The CEBL concluded their first-ever opening night as the visiting Guelph Nighthawks edged out the Fraser Valley Bandits 106-103 at the Abbotsford Centre in Abbotsford, B.C on May 9.

It was the second-ever CEBL game on the league’s inaugural opening night. The Bandits would feature in the orange and blue jerseys while Guelph wore white with blue down the side.

Despite both squads starting training camp only about 10 days ago, with players still to come in, they were numerous highlights in an back-and-forth affair that went down to the wire.

Both teams started the game off exchanging baskets back and forth – both in transition and in the half court. Forward Tyrell Tate scored the game’s first points after rebounding a Joel Friesen missed three pointer 30 seconds into the game. He would continue his strong play with a drive to the basket on the fast break to finish a layup and the foul shot.

Guelph hit from range with three-pointers by Montrell Dixson and Jamal Reynolds to keep the game tight. Both teams continued to fire from deep with guard Jaylen Bland hitting two three-pointers to put the home squad up 17-12. However, Guelph would battle back with former DR
Congo national team point guard Myck Kabongo hitting from deep as well as finding Zeke Marshall cutting to the basket. Fraser Valley led 18-17 after the first quarter.

There was back and forth action to start the second quarter with numerous missed shots and Marshall block Drew Urquhart.

Kabongo continued his strong play with drives to the rim, free throws and three pointers. Extending Guelph to 31-26 after a scoop and score. However, the score remained close and Urquhart got his revenge with an alley-op dunk from Tate. Kabongo hit a contested deep three but Anton Gill responded with a three of his own.

Both the Nighthawks and Bandits kept up their offensive fireworks as neither was able to pull away to a double-digit deficit with a fast pace game. Guelph led 53-50 at halftime.

Fraser Valley would bounce back to start the third quarter as they went on a run of their own. Friesen found Dallin Bachynski with a behind-the-back pass for a dunk. Then Rodney Pyror threw down a breakaway windmill dunk.

However, former Canadian national team player Olu Famutimi led Guelph’s comeback as the game remained tight. He scored in a variety of ways with layups, jumpers and from three. Both sides kept up the high-scoring pace as the Bandits took a 77-75 edge into the fourth quarter.
Gill brought crowd into applause with a three to start the final quarter before finding forward Troy Gottselig down low to extend their team’s lead to 82-75. The Bandits continued to carry the momentum with back-to-back threes by Pryor and Bland to push the score to 88-77 with seven minutes remaining.

However, the Nighthawks would fight back quickly with Kabongo scoring four points in a row and finding Marshall for a dunk to cut the deficit to five halfway through the quarter. The Bandits had an answer, with Pryor finishing a layup and the ensuing free throw to make it 92-83.

Baskets by Reynolds and Kabongo kept Guelph’s comeback hopes alive. The two teams continued to trade baskets until Kabongo found Marshall on a post-up to give Guelph the lead again at 101-100 with a minute-and-a-half left.

Pryor tied the game at 103 with a baseline jumper but the Nighthawks came up big at both ends of the floor in the dying seconds. Marshall blocked Gill’s three-point attempt before finding Reynolds for a breakaway layup to make it 105-103 with 11 seconds left.

The visitors forced a steal with guard Aaron Redpath hitting one of two free throws to make it 106-103. That would be enough to close out the victory as Gill missed his three-point attempt as the end. The Guelph players celebrated their first win in their first-ever game in franchise
history.

The Bandits travel to Guelph in a rematch with the Nighthawks on May 18. Meanwhile, Guelph’s next game is their home opener when they take on the Saskatchewan Rattlers on May 11.