GUELPH, ON – The Fraser Valley Bandits came away with a close 90-85 win over the Guelph Nighthawks on Tuesday night to win their third game in a row. The Bandits are now 6-2 with the Nighthawks 6-4.
The first quarter was one of runs, specifically two runs. The Nighthawks started the quarter hitting their shots and going on a 7-2 run thanks to an opening three from Aj Hess and the agility of Ahmed Hill and Cat Barber to get to their spots. Following that point in the game, the Bandits took over the first quarter with a 27-11 run.
The shooting of the Nighthawks went up against the physicality of the Bandits and Thomas Kennedy won the battle inside with 10 early points. The tenacity of Alex Campbell kept the Bandits pushing as he got to the rim and distributed for his teammates, and the Bandits kept pouring on the points to go up by 11 going into the second quarter. Barber scored eight points early for the Nighthawks with Hill adding six points but at the end of the first quarter, Fraser Valley led the Nighthawks 29-18.
The Bandits kept their lead throughout the second quarter despite Lall, Barber and Hill continuing to push back. Both teams shot at a lower percentage in the second quarter, and the half-court defence of the Bandits kept them close to a double-digit lead while shots weren’t falling, until Adam Paige came in and scored four unanswered points to put the Bandits back up 44-31.
Barber finished the first half with 14 points to lead the Nighthawks while Kennedy scored 12 to lead the Bandits. On the boards Kadre Gray and Lall each had seven rebounds to give a piece of the even rebounding that played out over the half. Fraser Valley held a small 23-22 lead in rebounding at halftime, but their ball movement, assisting on 13 of 16 made baskets, gave them their double-digit lead. At halftime, Fraser Valley led the Guelph Nighthawks 44-33.
Runs continued in the second half as the Nighthawks who were down as much as 40-23 in the second quarter and 44-33 at halftime, went on a 16-5 run to start the third quarter to tie the game at 49. Barber, Hill and Lall continued to be the primary source of offence for the Nighthawks with a Hess three sprinkled in throughout, and the Nighthawks got to the rim efficiently. For the Bandits, Thomas Kennedy continued to get touches around the rim and Gray attacked the rim to keep the Bandits ahead despite the run from the Nighthawks. At the end of the third quarter, Gray put the Bandits up 64-62 over the Guelph Nighthawks.
Since the Nighthawks run to tie the game at 49, neither team was able to push out to a significant lead. Guelph started the fourth quarter with Lall and Clayton Henry, but Shane Gibson answered with an and-one layup to put the Bandits back up two. Throughout the time leading up to Elam time, the Bandits and Nighthawks exchanged baskets, a Gibson layup, Hess three, Henry three and Hill layup were the sources of early points in the fourth as the lead exchanged back and forth. With 6:04 left in the fourth quarter, Hess got his total to 20 points off of six made threes, and was a big reason for the Nighthawks 77-73 lead with five of those six threes coming in the second half. At Elam time, the Bandits pushed their way back to an 81-80 lead with the target score set at 90.
Thomas Kennedy found the first points of Elam time on a put-back at the rim to put the Bandits up three, 83-80 and the Nighthawks responded on the offensive glass finding Hill in the corner for the and-one three-pointer with a made free throw to follow up the shot. Guelph up 84-83 Lall came away with a steal and Barber got to the free throw line to put the Nighthawks up 85-83. Answering, Gray hit a three-pointer to put the Bandits at 86 and Gibson got to the rim to make it 88, just two points away from victory and up three points on the Nighthawks. A defensive rebound from Campbell and a drawn foul put Gibson at the line to seal the victory for the Bandits. Fraser Valley won their third game in a row, 90-85 over the Guelph Nighthawks.
Four Nighthawks finished in double-digits on the scoreboard. Barber led the team with 22 points, five rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a block. Hess finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and an assist. Hill finished close behind with 19 points, two rebounds, an assist and two steals while Lall recorded 15 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Gibson led the way for the Bandits with 23 points, four rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block. Kennedy finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and a steal. Campbell had 12 points, five rebounds and an assist while Gray added 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals off of the bench.
Fraser Valley Head Coach Mike Taylor on his team’s road win in Guelph, “We really executed pretty well, I thought we had 13 assists and five turnovers in the first half, 18 and 10 for the game. I thought we did a good job getting the paint touches and post touches like we wanted and again when you’re down getting close to Elam ending I thought we made some big plays, the three-point shots from Malcolm in the corner and Alex in the other corner turned the game and then our guys have done really well finishing games up to this point in the year so really pleased with the team effort and a great road win.”