The first-place Hamilton Honey Badgers routed the Scarborough Shooting Stars at home on Thursday night at FirstOntario Centre 84-70.
The Honey Badgers improve their league-best record to 13-3 on the season and extend their winning streak to six consecutive games, Meanwhile, the Shooting Stars drop to 8-6 on the season in their hunt for the three-seed in the playoffs and have their three-game winning streak snapped.
Koby McEwan balled out for Hamilton with a game-high 27 points on 10-14 shooting from the field and 5-8 from three. Nikola Djogo was the only other Honey Badger to reach double figures with 14 points, going 4-6 from three. Caleb Agada struggled from the field at 2-10 on the night for 5 points, but finished the game with 6 rebounds and a game-high 7 assists.
David Muenkat came off the bench to deliver the best performance of the night for the Shooting Stars. Muenkat netted 18 points on 7-11 shooting and snagged 8 rebounds along with 2 steals. Jean-Victor Mukama also contributed 12 points coming off the pine, while Kameron Chatman and Isiaha Mike each scored 10 in the loss. Jalen Harris played just over 9 minutes and went 0-3 from the field.
Hamilton shot 43 per cent from the field and 34 per cent from three in the win and assisted on 21 of the team’s 30 total field goals. The Shooting Stars shot just 37 per cent from the field and 25 per cent from three in the losing effort.
The first quarter saw the Honey Badgers get off to a sizzling start from three, hitting four of their first five shots from beyond the arc. Nikola Djogo hit three triples for Hamilton, with Koby McEwan and Zane Waterman also connecting from beyond the arc in the first quarter. A pair of Isaiah Resse free throws and a Jamal Reynolds putback closed out the quarter, with Hamilton leading 25-14.
The start to the second quarter had something in common with When Doves Cry, Sign O’ the Times, and Purple Rain, because it began with a Prince jam. Caleb Agada found a cutting Prince Oduro for a flush to open the quarter, with Scarborough’s David Muenkat answering with a dunk of his own. Koby McEwan caught fire with a catch and shoot three, an and-one three, followed by a heat check three from NBA range that forced a Scarborough timeout. McEwan wrapped up an impressive opening 20 with an and-one layup in transition and helped the Honey Badgers to a 44-25 lead heading into the locker room.
McEwan led all scorers with 18 points at half, with Djogo chipping in 9 for Hamilton. Kalif Young, Kameron Chatman, and Isiaha Mike each had 7 points for Scarborough, while Jalen Harris was held scoreless on 0-3 shooting from the field. The Shooting Stars shot just 32 per cent as a team from the flor and 16 per cent from three,
The third quarter saw the Honey Badgers continue to dominate. McEwan kicked off the quarter with another three and had back-to-back finishes later in the quarter to build on his already outstanding performance. A putback from Hamilton extended their lead to 61-35 heading into the final quarter.
Former St. FX player David Muenkat had a great fourth quarter for Scarborough that included a highlight-reel putback jam, but it was too little, too late for the Shooting Stars. Hamilton carried a 74-54 lead into the Elam ending with a target score of 83. Despite having their lead cut to 82-70, Joel James finished off the game with a slam dunk for Hamilton.
Hamilton hosts Edmonton on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. ET at FirstOntario Centre while Scarborough hosts the Niagara River Lions on Sunday at 7:00 p.m. ET at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre.
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 tickets are available at https://www.scarboroughshootingstars.ca/tickets554a5865 while tickets are available at https://www.honeybadgers.ca/tickets .
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