The Hamilton Honey Badgers coming off of three straight wins host the Saskatchewan Rattlers at 7:30 p.m. ET in the FirstOntario Centre. The Honey Badgers are tied for first in the CEBL at 4-1 and the Rattlers come in at 2-2.

Hamilton enters this matchup tied with Edmonton at 4-1, and coming off of three straight wins. Their latest win was a 80-68 win over the Fraser Valley Bandits in Langley. In that win they showed what their coach Ryan Schmidt said postgame is their defence is the primary identity of the team. The Bandits came out shooting with Murphy Burnatowski and Shane Gibson, but the Honey Badgers defence tightened up and contested shots letting their big men in Jeremiah Tilmon and others secure the rebounds.

The defence created the offence and they recorded 26 points off of turnovers. Tilmon, Zane Waterman, Christian Vital, Caleb Agada and the Honey Badgers won the rebounding battle 46-30 and they proved their half-court defence can do a lot for the execution of their offence.

Hamilton went up against a Fraser Valley team that was also fighting for the top spot in the CEBL, and the battle on the boards was important for both sides to create second chances. The lead changed 13 times throughout the first three quarters but as Elam time came it was the ability to get to the rim and to the foul line that set Hamilton apart, and that comes with their post presence and creating lanes and separation.

Tilmon has a matchup inside with a stalwart of the Rattlers, Jordy Tshimanga. Saskatchewan most recently split a home-and-home with the Bandits and in their win, Tshimanga recorded 13 rebounds and scored 14 points to help the Rattlers score 32 points in the paint and 16 points off turnovers.

Along the perimeter, Agada, Nikola Djogo and Vital have a matchup with Anthony Carr and Devonte Bandoo. In the Rattlers split with the Bandits, Carr and Bandoo scored in double-digits, and they’re often sparks for the Rattlers offence. Malik Benlevi hit five threes in their most recent loss to Fraser Valley, Bandoo and Carr taking five threes and Scottie Lindsey taking nine. Like the Honey Badgers did against Fraser Valley, Hamilton will contest the perimeter shooting of the Rattlers and the interior control that Tshimanga provides will help the execution of the offence and provide more options for their dynamic scorers around the floor.

Both teams have efficient perimeter players that can put up threes and have the athleticism to get to the rim, and both sides have a post player that is the primary rebounder that creates spacing for paint presence. The difference for Saskatchewan will be getting through Hamilton’s half-court defence while Hamilton will try and get out and run off of steals and rebounds. Saskatchewan is looking to get above .500 while the Honey Badgers are trying to stay on top of the CEBL and remain a one loss team.

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 .