Streaking Ottawa BlackJacks Visit Vancouver Bandits in Sunday Showdown

Dillon White • July 9, 2023

The Ottawa BlackJacks (-150) search for their sixth straight win in a trip west to take on the Vancouver Bandits (+110) on Sunday at Langley Events Centre at 7 p.m. PT.

The game will be available for streaming on TSN+, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor and on the CEBL Mobile app available on iOS and Android devices.

The BlackJacks will look to secure their grip on first place in the Eastern Conference ahead of the final quarter of the regular season. At 9-5, Ottawa currently sits one game above second-place Scarborough and third-place Niagara in the east. If the BlackJacks can hold on to first, they’ll clinch a trip back to Langley Events Centre for CEBL Championship Weekend in August.

They would join the Bandits, who enter Sunday’s contest at 5-7 in fourth place in the Western Conference. Vancouver has a spot in Championship Weekend reserved due to their hosting duties. However, the Bandits will look to find championship form before the August 11-13 weekend comes around.

Vancouver has lost three of their last four games and is coming off a home-and-home split with the Edmonton Stingers. The Bandits kick off a three-game homestand against Eastern Conference teams on Sunday after six consecutive games against Western squads.

In the 92-78 loss to the Stingers on Monday afternoon, Bandits’ big men Giorgi Bezhanishvili and Nick Ward were each held to 10 points or less. In both games against Edmonton, Ward and Bezhanishvili were limited on the glass as well with neither player exceeding six rebounds in either matchup.

The Bandits will look to Ward and Bezhanishvili for bounce-back performances on Sunday against Ottawa. The duo has been largely consistent for Vancouver this season on a squad that has endured an array of changes from game one. They’ve led the Bandits to a league-best 45 rebounds per game with both bigs ranking in the CEBL’s top 10 in that category. Bezhanishvili is also 10th in points per game at 17.4 and is just shy of averaging a double-double at 9.8 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, Ward is averaging 17.3 points per game at a league-best 60.9 per cent rate.

However, the third option for Vancouver heading into the playoffs remains an open question. No active player outside of “Giorgi B” and Ward averages over 10 points per game. Shaquille Keith and Malcolm Duvivier emerged as the Bandits’ best performers in Monday’s loss while coming off the bench. Keith netted a team-high 20 points, while Duviver tallied 13 points and nine rebounds. Jahenns Manigat was the top bucket-getter for Vancouver on Canada Day, while University of Victoria point guard Diego Maffia has shown flashes as well.

The organization tweaked the roster ahead of Sunday’s game with the team adding even more size. The Bandits signed former CEBL champion and high-flying athlete Marlon Johnson Jr. on Saturday. The 6’10 ”Dunk King” won a championship in 2019 with Saskatchewan and in 2021 with Edmonton. In 50 regular season starts in the CEBL, he averages 11.6 points and 6.5 rebounds. The Bandits also released MJ Walker earlier in the week.

“I guess you never know what to expect from Vancouver,” Ottawa head coach James Derouin said. “There's talent up and down that lineup. They play hard, they got bigs…they're tough for us to match up with.”

The BlackJacks enter the meeting with Vancouver as the hottest team in the league. Ottawa’s defence has had a spectacular stretch, both before and after the five-game winning streak. The BlackJacks haven’t conceded 90 points since June 17 – a seven-game stretch.

Despite a one-point win, Ottawa was hobbled in their last game against Saskatchewan on Wednesday. Kadre Gray, Thomas Scrubb and Zena Edosomwan were all absent for the victory over Justin Wright-Foreman and the Rattlers. Gray is having a season worthy of Canadian Player of the Year consideration, scoring 16.8 points per game and distributing a league-best 6.7 assists per game. Scrubb is averaging double-figures as well, while Edosomwan averages just under 10 points and rebounds per game.

However, Ottawa features one of the most high-powered offences in the CEBL with several avenues of attack. Deng Adel does it all for the BlackJacks, averaging 17.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 10 starts this season. Jackson Rowe contributes as a scorer and rebounder with 13.9 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, Michael Flowers, Tyrrel Tate, Maxime Boursiquot, James Jean-Marie and Matthew Coleman are all capable contributors as well.

The BlackJacks also made a roster move earlier this week. Georgia native Jakeenan Grant joins the team after playing in France. The 6’8 forward previously played for the Saskatchewan Rattlers in 2021 and played just under four minutes against his former squad on Wednesday.

Derouin hopes the winning ways continue against the Bandits on Sunday with two more games left on their road trip.

“We're gonna go in there and try to steal a win, but obviously, everyone's aware of how talented they are and how physical they are,” Derouin said after the win over Saskatchewan. “We're gonna have to be ready for a fight and play a little bit better than we did tonight. Vancouver's a really good team.”

All games are available for streaming on TSN+, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor and on the CEBL Mobile app available on iOS and Android devices.

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 71 per cent of its 2022 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. Nine players have moved from the CEBL into the NBA following a CEBL season, and 28 CEBL players attended NBA G League training camps during October. 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.

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Les BlackJacks d’Ottawa de la Ligue élite canadienne de basketball (LECB), la plus grande ligue sportive professionnelle du Canada, ont annoncé aujourd’hui le retour de l'ailier Deng Adel pour la saison 2025. Le meilleur marqueur de l’histoire de la franchise (724 points) est de retour pour une quatrième saison avec l’équipe, dans une année où il pourrait également établir de nouveaux records d’équipe au chapitre des passes décisives et des rebonds, lui qui n’est qu’à trois passes et quatre rebonds des sommets respectifs. Lors de son dernier match avec les BlackJacks, il réalise un double-double en rebonds et en passes décisives, avec 10 de chaque, lors de la défaite d’Ottawa face à Niagara en quart de finale des séries éliminatoires de la LECB le 4 août 2024. « Le retour de Deng est une excellente nouvelle pour notre organisation et pour nos partisans, » a déclaré James Derouin, directeur général des BlackJacks. « Au cours des trois dernières saisons, il a été non seulement l’un de nos joueurs les plus influents sur le terrain grâce à sa polyvalence et sa capacité à marquer, mais il est aussi devenu un véritable leader et un joueur auquel nos partisans s’identifient profondément. Son retour à Ottawa témoigne de la culture positive que nous construisons, et sa présence continue sera essentielle dans notre quête du championnat. » Nommé au sein de la deuxième équipe d’étoiles de la LECB en 2023, l’ailier de 6 pi 7 po occupe actuellement le huitième rang ex æquo pour le nombre de passes décisives en carrière dans la LECB (209), en plus de se classer au 21e rang des meilleurs marqueurs de l’histoire de la ligue. Plus récemment, il a porté les couleurs des Brisbane Bullets (NBL d’Australie), disputant 13 matchs en saison régulière et lors du tournoi NBL Blitz. Originaire de Juba, au Soudan du Sud, il s’est joint aux BlackJacks en 2022 après des passages dans la G League avec les Raptors 905, le Cleveland Charge, les Long Island Nets et les Maine Celtics, ainsi qu’une expérience dans la NBA, où il a disputé 19 matchs avec les Cleveland Cavaliers, dont une performance marquante de six points le 27 janvier 2019 à Chicago. Ayant également évolué pour des équipes en Bulgarie, au Danemark et en France au cours de sa carrière professionnelle, Deng détient le record de points en un match dans l’histoire des BlackJacks grâce à une performance de 37 points, accompagnée de neuf rebonds et cinq passes décisives, lors de son tout premier match en carrière dans la CEBL, le 25 mai 2022 contre Fraser Valley. Ancien joueur universitaire à l’Université de Louisville, l’ailier s’est illustré comme le meilleur pointeur de l’équipe lors de sa saison junior. Il a également été sélectionné à l’équipe académique All-ACC pendant ses trois années au sein du programme. En 2017, il a disputé deux matchs dans le cadre du tournoi masculin de la NCAA, inscrivant 16 points tant face à Jacksonville State que contre le Michigan. Il est actuellement possible d'acheter des forfaits de billets flexibles en visitant le site theblackjacks.ca/fr-ca/tickets . Les abonnements de saison des BlackJacks 2025 sont disponibles dès maintenant. Pour plus de détails, les amateurs sont invités à envoyer un courriel à [email protected] ou à composer le 613-690-0519. ### À propos des BlackJacks d'Ottawa Première franchise d'expansion de la Ligue élite canadienne de basketball (LECB), les BlackJacks d'Ottawa présentent le meilleur du basket-ball et du divertissement dans la capitale nationale. Le bureau de direction d'Ottawa apporte à la franchise son expérience de la NBA, de la NBA G League, de l'équipe nationale, de la NCAA et des grandes ligues professionnelles internationales. Dirigée par le directeur général James Derouin et l'entraîneur-chef Dave DeAveiro, l'équipe d'Ottawa joue ses matchs à domicile dans l'aréna de classe mondiale de la Place TD, dans le parc Lansdowne. Pour plus d'informations, visitez le site theblackjacks.ca .