The Scarborough Shooting Stars will welcome the Fraser Valley Bandits to Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday in a showdown that will be crucial to playoff seeding. The game marks the third meeting between the two squads this season and the final regular season home game for Scarborough.
The Bandits enter Thursday’s contest at 11-7 in third place in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) while the Shooting Stars sit in fourth place at 10-8. With the playoff teams set after Guelph’s win last night, it’s a tight battle for seeding. The Shooting Stars can take over third place with a win, while a loss puts them back in a group with Edmonton and Saskatchewan at 10-9. A Fraser Valley win would pull the Bandits even at 12 wins with Niagara, with back-to-back tough games on the way for the River Lions against the first-place Honey Badgers.
Fraser Valley comes in on a two-game winning streak after defeating the Niagara River Lions 95-86 on Monday and the Ottawa BlackJacks 95-88 last Sunday. In Monday’s win over the River Lions. All six Fraser Valley scorers reached double-figures with Maxie Esho dropping a game-high 27 points and Marek Klassen putting up a 14 point, 11 assist double-double. Against Ottawa, Shane Gibson, Thomas Kennedy and James Karnik each scored 23 points or more.
Meanwhile, Scarborough lost to the Saskatchewan Rattlers 91-85 on Sunday after winning two games in a row, spoiling the return of Jalen Harris. The former Toronto Raptor had 12 points in his return on 5-16 shooting, and the Shooting Stars struggled to contain the Rattlers’ one-two punch of Tony Carr and Devonte Bandoo.
The Bandits and Shooting Stars split their previous two meetings this season in Langley. Fraser Valley prevailed in the first game in June 92-89, while the Shooting Stars got revenge with a 93-86 win on Canada Day. Shane Gibson balled out in both games, with 29 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists in the win and 27 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists in the loss.
Gibson enters the game as a potential MVP candidate for the Bandits, averaging 18.7 points per game on 47.8 per cent shooting from the field and 42 per cent from three, to go along with 4.1 reboounds per game, 3 assists per game and 1.4 steals per game. The twin towers of James Karnik and Thomas Kennedy have been a force inside this season for Frser Valley, with Karnik averaging 17 points per game and 7.7 rebounds per game, and Kennedy averaging 14.3 points per game and 7.8 rebounds per game.
Jalen Harris enters Thursday’s contest as Scarborough’s leading scorer at 19.3 points per game on 41.6 per cent shooting from the field and 28.7 per cent from three. Isiaha Mike is scoring 15.3 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per game in 17 games played with a league-best 48 per cent accuracy from three, and has been a crucial consistent force for Scarborough’s offence all season. Meanwhile, Kameron Chatman is the only another Shooting Star to average double-figures at 14.2 points per game.
Scarborough Shooting Stars tickets are available at https://www.scarboroughshootingstars.ca/tickets554a5865 while Fraser Valley Bandits tickets are available at https://www.thebandits.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.