By Justine Jones
The Fraser Valley Bandits (4-1) are on the road again as they travel to the nation’s capital to take on the Ottawa BlackJacks (1-4) on July 10 at 7:00 p.m. ET at TD Place.
This marks a re-match of last Saturday’s contest between these teams, where the Bandits emerged victorious with a 92-77 win over the visiting Ottawa BlackJacks.
That was Fraser Valley’s fourth victory of the season as the team remained undefeated and improved to 4-0. The Bandits have since dropped their first game of the year, losing to the Niagara River Lions on Wednesday night in St. Catharine’s. Ottawa also lost their most recent game on Monday night against the Edmonton Stingers, and both the Bandits and BackJacks will be looking to rebound with a win tonight.
Fraser Valley (4-1) currently sits in third place, and a victory today would help the Bandits as they chase the Hamilton Honey Badgers (5-1) and the reigning CEBL Champions, the Edmonton Stingers (4-0). After these top three teams, the remaining franchises are quite close in standings. The BlackJacks rank fifth out of seven teams, and are looking to emerge from the middle of the pack.
Strong start
A key for Ottawa this game will be coming out with energy right from the first whistle. In last Saturday’s 15-point loss to the Bandits, Fraser Valley outscored Ottawa by only one point in the entire second half. What propelled the Bandits to victory was a strong showing through the first 20 minutes of the game, as Fraser Valley took a 14-point lead into the third quarter.
This has been a trend early on in the season for the BlackJacks, as they have trailed at the half in each of their four losses. In Ottawa’s lone victory on the year, the team was ahead by 17 points after two quarters.
Fraser Valley has opened up sizable half-time lead in all four of the team’s wins this season thanks to strong performances from role players off the bench. The last time the Bandits played the BlackJacks, Marek Klassen had 16 points while Shaquille Keith added 10 points as part of Fraser Valley’s second unit.
What the Bandits will look to focus on tonight is a strong start to the second half. In Fraser Valley’s Monday night loss, the team came out lacking some energy in the third quarter and allowed 37 Niagara points in the frame. Twenty-two turnovers in the game led to 32 points for the River Lions and this is an area the Bandits must improve if they want to lock in their first road-win of the season.
Battle in the paint
Nick Ward put forth his best performance as a BlackJack in the team’s game in Edmonton on Monday. The six-foot-nine forward registered a double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds. In last Saturday’s game against the Bandits, Ward also tallied double-digits in two categories with 18 points and 10 assists. The former College Park Skyhawk has been a force in the front court for Ottawa this season and sits atop of the CEBL averaging 10.6 rebounds per game.
Fraser Valley’s big man, Brandon Gilbeck registered his first double-double of the season (14 points, 10 rebounds) in the team’s loss to Niagara. The seven-foot centre has been instrumental to Bandits’ success because of his offensive and defensive play. Gilbeck leads the CEBL averaging 2.6 blocks per game and has helped to establish Fraser Valley’s interior defense so far this season.
Ottawa is known for its physical guard play as the likes of Junior Cadougan, Kadre Gray, and Alain Louis are all aggressive in attacking the basket. Gilbeck will be called upon to defend these drives in addition to guarding Ottawa’s power forward, Nick Ward.
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