The Newfoundland Growlers took care of business and defeated the Montréal Alliance 84-83 at Memorial University Fieldhouse on Wednesday night in a game that featured a thrilling Elam Ending comeback.

“I was trying to calm the guys down,” Newfoundland head coach Patrick Ewing Jr. said. “I told them it was a one possession game and we know what we need to get to—it's like going out there and playing street ball—we have to go out there, go on our run and call it a day. That’s what we did.”

The victory wraps up the Growlers’ three-game sweep of the Alliance in the past week, after two wins in Montréal on the weekend. Newfoundland improves to 6-12 on the season in eighth place in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) standings. Meanwhile, Montréal drops to 4-14 and remains in the league’s basement. Coming into the game, the Growlers needed to win out and get some help from Saskatchewan to have a chance at the playoffs. However, the Guelph Nighthawks defeated the Rattlers on Wednesday to clinch a playoff spot and eliminate the Growlers.

Former Cape Breton University Caper Shaquille Keith netted 21 points in the bittersweet win for Newfoundland, tied for a game-high. Keith shot 6-10 from the field and 4-5 from three, and added 5 rebounds and 4 assists to his stat line. Blake Francis came off the bench with another strong performance, scoring 18 and dishing 5 assists for the Growlers. Jahvon Blair and Rowell Graham-Bell each scored 13 points for Newfoundland, while Nysier Brooks chipped in 10 points.

Hernst Laroche and Isiah Osborne powered the Montréal offence with 21 points apiece, also tied for the game-high. Nathan Cayo continued his consistent season with 15 points and 7 rebounds in a losing effort.

The first quarter saw the Growlers get off to a hot start from beyond the arc. Jahvon Blair, Shaquille Keith and Blake Francis all hit from deep and the Growlers led by double digits. Montréal fought their way back and a three from Isiah Osborne cut the Newfoundland lead to 24-23 heading into the second quarter.

Rowell Graham-Bell took flight for a reverse slam to open the second quarter. The Alliance were able to pick up their first lead off of five straight points from Osborne that included another triple and a mid-range jumper off the dribble. However, Graham-Bell closed the quarter the same way he started it—with a high-flying alley-oop jam that tied the game at 43 heading into the locker room.

Keith, Osborne and Nathan Cayo each scored 12 points at halftime, with Blake Francis also contributing 11 off the bench. Newfoundland shot 50 per cent from the field and three after 20 minutes of action, while Montréal shot 45 per cent from the field, 57 per cent from three, and went 9-10 from the free throw line.

Montréal and Newfoundland exchanged blows throughout the third quarter with upwards of 10 lead changes. The Alliance went on an 8-0 run to end the quarter and took a 71-66 lead heading into the fourth.

Newfoundland failed to capitalize on several offensive rebounds to start the fourth quarter, making the comeback harder. Approaching the four minute mark, Blake Francis hit a huge three to cut Montréal’s lead to 75-72 heading into the Elam Ending with a target score of 84.

Rowell Graham-Bell and Hernst Laroche were duelling to start Elam time, with Graham-Bell scoring Newfoundland’s first six points and Laroche scoring Montréal’s first five. A pair of free throws from Osborne gave the Alliance an 82-78 lead with a chance to win. Osborne returned to the line with an opportunity to ice the game but missed the first free throw, prompting a Patrick Ewing Jr. timeout down 83-79. Out of the timeout, Shaquille Keith buried a step back triple to cut the lead to one. Montréal turned it over on the next possession and Francis fed Jermel Kennedy for a season-saving bucket.

The Growlers will face the Guelph Nighthawks on Friday at 7:30 NT in St. John’s while the Alliance will host the Saskatchewan Rattlers at 7:30 ET.

Newfoundland Growlers tickets are available at https://www.growlersbasketball.ca/tickets while Montreal Alliance tickets are available at https://www.alliancemontreal.ca/en-ca/tickets .

Fans will be able to live stream all games including the playoffs on the CEBL’s OTT streaming service CEBL+, the CEBL’s official app, CEBL Mobile for iOS and Android devices, cbcsports.ca, the free CBC Gem streaming service, the CBC Sports App for iOS and Android devices and on NXT Level Sports in the U.S. As part of its playoff coverage, CBC Sports will broadcast the quarterfinal games Sunday, August 7, semifinal games Friday, August 12, and the Championship game on Sunday, August 14. For the complete broadcast and streaming schedule, click here. All times are subject to change.

The CEBL’s fourth regular season began May 25 and ends August 1. A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL is the largest pro sports league in the country with 10 teams located in six provinces. It 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.