The Hamilton Honey Badgers travel to Guelph to take on the Nighthawks at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday at the Sleeman Centre. The Honey Badgers are 6-1 and the Nighthawks 5-3, and they are riding two of the longest winning streaks currently in the CEBL.

This is the second time this season that these two teams face off. In their first matchup on June 2, Hamilton came away with a 103-85 win at home. Christian Vital led the scoring for the Honey Badgers with 17 points and Michael Okafor led on the rebounds with seven. Guelph won the rebounding battle 49-40 and guards A.J. Lawson, Ahmed Hill and Cat Barber combined for 24 rebounds. Barber’s six rebounds came with 25 points on 58 per cent shooting as he was able to find his spots. The Honey Badgers defence were able to create opportunities with 22 Nighthawks turnovers leading to 21 points for the Honey Badgers, and the spacing inside the paint led the Honey Badgers to 44 points in the paint and 19 second chance points.

Since then, the Honey Badgers have won six games in a row and sit atop the CEBL standings. Their most recent victory came at home, 95-91 over the Newfoundland Growlers in a game where they had to come from behind and flip the switch after Newfoundland gained momentum and the lead in the third quarter. In that game without their starting forward Jeremiah Tilmon Jr, Vital stepped up and scored 31 points on 55 per cent shooting. Alongside Caleb Agada and Nikola Djogo, the Honey Badgers attacked the paint and finished off with their three-point shooting in the second and third quarter. Agada, Djogo and Vital combined for eight made threes and as the game came down to the wire, Agada and Vital were the constant go-to and their shot creating was on display.

Agada and Vital have a matchup with the Nighthawks guards of Barber, Hill and Lawson. Barber was able to find his way inside and shoot an efficient 71 per cent in the last matchup between these two teams, and Hill 66 per cent inside the perimeter to go with an assist on five baskets. The defence of the Honey Badgers and the ability to create second chances will be an advantage for the Honey Badgers as it was in their first matchup for the perimeter players, and not allowing the guards to get through to the paint and create spacing for shooters.

The shooters are Djogo and Lawson. Both players attempted four threes in their previous matchup, and Djogo attempted five in Hamilton’s win over Newfoundland, Lawson 12 attempted threes in the Guelph win against Ottawa. Complementing the movement of the guards, the three-point shooting that Djogo, Vital, Lawson and Hill provide for their squads is important.

Inside the paint it’s TJ Lall and Zane Waterman. Waterman scored 13 points and grabbed four rebounds against the Growlers when the Honey Badgers were missing Tilmon, and Hamilton got nine points and three rebounds from Prince Oduro off of the bench. On the other side of the ball, Tj Lall has been a constant added threat on offence for the Nighthawks. Lall scored 13 points in their game against Ottawa, and assisted on five baskets, making the extra pass and finding efficient shots for others around him.

The Nighthawks and Honey Badgers both play with pace and get in transition, and the ability to limit turnovers will be key for both sides with Guelph getting 18 second chance points and Hamilton 24 in both their recent games.

All games will be streamed live internationally on the CEBL’s OTT platform, CEBL+ , and on the CEBL Mobile app for iOS and Android devices. Games will also be available to stream live in Canada via cbcsports.ca , the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices, and the free CBC Gem streaming service.

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 .