In the first meeting between two Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) expansion franchises, the Scarborough Shooting Stars will host the Newfoundland Growlers at 7:30 p.m. ET Tuesday night at Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre.
The Shooting Stars enter their second home game sitting 7th in the CEBL Standings at 1-3, while the Growlers sit 10th after a 0-2 start.
Scarborough lost to the Hamilton Honey Badgers 84-69 in their home opener after picking up their first win in Ottawa 98-81. The Shooting Stars lost their first two games of the season 89-80 to Guelph and 80-70 to Montreal.
Outside shooting has been a struggle for the Shooting Stars so far this season, sitting last in the league in three-point-percentage at 28.6 per cent. They also sit ninth in the league in points per game and are turning the ball over at an alarming rate in their losses.
In their lone win of the season so far, the Shooting Stars were much more efficient from beyond the arc. They shot 42 per cent as a team from three, 51 per cent from the field and had five players reach double figures. Scarborough will look to replicate that performance on Tuesday against Newfoundland.
Entering the game, the Shooting Stars have five players averaging double figures. Serving a suspension from the NBA, Jalen Harris leads the Shooting Stars averaging 16.3 points per game on 34.9 per cent from the field and 24 per cent from three. In two games of action, Kyle Alexander is averaging 14 points per game on a league-best 66 per cent from the field to go along with a league-best 13 rebounds per game. Xavier Rathan-Mayes is chipping in 13 points per game and 5.3 assists per game, Isiaha Mike is contributing 12.7 points per game and Kameron Chatman is averaging 12.3 points per game.
Meanwhile, Dreamville rapper and professional basketball player Jermaine Cole has seen action in each game this season, hitting one three so far in the win against Ottawa.
Meanwhile, the Newfoundland Growlers are still searching for their first win in the CEBL. They lost their opening game against Edmonton 89-74 and suffered a crushing defeat against the Ottawa BlackJacks 86-85 in a game that saw Brandon Sampson score a league record 42 points in 28 minutes of action.
The Growlers shot just 28 per cent from three in the one-point loss, but made up for it with an astounding 20 steals as a team. Cape Breton University alumnus Shaquille Keith had 6 of those steals to go along with 15 points and 6 rebounds.
There’s a chance Keith’s fellow Cape Breton University alumnus Meschack Lufile makes his Growlers debut against the Shooting Stars after being activated by the team.
The Growlers will look to Keith, Sampson and former Georgetown Hoya Jahvon Blair to carry the load against Scarborough. Through two games, Sampson leads the league in points per game with 31 on 63.6 per cent shooting from the field, 58.3 per cent from three and 86.7 per cent from the free throw line. Keith is averaging 14.5 points per game and a league-best 3.5 steals per game. Meanwhile, Jahvon Blair will look to bounce back from a 3 point performance on 0-7 shooting against Ottawa and deliver a game closer to his 22 point opener against Edmonton.
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 season tickets are available at https://am.ticketmaster.com/growlers/ while Scarborough Shooting Stars season tickets are available at https://www.scarboroughshootingstars.ca/tickets554a5865 .
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 .