Shooting Stars visit Alliance looking for fifth consecutive win
The Scarborough Shooting Stars head east to visit the Montréal Alliance at Verdun Auditorium on Sunday for the first of three regular season matchups between the two clubs.
Live coverage begins at 4 p.m. ET and fans can catch all the action on CEBL+ powered by
BetVictor, TSN+, the CEBL mobile app available for iOS and Android devices, RDS.ca and the RDS app.
For Scarborough, the matchup provides an opportunity to extend its win streak to five games – trying to be just the second team this season to do so. And for Montreal, it’s the latest attempt to win a game in front of a home crowd.
The Shooting Stars enter the day playing some of the best basketball in all of the CEBL, especially on the offensive end. The defending champs lead the league in scoring (95.7 points per game), assists per game (26.7) and three-point percentage (40.4).
Scarborough put all of that on display in their last of four-straight wins, as they took down the Ottawa BlackJacks by a score of 105-91. The Shooting Stars put up a third 100-point game (tied for most in the league) as they hit a season-high 20 threes (+13) on a 44 per cent clip, most of which came courtesy of their 31 assists (+12).
Meanwhile, this year’s Championship Weekend hosts are hoping to finally treat their fans to more home wins. For what it’s worth, although Montreal is 1-3 at Verdun Auditorium this season, they can take solace in the fact that both of Scarborough’s losses came on the road.
After the Alliance opened the season on a hi three-game stretch, it appeared things were trending in the right direction as they won two of their next three. But that momentum has slowed down as they enter Sunday on the heels of a 14-point loss to the Niagara River Lions.
Besides Ahmed Hill’s 19 points and Jordan Bowden’s 17 off the bench, not much went right for Montréal. They were outshot from the field, distance and the charity stripe while getting dominated inside the paint and on the glass.
Keys to victory
Paint play: The Alliance’s 42 per cent shooting from inside the arc against the River Lions was especially uncharacteristic considering they lead the league in two-point percentage per game (54.8) and are third overall for two-point makes (22.9). Montréal’s inability to attack at the basket efficiently, along with getting crushed 53-38 on the glass led to a plus-eight edge on points in the paint and plus-12 advantage on second chance points against Niagara.
If the Alliance want to pull off the upset and snap the Shooting Stars win streak, they’ll need a return to form from two-point range. Scarborough’s three-point proficiency is hard enough to keep up with, not converting on quality looks at the rim for a team that shoots just 32.2 per cent from deep, would make it all the more difficult.
Three-point shooting: Speaking of the long-ball, it remains the great equalizer for the Shooting Stars. When all else fails – like it nearly did when their 17-point lead was cut down to single digits by the BlackJacks in Target Score Time – the fact Scarborough makes a league-leading 14.7 threes a game often bails them out.
Eight different players drilled at least one triple against Ottawa, led by Tevian Jones who went 5-for-7 from beyond the arc. His final make being a game-winner that capped of a season-high 23-point performance.
If the Shooting Stars can continue their lights out play from distance, that could spell trouble for the Alliance.
2023 season series
Going back to last year, Scarborough dominated the matchup as they swept the season series 3-0. It improved the defending champs to a 4-1 all-time record against Montréal.
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A league created by Canadians for Canadians with a mission to develop Canadian players, coaches, sports executives, and referees, the CEBL boasts the highest percentage of Canadian players of any pro league in the country with 75% of its rosters being Canadian and a record 10 players with NBA experience in 2024. Players also bring experience from the NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, NCAA programs, as well as U SPORTS and CCAA. Fourteen players have signed NBA contracts following a CEBL season, and numerous CEBL players attend NBA G League training camps every year. The CEBL season runs from May through August with games broadcast live on CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, TSN, TSN+, RDS, Game+, Next Level Sports & Entertainment and Courtside1891. More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.
