After being one game away from being eliminated Wednesday night, the BlackJacks turned up the heat again and grounded the Nighthawks on the back of high percentage shooting and superior defence. Ottawa held the NIghthawks to a mere .357 shooting percentage on the night and seized their opportunity – turning up the heat in the second half. 

Tre’Darius McCallum scored five of his 17 points on the night in the first quarter to fuel Guelph to a 25-21 lead after one quarter. The BlackJacks bounced back to take a 44-37 lead into the half. Tonight’s game was the BlackJacks’ third game in as many nights. Despite the fatigue, the BlackJacks were able to spread the ball around and scored by committee with four players reaching double digits. The BlackJacks were led by team captain Olivier Hanlan with 19 points, six rebounds and 4 assists. Ultimately, it was Hanlan who put the game to rest in Elam Ending time with a running lay-up. 

The BlackJacks entered the fourth quarter with a commanding 61-53 lead. As the Nighthawks attempted to claw back into the game, the momentum completely shifted towards the end of the third when Johnny Berhanemeskel stole the ball on a tipped pass and went end-to-end to hit a dagger three-pointer. 

“For us to bounce back, I think was big for us and it goes to show that everyone had their moment,” said Berhaemeskel. “I feel like when you have three games in three days, everyone has to step up and I feel everyone did that. It was really cool to see.”

The BlackJacks found their legs as the game progressed, not only knocking down shots, but rebounding as a unit. Only one player on the team had less than four rebounds on the night. 

“We were tough. We rebounded, defended – we outrebounded them by 11,” said BlackJacks head coach Osvaldo Jeanty. “Overall, I thought we did the things we needed to do. The only thing I wish we could have done better was take care of the ball a bit better as we had 17 turnovers to their eight, so that’s what kept them in the game.”

Despite the Nighthawks’ CEBL Summer Series campaign coming to an end, the team enjoyed a remarkable turnaround in 2020. After missing the post season in 2019, the Nighthawks were a force in the Summer Series.

“I thought individuals got better and as a group to come together pretty fast, we did a pretty good job overall, so hats off to our guys”, said Nighthawks head coach and general manager, Charles Kissi. “The one thing I can’t say they didn’t do was play hard. We had some shots down the stretch that we didn’t make, but you know what, that’s the way the ball bounces sometimes.”

The BlackJacks face the Edmonton Stingers on Saturday at 3:50 p.m. ET in the second game of the semifinal doubleheader. The first game that afternoon will take place at 1:30 p.m. ET (10:30 a.m. PT) and will pit the Hamilton Honey Badgers against the Fraser Valley Bandits. 

Saturday’s semifinal games between Ottawa and Edmonton as well as Fraser Valley and Hamilton, will be nationally televised by CBC and livestreamed on Twitch, CBCSports.ca and the CBC Gem App. A complete broadcast schedule can be found here.