CEBL Champion Honey Badgers to Represent Canada Against Top Mexico, Nicaragua Teams in Basketball Champions League Americas Group Stage
The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) and Board of BCL Americas have announced that the 2022 CEBL Champion Honey Badgers will represent Canada in the FIBA Basketball Champions League Americas (BCLA). The team has been assigned to Group A of the competition along with Real Estelí from Nicaragua, and Libertadores de Querétaro from Mexico.
Similar to last year, the fourth season of the BCLA will consist of 12 teams from seven countries spread across four groups. The teams will play three games against each opponent in their group starting December 9. The remaining nine clubs - CR Flamengo, Minas, and Franca from Brazil, Instituto, Obras Basket, and A.A. Quimsa from Argentina, Club Biguá and Club Penarol from Uruguay, and Basket UdeC from Chile - were drawn into Groups B, C, and D by an official draw that took place Friday, October 14 in Miami, Fla.
At the end of the group stage, the top two ranked teams in each group will advance into the quarterfinals and play in a best-of-three game series to determine the four teams that will qualify for the “Final 4”. The Final 4 will be played as single-elimination semifinals with winners advancing to the championship game and the semifinal losers playing for third place. The 2023 BCLA champion will earn a spot into the 2024 FIBA Intercontinental Cup. Sao Paulo, the 2022 BCLA champion, will play in the 2023 FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
The Honey Badgers become the second CEBL team to represent Canada in the competition after the 2021 CEBL champion Edmonton Stingers competed last season in a group with Real Estelí and Cangrejeros of Puerto Rico. Edmonton tied for first place in the group stage but failed to qualify for the Final 8 due to losing the head-to-head point differential tie-breaker.
“The Honey Badgers were the CEBL’s best team during the 2022 regular season before winning the league championship, and we look forward to having them represent our league and our country on the international basketball stage this winter,” said Mike Morreale, Commissioner and Co-Founder of the CEBL. “We are eager and excited to host the top teams from Mexico and Nicaragua for games to be held in Canada at a location and date to be announced shortly. It will be an exceptional opportunity for pro basketball fans to experience international competition right here at home.”
Libertadores de Querétaro is a top professional basketball team based out of Querétaro City, Querétaro in Mexico and currently play in the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP). Real Estelí plays in the Liga Superior de Baloncesto in Nicaragua and advanced to the Final 8 of the 2020-21 and 2021-22 editions of the BCLA.
The 2022-23 BCLA group stages tip off December 9 and will run three months, culminating in the quarterfinals in March 2023. The CEBL and Honey Badgers will provide further information on the game schedule and host locations in the coming weeks.
The CEBL opens its fifth season in May 2023. A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with 72 percent of its current rosters being Canadians. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. The only First Division Professional League Partner of Canada Basketball, the CEBL season runs from May through August. Head to CEBL.ca for more information or follow us (@cebleague) on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.
The Basketball Champions League Americas (BCLA) is the best continental league in the Americas. It’s created through an innovative partnership between FIBA, federations and leagues with 12 teams competing from the continent.
