The Newfoundland Growlers will look to bounce back from the largest defeat in the history of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) in their return to St. John’s against the Saskatchewan Rattlers. The Growlers will tip-off against the Rattlers for the second time this season at 7:30 p.m. NT on Sunday at Memorial University Fieldhouse.
The Rattlers enter Sunday’s contest on a four-game winning streak in which they’ve defeated Edmonton, Montreal, Niagara and their upcoming opponents out of Newfoundland. Saskatchewan defeated the Growlers 90-71 in Saskatoon last week, powered by a huge performance from their big three. Tony Carr put up 22 points and 7 assists while Devonte Bandoo scored 21 and Scottie Lindsey contributed 17 points for Saskatchewan. Brandon Sampson struggled in the loss for Newfoundland, scoring just 11 points on 3-11 shooting from the field.
Saskatchewan followed up their win over Newfoundland with a gigantic 92-90 win over the Niagara River Lions on Canada Day. The win pulled Saskatchewan even with Niagara at 7-4 and in third place in the CEBL standings. Lindsey and Bandoo scored 25 points and 22 points respectively to lead the Rattlers to victory in the absence of Tony Carr.
While Saskatchewan’s win over Newfoundland propelled them forward, the Growlers took a step back in their next matchup on the road against the two-time defending champion Edmonton Stingers. The Stingers’ 51-point win set the CEBL record for margin of victory and their 120 points set the record for most points in a CEBL Elam ending game. The Growlers turned the ball over 26 times in the blowout loss.
“We have to get guys who are going to go out and fight,” Newfoundland head coach Patrick Ewing Jr. said after the game. “We lost that game before we were getting fouled as much as we were. We lost that game when guys weren’t finding open teammates. We lost that game when guys weren’t playing basketball the way it’s supposed to be played. You look at the stats sheet and you see Baker and Jones with 11 assists each—our team had 11 assists total, so it’s not fun to play with guys who aren’t trying to make plays.”
The Growlers are still searching for their first win of the season, sitting in the basement of the league at 0-10. After playing seven of their last eight games on the road and traversing the entire country, the Growlers return to St. John’s for a much-needed five game home stand.
Brandon Sampson continues to lead the league in scoring for Newfoundland at 21.2 points per game on 50.7 per cent shooting from the field. Quasi-recent additions Terry Thomas and Nysier Brooks are each averaging double figures for the Growlers with Thomas at 16.8 points per game and Brooks at 13 points per game along with 7.5 rebounds per game.
The Rattlers offence is carried by their elite three point shooting and their trio of star players. The Rattlers average the most points per game in the league at 87.2 featuring a league-best 136 threes made on 39.9 per cent shooting from beyond the arc. Scottie Lindsey leads the team with 20.6 points per game while Devonte Bandoo averages 17.4. Tony Carr is a candidate for league MVP, averaging 19.4 points per game, 6.1 rebounds per game and 5.8 assists per game.
The game will stream on CEBL+ live internationally and in Canada at cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app for iOS
and Android devices and the free CBC Gem streaming service. Games are also available on the CEBL’s official app, CEBL Mobile, available on iOS and Android devices.
Newfoundland Growlers tickets are available at https://am.ticketmaster.com/growlers/buy while Saskatchewan Rattlers tickets are available at https://www.therattlers.ca/tickets .
A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL 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 .