Honey Badgers Face BlackJacks in Championship Weekend Semifinals
The Ottawa BlackJacks face the Hamilton Honey Badgers in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) Championship Weekend semifinals on Aug. 12 at 7 p.m. ET. The game will be played on the BlackJacks’ home court at TD Place Arena.
Viewers can watch the game live on CBC national television as well as CBC Gem, CBC Sports, CEBL+ and NXT Level Sports in the U.S.
The Honey Badgers finished the regular season in first place with a 14-6 record, while the BlackJacks finished as the eighth seed, earning an automatic bye to the semifinals as the host city of Championship Weekend.
Hamilton lost three of their last four games to close out the regular season. Ottawa entered the CEBL postseason on a three-game winning streak. Hamilton and Ottawa split the season series one game each – Hamilton won the first matchup 86-75 on July 2 and Ottawa emerged victorious 104-95in the rematch on July 24.
The BlackJacks’ strong finish to the regular season is credited in part to James Derouin, who took over head coaching duties for Ottawa after an 0-3 start.
Ottawa is not short on firepower. In their lone defeat of the first-place Honey Badgers, the BlackJacks led by as many as 21 points and withstood a late Hamilton push for the victory.
The BlackJacks shot the ball well (49 per cent from field, 40 per cent from three) and will look to do so again. Forward Deng Adel had 23 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in the previous contest.
Ottawa played without point guard and team leading scorer Walt Lemon Jr. in that game and a key narrative to watch will be how Hamilton defends the former Chicago Bulls guard, who has a knack for getting to the rim but has struggled to hit his mark from beyond the arc this season.
A key head-to-head battle is the matchup between centres Chad Posthumus and Jeremiah Tilmon Jr. Posthumus is second in the league in rebounds per game (9.2) while Tilmon Jr. leads the CEBL in field goal percentage (63.9 per cent). In their previous tilt, Posthumus finished with eight points and 13 rebounds while Tilmon Jr. had 16 points and five rebounds.
Hamilton’s strength comes from their guards and their depth. Caleb Agada was named CEBL Canadian Player of the Year. He finished third in the CEBL in assists (5.2) and second in steals (2.1) per game. Teammate Christian Vital led the Honey Badgers in scoring (17.5 points per game) and led the league in steals per game (2.2).
Honey Badgers guard Koby McEwen was named Sixth Man of the Year, averaging 12.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game.
The BlackJacks also have depth. They have five players averaging over nine points and six players averaging over four rebounds. Lemon Jr. is second in the league in average assists (5.8) while Adel is a stellar scorer and presence on the glass.
Ottawa is first in average rebounds (38.8), second in average assists (19.2) and third in average points (87.0).
“I think the biggest thing that I liked about it was that you see their firepower,” Hamilton head coach Ryan Schmidt said of their previous loss against Ottawa.
Schmidt, who won Coach of the Year on Wednesday night at the annual CEBL Awards, sees the benefits of lessons learned from that game.
“From a coaching perspective, it’s probably better that we lost that game I think because I think it showed these guys, regardless of their record, regardless if they got the automatic bye, this is a team that can beat us if we don’t come out and do what we’re supposed to do,” Schmidt noted.
The winner of Friday night’s semifinal game will face the winner of the other semifinal between the Niagara River Lions and the Scarborough Shooting Stars in the championship game on Aug. 14 at TD Place arena.
Fans will be able to live stream all games including the playoffs on the CEBL’s OTT streaming service CEBL+, the CEBL’s official app, CEBL Mobile for iOS and Android devices, cbcsports.ca, the free CBC Gem streaming service, the CBC Sports App for iOS and Android devices and on NXT Level Sports in the U.S.
As part of its playoff coverage, CBC Sports will broadcast the quarterfinal games Sunday, August 7, semifinal games Friday, August 12, and the Championship game on Sunday, August 14. For the complete broadcast and streaming schedule, click here. All times are subject to change.
The CEBL’s fourth regular season began May 25 and ended August 1. A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL is the largest pro sports league in the country with 10 teams located in six provinces. It has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with 71 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.