The Fraser Valley Bandits look to continue winning on their road trip when they face the Ottawa BlackJacks on July 8 at 7:30 pm ET.
The Bandits (9-4) rebounded from two losses with a 102-99 road victory over the Newfoundland Growlers in their previous game. The BlackJacks are coming off a historic 101-50 triumph over the Saskatchewan Rattlers. They set a league record for fewest points allowed and tied a league record for biggest margin of victory.
Ottawa has won three of their past four games to move ahead of the Montréal Alliance in the standings. All their players contributed against Saskatchewan as they scored 40 bench points.
The BlackJacks moved the ball (26 assists), forced turnovers (23) and shot the ball well (53 per cent from the field, 40 per cent from three). Point guard Walt Lemon Jr. led the offence with his scoring and playmaking, especially in the first quarter as Ottawa got out to a 23-8 lead. Forward Jackson Rowe hit four-of-five from threes while guard Tyrell Green provided 16 points and four rebounds off the bench.
Their hot start was important after starting slow against the Hamilton Honey Badgers and Scarborough Shooting Stars in recent games. Their first quarter performance against Fraser Valley will be crucial as well as whether they can get a total team contribution again.
Guard Kadre Gray had six points and five assists in his season debut with the BlackJacks. He played for the Bandits earlier in the season and will be going up against his former teammates.
The Bandits also have some recent additions with Marek Klassen and Brandon Gilbeck. Klassen has averaged six points and four assists in two games while Gilbeck has yet to make his season debut.
They will join a strong squad led by top scorers Shane Gibson (averaging 20 points), James Karnik (16.2) and Alex Campbell (13.8). Forward Murphy Burnatowski gives them a solid presence down low, which will be helpful with Thomas Kennedy away with the Canadian men’s U23 national team for Globl Jam.
The Bandits are second in average points (86.6) and are tied with the BlackJacks for second in field goal percentage (45.9). This should be a matchup of two deep and efficient offences.
Fraser Valley holds an edge being the league-leaders in three-point percentage (38.7 per cent) while the BlackJacks are at 35.3 per cent. Gibson (47 per cent), Burnatowski (45) and Malcolm Duvivier (41) are among their best deep shooters.
Where Ottawa holds an advantage is in rebounding (averaging 38.3 to Fraser Valley’s 33.8). Centre Chad Posthumus is the second leading rebounder in the CEBL with 9.3 on average.
Their previous meeting this season came on opening night in Ottawa as Campbell closed out the Bandits’ 90-87 comeback win with seven straight points, including the game-winning three. Don’t be surprised if this game is also high-scoring and goes down to the wire.
All games will be streamed live internationally on the CEBL’s OTT platform, CEBL+ and on CEBL Mobile the official app of the CEBL for iOS and Android devices. Games are also available to stream live in Canada via cbcsports.ca , the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices, and the free CBC Gem streaming service.
A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL 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 .