Montreal Alliance earn first road win with 83-75 comeback over Calgary Surge
A 21-0 third-quarter run helped the Montréal Alliance (3-5) come back to snap a five-game losing streak in an 83-75 win over the Calgary Surge (5-3) on Friday night at the WinSport Event Centre.
After a scoreless first quarter, Ahmed Hill finished with a game-high 21 points for Montréal in the absence of the team’s leading scorer, Blake Francis. Nathan Cayo’s impressive 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists also helped the Alliance to their first road win in franchise history.
“This is like the spark of our season,” Hill said. “We won before but the way we came in here today and played, I think this showed our true identity. We battled through adversity … we just stayed resilient.”
Treveon Graham continued to impact the game in multiple ways for Montréal with 16 points and eight rebounds to go along with the game-winner from beyond the arc. Mamadou Gueye also stepped up for the Alliance in the victory with 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Meanwhile, Sean Miller-Moore led the way for Calgary with 20 points on 9-14 shooting. The Surge were also without their starting point guard Stefan Smith in the contest due to injury. Usual starters Trevon Scott and Simi Shittu each secured eight rebounds while scoring 13 points and 11 points respectively. Maurice Calloo hit some big shots off the bench in his return to the lineup and finished with 11 points as well.
The two teams finished the game mostly even statistically, but Montréal held Calgary to 26 per cent shooting from the field and zero per cent from three in the crucial third quarter.
“You’ve got to give Montréal credit. In the second half, [it was a] great job by them, they really fought and we just couldn't get stops,” Surge head coach Nelson Terroba said. “They made adjustments and found ways to get guys going and we weren't able to get things going on offence.”
In the first quarter, Miller-Moore opened the scoring with an acrobatic finish that showed off his soft touch and athleticism. The Surge also showcased their smothering defence by forcing Montréal turnovers and limiting the Alliance to 13 first-quarter points. Calgary performed on both ends and Miller-Moore capped off the quarter with an alley-oop and a three to take a 25-13 lead into the second.
The Alliance started the second quarter strong with back-to-back buckets to cut the deficit back to single digits. Hill also scored his first points of the night, but the Surge finished the half on a 9-2 run that ended with a Shittu putback. Calgary carried a 47-33 lead into the third quarter.
Inside finishes to start the second half from Scott and Miller-Moore put the Surge ahead by 18 points. Montréal had a hill to climb, but their own Hill helped them to climb it. Hill’s 12 points in the third quarter powered the Alliance on a 21-0 run to take their first lead since early in the first quarter. Overall, Montréal outscored Calgary 29-10 in the third on their way to a 62-57 lead after 30 minutes.
“My message to them was to keep fighting. If they beat us, they beat us, but just don't give up. And then, they had problems with our zone,” Alliance head coach Derrick Alston Sr. said. “We just believed today.”
Cayo helped the Alliance hold on to a five-point lead heading into target time with six points in the opening six minutes of the fourth quarter. With a target score of 83, Cayo earned the hoop and the harm to kick off target time. The Alliance then attacked and got to the free-throw line, inching closer to victory. After an offensive rebound, Graham got an open look in the corner and hit the game-winning triple for Montréal.
Following Friday’s game, the Alliance will head to Edmonton Expo Centre for a matchup with the Stingers at 7 p.m. MT on Saturday while the Surge host the Winnipeg Sea Bears on Sunday at 2 p.m. MT.
All games are available for streaming on TSN+, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor and on the CEBL Mobile app 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 per cent 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
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