With the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) playoff race intensifying, the Edmonton Stingers will host the Guelph Nighthawks at Edmonton Expo Centre at 12:00 p.m. MT on Saturday in matchup between a pair of teams just one game apart in the standings.
The Stingers enter the game at 9-8 in fifth place in the CEBL standings while the Nighthawks enter at 8-9 in seventh place, holding on to the final playoff spot. Guelph can clinch a playoff spot with a win on Saturday and become the last team to clinch a spot in the postseason. The Stingers have a playoff spot clinched but are in a battle with Fraser Valley, Scarborough, Saskatchewan and Guelph for playoff seeding. Scarborough and Fraser Valley each sit at 10-7 while Saskatchewan sits at 9-8.
Saturday’s matinee is the final game in the Nighthawks’ three-game west coast road trip. Guelph kicked off their road trip with a 87-81 win over Fraser Valley in Langley but lost a crucial matchup with the Rattlers 84-81 in Saskatoon on Thursday night. Guelph has just three games remaining this season, with meetings against Saskatchewan and Newfoundland to close out the season.
Edmonton comes into the game following a huge loss to the Scarborough Shooting Stars at Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre on Tuesday. The Shooting Stars routed the Stingers 97-74, with Isiaha Mike powering Scarborough to victory with 30 points. The Stingers suffered from 17 turnovers in the loss, nine more than Scarborough. Edmonton also has three games remaining this season as they look to improve their seeding, with matchups against Ottawa and Fraser Valley after their game against Guelph.
Demarco Dickerson leads Edmonton in points per game with 13.9 in nine games played, with Brody Clarke close behind at 13.6 points per game in 17 games played. Jordan Baker is leading the team in three statistical categories with 4.9 assists, 1.6 steals and a league-best 9.6 rebounds per game, to go along with 11.6 points per game. Marlon Johnson is also reaching double figures at 10.2 points per game with 6.5 rebounds per game and 1.3 steals per game.
Cat Barber enters the game as the Nighthawks’ leading scorer at 19.9 poins per game to go along with 5.1 assists per game, while Ahmed Hill cements himself as the second option at 17.7 points per game. Giorgi Bezhanishvili is making an impact for the Nighthawks in three games so far, averaging 17 points per game.
Guelph sits second in the CEBL in points per game at 86.1 coming into Saturday’s game and third in field goal percentage at 46 per cent. Edmonton leads the league in assists and is the lone team to average over twenty assists per game at 20.8.
Edmonton Stingers tickets are available at https://www.thestingers.ca/tickets while Guelph Nighthawks tickets are available at https://www.thenighthawks.ca/tickets .
Fans will be able to live stream all games including the playoffs on the CEBL’s OTT streaming service CEBL+, the CEBL’s official app, CEBL Mobile for iOS and Android devices, cbcsports.ca, the free CBC Gem streaming service, the CBC Sports App for iOS and Android devices and on NXT Level Sports in the U.S. As part of its playoff coverage, CBC Sports will broadcast the quarterfinal games Sunday, August 7, semifinal games Friday, August 12, and the Championship game on Sunday, August 14. For the complete broadcast and streaming schedule, click here. All times are subject to change.
The CEBL’s fourth regular season began May 25 and ends August 1. A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL is the largest pro sports league in the country with 10 teams located in six provinces. It 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.