday, Clarke came out firing in the first quarter of Sunday’s game with a pair of free throws, a wing three and a short corner jumper to establish an Edmonton lead. Former UPEI standout guard Elijah Miller came off the bench with a floater and a three to extend the Stingers’ lead to seven. Edmonton capped off a strong start to the game with a buzzer-beating corner three from Varnas that extended the lead to 22-13 after one quarter. 

However, the Stingers endured an offensive drought to begin the second. Geoffrey James finished a layup to break a three-and-a-half-minute scoreless stretch for the Stingers. The Surge acquired the lead after a  15-5 run to start the quarter, but Peter-McNeilly quickly answered for Edmonton. The two Alberta teams traded blows late in the quarter and entered the locker room gridlocked at 37. 

Both teams shot over 40 per cent after 20 minutes, with Calgary struggling from three at 20 per cent. Edmonton stayed active on the glass and secured 7 offensive rebounds in the first half. Shittu led all scorers with 14 points at halftime, while Clarke led the Stingers with 9 points. 

In the third quarter, Edmonton started strong and forced a timeout from Surge head coach Nelson Terroba after going up five. Miller-Moore made some big plays in transition for the Surge, skying for a block on Peter-McNeilly and finishing on the fastbreak moments later. However, the Stingers maintained the lead for the remainder of the quarter and went into the fourth ahead 57-52. 

Calgary was ice cold for the first six minutes of the fourth quarter and missed their first 10 field goal attempts. The Stingers led by as much as 17 but a pair of layups from Miller-Moore stopped the bleeding. Free throws from Hornsby extended Edmonton’s lead to 73-57 heading into target score time. 

In target time, Aher Uguak connected with a triple to inch the Stingers closer to victory but the Surge had other ideas. Smith connected on deep threes, stepbacks, and driving layups, leading Calgary on a huge run to go ahead 80-79. Peter-McNeilly was fouled on the perimeter after an Edmonton timeout and connected on both free throws to put the Stingers back in front 81-80. However, the Surge had a chance to win and Smith completed the comeback at the free throw line after a foul. 

Calgary improves to 2-0 to start the season while Edmonton drops to 0-2. Following Sunday’s game, the Surge and Stingers will each play host to the Niagara River Lions on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. 

All CEBL games can also be streamed live on the league’s OTT platform, CEBL+ Powered by BetVictor and on the CEBL’s official app, CEBL Mobile, available on iOS and Android devices.

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 71 percent of its 2022 rosters being Canadian. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. Nine players have moved from the CEBL into the NBA following a CEBL season, and 28 CEBL players attended NBA G League training camps during October. The CEBL season runs from May through August.  More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.