MONTREAL, QUEBEC – The Hamilton Honey Badgers got a road win, 79-72 over the Montreal Alliance. Hamilton improves to 10-3 while the Montreal Alliance are 3-10. With the win, the Hamilton Honey Badgers are the first team to clinch a playoff berth.
What put the Honey Badgers on top with a 12-2 run in the first quarter was efficiency on offence. The Honey Badgers shot 83 per cent as they got the ball into the paint and used their footwork to create looks at the hoop.
Montreal worked the ball around to find shots but were unable to get shots to drop and with the Honey Badgers defensive rebounding, Montreal had little second chances. Montreal called a timeout three minutes into the game and came out with a jumper from Ashley Hamilton to spark the Alliance offence which found Green a possession later with a floater.
Montreal found Hamilton on the blocks for a series of jumpers following the timeout and his footwork sparked scoring for the Alliance as they tried to trim the Honey Badgers lead. Montreal’s defence made it hard for the Honey Badgers to get to the paint and Green got to the free throw line to cut the deficit. At the end of the first quarter, the Honey Badgers led 27-18. The Honey Badgers shot 66 per cent in the first quarter and led the rebounding 10-5.
Montreal continued to pound the paint in the second quarter getting the ball in to Hamilton and finding Green who attacked the rim. As the quarter went on, a put back from James Jean-Marie, a layup from Hernst Laroche and a Hamilton trip to the free throw line cut the Montreal deficit to six, 35-29 and Laroche and Green got it the rest of the way with assistance from Emondre Rickman inside the paint. Montreal took the lead at the end of the second quarter thanks to two Green free throws. Montreal led 38-37 going into halftime.
Hamilton for the Alliance led in scoring with 14 points on 5-8 shooting and Green followed with 10 points. The Honey Badgers 50 per cent shooting came from points from eight different players, Waterman leading with seven points on perfect three for three shooting. The Honey Badgers rebounding advantage pushed to 21-15 at halftime. Montreal were able to force 10 Honey Badgers turnovers which gave Montreal nine points off turnovers and 11 points on the fast break.
The Alliance went on a run in the second quarter to take the lead, and the Honey Badgers came into the third determined to not let the Alliance build on that lead. Despite an opening jumper from Green to put Montreal up three points, Agada responded with four immediate points to put the Honey Badgers back up one point. From then on, the Honey Badgers and Alliance traded opportunities in and around the paint with Waterman and Rickman taking over the scoring in the middle of the quarter and Waterman, Keevan Veinot and Koby McEwen fueling the Honey Badgers to a lead at the end of the third. Going into the fourth quarter, the Honey Badgers led Montreal 59-51.
The Honey Badgers controlled the first three minutes of the final frame. With their defence and transition play, they found Joel James and Veinot inside the paint who contributed four points and Agada hit a three-pointer to put the Honey Badgers up 66-53 with 6:34 left in the fourth quarter.
Jean-Marie scored six of eight points for the Alliance from the start of the fourth going into Elam time. For the Honey Badgers, Waterman and McEwen continued to work inside the paint. Going into Elam time, the Honey Badgers led 70-59 over the Alliance with the target score set at 79.
Hamilton started Elam time with a steal and a transition dunk to spark the Alliance. On the following possession, he got to the free throw line and made both free throws to cut the Alliance deficit to seven, 70-63. Veinot got a layup plus a free throw to put the Honey Badgers at 73 and a Kemy Osse three put Montreal at 66. Montreal got to the free throw line on consecutive possessions, one point coming from Hamilton, one from Louis and two from Green. The Alliance trailed the Honey Badgers 77-70 with the target score at 79. A steal and an Okafor transition dunk put the seal on the Honey Badgers win. The Honey Badgers defeated the Montreal Alliance 79-72.
Agada led the Honey Badgers with 16 points, three rebounds, four assists and a steal. McEwen had 15 points, three rebounds, three assists and a steal. Waterman finished with 13 points, three rebounds and an assist. Michael Okafor finished with 11 points off the bench while Veinot added 10 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Hamilton led the Alliance with 23 points, seven rebounds, an assist and two steals. Green finished with 14 points, three rebounds, an assist, steal and block. Jean-Marie recorded 10 points off the bench along with four rebounds.
Agada talked about the team’s ability to remain focused and composed and come away with the win, “we’re the number one team in the league right now, so every team is going to give us their best punch and that’s what they did they came and played a great game but we’re resilient, we stayed together and we’re able to fight it out until the end”