The Scarborough Shooting Stars will look to stay ahead of the Guelph Nighthawks in the Canadian Elite Basketball League playoff race in a matchup with Guelph at Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre at 8:00 p.m. ET on Thursday. The Shooting Stars enter the game at 7-5 while the Nighthawks enter the game at 6-6.
Guelph defeated Scarborough in their previous meeting this season on opening night in a game that saw the Nighthawks come out on top 89-80. Cat Barber had 20 points in Guelph’s win, while AJ Lawson and Ahmed Hill each scored 18. Jalen Harris had 21 points in a losing effort, while Kameron Chatman also contributed 21 for Scarborough.
The Shooting Stars come into Thursday’s contest on a two-game winning streak and winners of three of their past four games. Scarborough is coming off a 78-68 win over Montreal, a 93-86 win over Fraser Valley, a 91-90 loss to Ottawa and a 75-72 win over Hamilton. In each of their three victories during this stretch, the Shooting Stars have shot above 40 per cent from the field. Harris, Chatman and Isiaha Mike have been the three biggest contributors for Scarborough offensively, making big plays when needed.
Harris enters the game ranked third in the CEBL in points per game at 21.2 behind Newfoundland’s Brandon Sampson and Niagara’s Khalil Ahmad. The former Toronto Raptor is shooting 42 per cent from the field this season, 28.2 per cent from three and 72.7 per cent from the free throw line while averaging 3.6 turnovers per game. Chatman is averaging 14.7 points per game and 5.9 rebounds while Mike averages 13.6 points per game on 52 per cent shooting from the field and 48 per cent from three.
Meanwhile, Cat Barber is not far behind Harris in the league’s scoring race at 20.6 points per game in fourth. Ahmed Hill, TJ Lall and AJ Lawson are also averaging double digit points for the Nighthawks as well. Hill is netting 16.8 points per game, Lawson is scoring 16.5 points per game and Lall is averaging 11.6 points per game to go along with a team-high 7 rebounds per game, 1.6 steals per game and 1.5 blocks 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.
Scarborough Shooting Stars tickets are available at https://www.scarboroughshootingstars.ca/tickets554a5865 while Guelph Nighthawks season tickets are available at https://www.thenighthawks.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 .