The Guelph Nighthawks clinched the final CEBL playoff berth with a 104-82 victory in their regular season home finale.

The Nighthawks (9-10) also snap a two-game losing streak while the Rattlers (10-9) saw their three-game winning run come to an end.

The Rattlers were without Tony Carr while the Nighthawks were without TJ Lall but did welcome Cat Barber back into the lineup.

Guelph jumped out to a quick 8-0 after scores by Barber, Maurice Calloo and Stefan Smith by going inside. Saskatchewan’s Jordy Tshimanga scored from his post play on the other end.

Overall, the Nighthawks’ defence was solid in the first quarter. New addition Olu Ashaolu scored off an offensive rebound as Guelph led 21-6. The home team led 27-10 after the first quarter after Ashaolu grabbed another offensive board and scored at the buzzer.

Sharpshooter Devonte Bandoo and Bruce Massey scored Saskatchewan’s first triples to open the second quarter. The teams scored back and forth as Guelph continued to force turnovers and score.

Michael Nuga was a sparkplug for the Rattlers off the bench as he scored at the rim and from three. While the threes continued to fall for Saskatchewan, Guelph responded as they kept scoring inside to go up 47-31 at halftime.

Saskatchewan moved the ball to start the third as Tshimanga scored in the point twice to cut the gap to 12. The Nighthawks responded as Barber drove to the rim and got to the foul line. The Nighthawks continued to drive inside while Ahmed Hill hit back-to-back threes as part of a 16-3 run. They led 75-52 after three quarters.

Hill hit another three and Maurice Calloo did as well to push the lead to 28 as Guelph pushed the ball in transition for good shots. Myles Charvis threw an alley-oop for Sean Miller Moore as Guelph moved within five points of victory in Elam time.

The Rattlers made a late run with Nuga driving into the lane but free throws by Hill and a layup by Barber sealed the victory.

Guelph put an emphasis on scoring inside as they shot 70 per cent from two-point range and 52 per cent from the field. Calloo led the team with 23 points while Barber and Hill finished with 18 points apiece.

Ashaolu had 14 points and nine rebounds in his team debut after playing for the Niagara River Lions earlier this season. “He’s a beast on the glass,” Calloo noted. “He’s an enforcer. He does the dirty work. He does the little things to help teams win and we’re glad to have him.”

Calloo credited their defensively communication for their strong start. “Locking in on our guys, our personnel,” he added. “Everybody studied [their] personnel and everybody was tuned in.”

“We had a game plan and we stuck to it,” Guelph head coach Charles Kissi noted. “Throughout the year, we’ve had trouble being disciplined enough to stick to the plan.”

Massey had eight points and eight assists filling in for Carr. Malik Benlevi led the Rattlers with 21 points and seven assists while Nuga provided 19 points off the bench. He credited his confidence in his work to his aggressiveness attacking the paint.

“We wanted to obviously play better throughout the game,” Nuga said. “I feel like we had spurts where we showed life of playing well as a team but we just had to bring those more collectively as a unit.”

The Rattlers – who lead the league in three-point percentage – shot 25 per cent from deep.

Both teams will fight for playoff seeding. The Nighthawks close out the regular season by visiting the Newfoundland Growlers on July 29. The Rattlers visit the Montréal Alliance that evening as well.

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 t he 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 .