Stefan Smith leads Surge to comeback victory over BlackJacks

Stefan Smith scored 24 points to lead the Calgary Surge (6-5) to their fourth straight victory with a 100-90 win over the Ottawa BlackJacks (3-8) Saturday night at The Arena at TD Place.

The Surge trailed by as many as 17 points but mounted a second-half comeback to pull off what is now their fifth win in their last six games, improving them to 3-0 on their season-long six-game road trip.

“We trust one another,” said Surge head coach Tyrell Vernon of the hot streak his team is on. “I think at the beginning of the season everyone – from staff, to coaches to players – was just kind of thrown into it and we had to figure it all out, and it took us a little bit and now we’re just starting to trust each other, everyone’s playing hard for one another and we’ve just got to play to win every possession and we’ll live with the results.”

The 24 points Smith poured in was a game high in just his second game in his return to the club after playing for Orléans Loiret Basket of France’s Pro B Championship league.

“It was just getting my legs back,” said Smith of what led to his success Saturday. “I took a little break from my season in France. That was my second game back, I definitely felt a lot more comfortable and also just getting my cardio back. So I think that contributed to it.”

The Ajax, Ont., native was an efficient 8-of-15 from the field and 2-for-5 from three-point range, including a deep three to end the game in Target Score Time. He was able to pick up some of the scoring that was lacking from the normally dynamic Surge trio of Mathieu Kamba, Sean Miller-Moore and Corey Davis who only managed to combine for 35 points Saturday, despite coming in averaging 47.1 per game.

Kamba, a Calgary native, did manage to reach a couple milestones Saturday night, however. The eight rebounds he pulled down put him over 250 rebounds for his CEBL career in the regular season and playoffs combined, and the perfect 3-for-3 that he shot from downtown saw him reach over 100 three-pointers made for his career in the regular season.

It was a tale of two halves for the two teams.

The first half was all BlackJacks with Ottawa leading by as much as 17 and taking a 61-47 lead into halftime, fueled by a 17-3 run in the last 4:24 of the second quarter.

Calgary looked out of sorts in that first half, committing 15 turnovers, many unforced.

Things changed in the second half for the Surge.

They cleaned up their turnovers, committing only seven the rest of the game and their offence got clicking, led by Smith’s 11 in the fourth quarter alone.

“A little bit of more attention to detail,” said Vernon of adjustments he and his staff made at halftime. “We made a couple of adjustments defensively that I thought helped us. But, I think it was just more body movement. They were beating us to loose balls, offensive rebounds and forcing us into unnecessary turnovers. So, I thought we matched that [energy] and kind of surpassed that in the second half.”

Calgary opened the second half on a 10-0 run that ballooned to 16-2 to only trail 63-60 with 4:43 left to play in the third quarter. The BlackJacks were able to push back against the tide a little, carrying a 79-72 lead into the fourth, but the momentum the Surge had built up proved too much for Ottawa as they began the final period on an 8-0 run to take an 80-79 lead with 7:55 to go.

By the time Target Time Score started, Calgary was leading 91-88 and asserted itself with the clock off, outscoring Ottawa 9-2.

“We got dominated physically, I felt like,” said BlackJacks head coach James Derouin. “We were minus-20 on the glass in the second half, minus-27 on the scoreboard in the second half, and our main guys, who have come through for us, they struggled in that second half.” 

Up Next

Calgary will continue its six-game road trip as it visits the Brampton Honey Badgers Wednesday. Meanwhile, Ottawa will be looking to finish its three-game homestand with a win as they host the Montreal Alliance Thursday.

- CEBL -

About the CEBL

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 73% of its 2023 rosters being Canadian. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. 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. More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.