The Hamilton Honey Badgers (2-1) got back in the win column with a 103-85 home victory over the Guelph Nighthawks (1-2) on June 2. It marks their tenth straight win over Guelph as the Honey Badgers have never lost to the Nighthawks before.
Hamilton got out to a big lead in the first quarter, which they held on to for the rest of the game.
“Defence always sets the tone for us,” Hamilton head coach Ryan Schmidt said. “I thought our guys were really locked in our defensive gameplan and it wasn’t just one or two guys. All five guys were on the same page.”
Hamilton held Guelph to 37 per cent shooting from the field and 34 per cent from three. They scored 21 points off 22 Guelph turnovers.
“Getting stops on the defensive end allowed us to get easy shots early and allowed us to get in a rhythm,” Schmidt added. “Once we got into a rhythm, our offence became a little easier.”
Hamilton had four players scoring in double figures, including guard Christian Vital with a team-high 17 points and five steals. The Honey Badgers bench players added 38 points with Keevan Veinot (13) and Koby McEwan (nine) tops among them.
Nikola Djogo found Caleb Agada for a three to open the scoring before hitting a three himself to put Hamilton up 6-0. Walker Miller got Guelph on the scoreboard but Hamilton’s lead continued to build. Agada swerved through the defence for a layup to make it 18-4.
Slovenian forward Martin Krampelj hit a jumper for his first Hamilton points while American forward Zane Waterman scored his first points on a floater to give his team a 33-15 lead after 10 minutes.
Guelph started the second quarter with three-pointers by Sean Miller-Moore and Cat Barber to trim the lead. Hamilton kept the lead at double-digits. Waterman hit a three and Christian Vital scored five straight points to make it 53-34. Hamilton led 57-38 at halftime.
AJ Lawson drilled a corner three to start the second half and Djogo and Vital answered with three-pointers of their own. Michael Okafor threw down a slam dunk as Hamilton kept a 80-64 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Honey Badgers continued to make threes as Veinot scored early in the fourth. While Guelph made a run, the home team took a 94-78 advantage heading into the Elam Ending.
Guelph started Elam time with four straight points by Barber and Ahmed Hill but couldn’t get close enough to win. Jeremiah Tilmon Jr. scored the final two baskets to seal the win.
Waterman finished with seven points and three rebounds after coming straight to Hamilton from his European season. “These guys make it easy,” he said. “They pass the ball really well and play together. Good chemistry already so my job is just come in and not mess anything up and get my legs under me.”
Guelph was led by Barber (25 points, six rebounds, five assists) and Hill (16 points, eight rebounds). Hill pointed out the need to start the game better. “We need to come out and fight,” he noted.
“We just got to get it mentally,” Hill added. “We have a lot of young guys. We just got to teach them…we’ve got to get some aggression. I don’t know what it is but we’ll be better next game for sure.”
Guelph head coach Charles Kissi said the team will keep switching things up, including figuring out lineups. “No panic button,” he noted. “Just kind of keep figuring it out. It’s part of getting to know your team and see what works, when and how.”
The Honey Badgers start the first of three straight road games next against the Scarborough Shooting Stars on June 4. The Nighthawks will travel to face the Montréal Alliance on June 5.
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