Honey Badgers look to snap seven-game skid in matchup with Montreal Alliance
The Brampton Honey Badgers (2-7) are looking to get back on track in a matchup against the Montréal Alliance (3-5) at 7:30 p.m. ET at the CAA Centre.
The game will be available on CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, TSN+, and the CEBL mobile app available for iOS and Android devices.
Since winning their first two games of the season, Brampton has lost seven consecutive games, including an 18-point loss to the Alliance in Montréal earlier this month. Despite strong performances from Zane Waterman and Shamiel Stevenson, who recorded 28 and 24 points respectively on better than 60 per cent shooting from the field in that contest, Montréal’s depth proved to be the difference.
Chris Smith notched a 23-point, 10-rebound double-double in the victory for the Alliance, but Jaden Edwards provided 17 points off the bench. As a team, Montréal outscored Brampton 31-8 in bench points. Two other starters, Ahmed Hill and Alain Louis, also recorded double figures in points.
Although they have been on a slide of late, three of Brampton’s losses have come by less than eight points. Waterman, a three-year Honey Badger, and Stevenson have established themselves as proficient scoring options at the top of Brampton’s lineup — each averaging more than 16 points per game.
In Brampton’s last game, an 88-76 loss to the Calgary Surge on Sunday, the duo of Waterman and Stevenson combined for 32 points. And they got strong role performances from Javonte Cooke and LJ Thorpe, who chipped in with 13 and 15 points respectively. But, once again, a strong bench performance by Malcolm Duvivier — 18 points and four three pointers — outdid the Brampton bench, which scored 12 total points.
On the opposite side, Montréal, hosts of this season’s Championship Weekend, have won two of their last three games and are looking to win back-to-back games for the first time this season. The Alliance’s latest victory came on Sunday, when they knocked off the Eastern Conference-leading Scarborough Shooting Stars
at home.
Jordan Bowden, a University of Tennessee product, scored 24 points and his counterpart in the frontcourt, Chris Smith, also had a game-high 24 points. The Alliance also shot better than 50 per cent from inside the arch — a strength that the team has relied on all season. Montréal has the second highest team field goal percentage in the CEBL at 46.3 per cent.
The Alliance may have also turned a corner of the defensive side of court. They held the league’s highest scoring team, Scarborough, who was averaging more than 95 points per game heading into Sunday’s game, to nearly 10 full points below their average in the victory.
Following the game, Bowden credited his team’s defensive intensity in the victory.
“We just wanted to be aggressive,” he said. “I just tried to pick it up on the defensive end… deflections and getting in transition gets me going.”
This matchup is the first of a three-game eastern conference road trip for the Alliance, who will visit the Niagara River Lions in their next contest on Friday night. After tonight’s game, Brampton is slated to travel to Scarborough to take on the defending champions on Friday.
Matchup to watch:
Brampton is averaging the fewest points per game out of any team in the league so far. But keep an eye out for how the Honey Badgers’ big men, Waterman and Stevenson, match up against Montréal’s 6-foot-9 forward Chris Smith and Bowden — who did not play in their previous meeting — in the front court.
Alain Louis may also play a factor feeding the ball to one of those Alliance forwards, as the veteran guard sits third in the league with 6.8 assists per game.
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 10 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. Fourteen 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+ powered by BetVictor, TSN, TSN+, RDS, Game+, Next Level Sports & Entertainment and Courtside1891. More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.