The Ottawa BlackJacks trailed by 14 points in Elam time but stormed back to defeat the Scarborough Shooting Stars 91-90 on the road on Monday night. The improbable run set the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) record for the largest comeback in Elam time.
The BlackJacks went on a 23-8 run to end the game and recovered a 14 point deficit. The Shooting Stars went 0-4 from the field with a chance to win.
Tyrell Green’s deep step-back three to complete the comeback gave the BlackJacks their second consecutive win and improved the team’s record to 3-7 on the season. Green was money in Elam time, scoring 11 of his 15 points in the final minutes on three shots from beyond the arc. Walt Lemon Jr. scored 8 of his 20 points in Elam time as well and dished out a game-high 9 assists for Ottawa. Deng Adel tied Lemon Jr. with a team-high 20 points while hauling in 7 rebounds and adding 5 assists.
“The story of the game is Tyrell. coming in the game and banging some threes for us,” Ottawa head coach James Derouin said. “Ironically, [Zena Edosmomwon] , who turned the game around for us, fouls out and changes the game because we call Tyrell’s number off the bench.”
Jalen Harris maintained his scoring pace for the Shooting Stars with 21 points in the loss but was inefficient once again. Harris shot 28 per cent from the field, going 6-21 and 1-4 from three. Isiaha Mike had a double-double in the loss with 15 points and 10 rebounds on 6-17 shooting. Kameron Chatman contributed 14 points on 5-14 shooting while Kalif Young rounded out the Shooting Stars’ attack with 11 points.
“We will get better from this, we’ll learn from this and we’ll move forward,” Scarborough head coach Chris Exilus said. “Understanding that this is a point in the season that you can’t let things like that happen—especially when you have control of a game, control of a team like we did. We should’ve executed and took care of business tonight.”
After a tough start to the game, Ottawa finished at 45 per cent from the field and 34 per cent from three. The BlackJacks picked up 41 points from their bench and outscored the Shooting Stars 44-34 in the paint.
The first quarter saw the BlackJacks come out flat, going the first six minutes of the game without scoring. The Shooting Stars opened the game with a 15-0 run and closed out the quarter leading 22-6. The BlackJacks were 3-14 for 21 per cent in the opening frame with 8 turnovers while the Shooting Stars were 40 per cent to to start.
The BlackJacks opened the second quarter cold as well, going the first four minutes without a field goal. Jalen Harris unleashed a two-handed slam on the Ottawa defence to extend the Scarborough lead to 20. David Muenkat showed off his own athleticism with a high-flying poster dunk on Chad Posthumus. However, Deng Adel helped the BlackJacks cut into the lead with 10 second quarter points and made it a game heading into the locker room. Adel showed off his versatility, scoring on a fadeaway, an and-one, a wing three and lobbing an alley-oop pass to Zena Edosomwan.
Harris led all scorers at half, carrying Scarborough to a 40-28 lead into the third. Ottawa and Scarborough regressed to the mean late in the second, with the teams shooting 35 per cent and 34 per cent respectively. Ottawa took care of the basketball and cut the turnovers in the second frame, staying at 8.
Ottawa was able to cut the lead to six early in the third but the Shooting Stars stayed vigilant and extended the lead back to double digits midway through the quarter. Muenkat scored on an and-one fading towards the baseline and forced BlackJacks head coach James Derouin into a timeout down 56-40. Out of the timeout, Zena Edosomwan cocked back a tomahawk dunk on Scarborough that energized the BlackJacks. An adjustment to zone along with an Adel three cut the lead back to 10 and forced a timeout. The Shooting Stars bounced back and carried a 70-55 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Shooting Stars continued to stop every Ottawa run early in the fourth. Rashad Jones hit his first shot with the Shooting Stars at an opportune time, putting them ahead 82-68 heading into Elam time with a target score of 91. Scarborough looked bound for victory but the BlackJacks showed resilience. The Shooting Stars led 87-71 and then 90-78 after a Kalif Young and-one but went cold just a point away from victory. From there Tyrell Green went berzerk, scoring 11 points with three trifectas and two free throws to win the game. Green’s 11 points in Elam time was complemented by 8 points from Lemon Jr in the final four minutes to power Ottawa to victory.
Scarborough will travel to the west coast for a rematch with the Fraser Valley Bandits at Langley Events Centre on Canada Day at 7:30 PT/10:30 ET. The BlackJacks will visit the FirstOntario Centre on Saturday to take on the Hamilton Honey Badgers at 4:00 p.m. ET.
The games will stream on CEBL+ live internationally and in Canada at cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app for iOS
and Android devices and the free CBC Gem streaming service. Games are also available on the CEBL’s official app, CEBL Mobile, available on iOS and Android devices.
Scarborough Shooting Stars season tickets are available at https://www.scarboroughshootingstars.ca/tickets554a5865 while Ottawa BlackJacks season tickets are available at https://www.theblackjacks.ca/tickets .
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 .