B y Justine Jones
The Hamilton Honey Badgers (8-3) travel across highway six to the Sleeman Centre to take on the Guelph Nighthawks (2-7) on July 27 at 7:00 p.m. ET.
This marks the fourth and final regular-season meeting between these two teams, with Hamilton winning each matchup so far. Dating back to the CEBL’s inaugural season in 2019, the Honey Badgers are 8-0 all-time against the Nighthawks.
New look Nighthawks
Guelph will hope to rebound after dropping a heartbreaker, 86-83, to the last-place Saskatchewan Rattlers on July 22. A bright spot in the loss for the Nighthawks was their squad’s ability to build chemistry quickly. Guelph integrated four new players into its rotation including Kethan Savage, Matt Neufeld, Emanual Shepherd and 2019 Nighthawks MVP, Olu Famutimi.
These new additions were impactful as Shepherd and Savage each finished with nine points and made some memorable plays in their season debut. Shepherd drained a three-point buzzer-beater to end the first half, while Savage registered a key block heading into the Elam Ending.
Over the last week, Guelph has lost two key contributors in Justin Jackson and Chad Brown, who have departed for the NBA Summer League. In their absence, head coach Charles Kissi adjusted his starting lineup, adding in power forward Amidou Bamba and shooting guard Terry Thomas. This change elevated the play of Thomas who tallied a season high 17 points in Guelph’s most recent contest versus Saskatchewan.
“Terry’s a vet, it’s not his first year coming out of college, he’s played a lot of professional basketball,” said head coach Charles Kissi. “That’s what you expect from guys who are high level.”
Leading the charge for this new-look line up is a player who has been with Guelph since the beginning of the season, Ahmed Hill. The six-foot-five guard has produced his best performances in the Nighthawks last two games, finishing with 25 points against Edmonton on July 19 and 23 points versus Saskatchewan on July 22. Although the Nighthawks have yet to beat their regional rivals, Guelph is hoping that a change in roster composition can help the team be more successful this time around against the Honey Badgers.
Badgers bench coming up big
One of Hamilton’s greatest strengths this season has been its second unit. The Honey Badgers’ bench has outscored their opponents in their last eight games, dating back to July 1.
Hamilton is coming off a crucial 96-93 victory over the Fraser Valley Bandits that helped the Steel City squad secure sole possession of second place. In the win, the Honey Badgers bench outscored a usually strong Bandits secondary unit, 42-20. Kyle Johnson registered 14 points, Nino Johnson tallied 11 points, while Kenny Ejim finished with 10.
The other two members of the Honey Badgers bench, Cody John and Alex Johnson, combined for seven points against Fraser Valley, and both have played key roles for Hamilton in previous matchups against Guelph this season. John was the difference maker when his team played the Nighthawks back on July 3, finishing with a season-high 23 points, including the Elam Ending winner.
In addition to strong play from the team’s bench, JV Mukama has begun to hit his stride this year with back-to-back games in double digits. The six-foot-eight forward registered 16 points, seven rebounds against Fraser Valley July 23 and 16 points, nine rebounds versus the Ottawa BlackJacks on July 21. Lindell Wigginton continues to be solid for Hamilton as the CEBL’s leading scorer averaging 22.4 points per game, but this offensive boost from Mukama will certainly be advantageous for the Honey Badgers as the playoffs loom.
Playoff picture
The Nighthawks remain in the hunt for the final playoff berth alongside the Saskatchewan Rattlers (1-10). Guelph currently sits in that sixth and final post-season spot and a win tonight would help separate them from the charging Rattlers, who now hold the tie-breaker after their 86-83 win against the Nighthawks on Thursday.
Hamilton has already secured a playoff appearance for the third consecutive year, but is now jostling for seeding. The Honey Badgers currently sit in second place behind the reigning CEBL Champion Edmonton Stingers, and will look to solidify a spot in the top two to receive a bye to the semi-finals.
Current CEBL Standings can be found here
All CEBL games will be available for live streaming on the CEBL’s new OTT streaming service, CEBL+, cbcsports.ca, the free CBC Gem streaming service, the CBC Sports App for iOS and android devices, and on Twitch.
A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with 75 percent of its current rosters being Canadians. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G Leag ue, 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 typically runs from May through August. Head to CEBL.ca for more information or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.