B y Justine Jones
The Ottawa BlackJacks (2-4) hop across Ontario to take on the Guelph Nighthawks (0-4) on Monday night at the Sleeman Centre at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Guelph remains in search of its first victory on the season, while Ottawa will look to secure its first road win, as the team’s early successes have come on homecourt at TD Place. The BlackJacks upset the Fraser Valley Bandits (4-2) on Saturday night, 90-84, as the team looks to build off this game moving forward.
Monday’s showdown marks a rematch of Guelph’s season opener, where the Nighthawks fell 96-79 back on June 28. Guelph has played three games since then, all against one of the top teams in the CEBL, the Hamilton Honey Badgers (5-1). The Nighthawks have been competitive in each contest since their first, but have struggled to close out games in the Elam Ending. Tonight’s re-match against Ottawa will be a good measuring stick for head coach Charles Kissi to see how far his squad has come since game one.
The big three
Do not let Guelph’s record fool you, this is a good basketball team. The Nighthawks have put together solid stretches in games, but some late offensive lapses have kept the team winless.
Through four contests this season, the bulk of Guelph’s offence has been produced by three NBA G-League players in Cat Barber, Ahmed Hill, and Canadian Justin Jackson. In the Nighthawks last game, this trio combined for 56 of Guelph’s 76 points. Barber is one of the CEBL’s top scorers, averaging 24.8 points per game. Although this core group has been consistent, secondary scoring will be crucial if Guelph plans to climb the standings.
Perhaps someone who can help provide this offensive boost is Chad Brown, who made his CEBL debut Friday against Hamilton. The six-foot-nine forward notched a double-double (11 points, 18 rebounds) and was named Guelph’s Player of the Game. Brown will be part of a key front court matchup against Ottawa and will be counted on to guard BlackJacks power forward Nick Ward who has produced his best performances in Ottawa’s last two games.
Veteran guard Kimbal Mackenzie also returned to the Nigthhawks’ lineup on Friday, after exiting Guelph’s season opener against Ottawa with an ankle injury.
Together at last
Saturday’s game against Fraser Valley marked the first time this season that Ottawa had its full roster active and available to play. Two of the team’s key pieces in Johnny Berhanemeskel and Dominique Archie both joined their team part way into the season. Archie, a 33-year-old veteran, made his BlackJacks debut in the team’s fourth game of the season. While Berhanemeskel, an Ottawa native and Gee-Gee Basketball Royalty, was in the roster for the team’s third contest, but did not travel in games four and five due to personal reasons.
Head coach Charles Dubé-Brais has been juggling his lineup accordingly and Saturday’s contest saw Ottawa use its fourth different group of starters on the season. Both Archie and Berhanemeskel started the game and saw over 30 minutes of action.
The two played key roles in securing Ottawa’s second victory of the season as Archie finished with 16 points and seven rebounds, and made some crucial plays down the stretch for his team. The veteran forward took a late game charge, and drained a corner three-pointer that helped the BlackJacks regain the lead. Berhanemeskel tallied a game high 24 points, and scored five of his team’s nine points in the Elam Ending.
“Roster-wise finally having all the pieces is one thing but it’s also that our guys came into practice this week and were practicing with a lot of force and a lot of intensity,” said coach Dubé-Brais after Saturday’s game. “We made it tough on ourselves Wednesday and Thursday and guys were getting tired at some points but it paid off today, we knew how to respond in those tough moments probably a little better than last week.”
All CEBL games will be available for live streaming on the CEBL’s new OTT streaming service, CEBL+ , cbcsports.ca , the free CBC Gem streaming service, the CBC Sports App for iOS and android devices, and on Twitch.
A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with 75 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 typically runs from May through August. Head to CEBL.ca for more information or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.