Warren’s 30 Points Leads Stingers to 81-77 Win Over Alliance
Davion Warren erupted for 30 points to help the Edmonton Stingers (3-0) extend their season-opening winning streak to three as they defeated the Montreal Alliance (0-3) 81-77.
The Stinger guard hit seven shots from beyond the arc, snagged three rebounds, and had two steals in 29 minutes of play.
Edmonton guard Adika Peter-McNeilly also chipped in with 14 points and became the Stingers' all-time leader in regular season points (726) surpassing Stingers head coach Jordan Baker (723).
Despite the loss, Alliance forward Ahmed Hill made history by becoming the first CEBL player to score 1,000 regular-season points.
Alliance guard Alain Louis also hit the record book, dishing out the second-most assists (13) ever in a CEBL regular season game and scoring 13 points on 44 percent shooting. Louis, himself, previously had 13 assists, as did Christian Vital, while Marek Klassen holds the record with 15.
The Alliance and Stingers were trading baskets throughout the first, however, Montreal went on a 7-0 run to help them carve out their lead. The Alliance led 25-18 to end off the first. Forward Chris Smith led the way for the Alliance with nine points, hitting a pair of threes from beyond the arc.
Montreal’s stifling defence that was challenging the Stingers on every pass, forcing turnovers and creating offence in transition staked the Alliance to a 49-43 lead at the half.
The Stingers flipped the switch in the third on both offence and defence. They started to attack the Alliance's paint and land more of their threes, which helped cut the Montreal lead to two heading into the fourth.
“The biggest thing for us is that we want to focus on the defensive side of things,” Edmonton head coach Jordan Baker said when asked about the team stepping up defensively. “If we’re able to hold teams to 15 and 13 in the third and fourth quarter, we’re going to have success.
“We know that we wanted to get into the paint, we know that Ahmed Hill has had great success in this league for a long time,” Baker said. “For us, it was just trying to make their lives difficult, you know they had some guys that stepped up but at the end of the day we were able to secure some big stops in target time.”
The fourth quarter was a battle of titans. Both Edmonton and Montreal were trading buckets with no team able to gain the upper hand. It came down to the final minutes and the Target Score was set at 80. Edmonton’s Davion Warren would splash home a three to put the Stingers up 77-74, however Montreal forward Chris Smith would come back with an and-one lob to tie it. In the end, it was Warren who would explode to the rim for a dunk and an Adika Peter-McNeilly steal to seal the deal for the Stingers.
“It becomes a game of pickup,” Warren said after the game about his mentality when approaching the Target Score. “Everybody that’s playing basketball right now, we all played pick-up games, first to seven, first to nine points. So, kind of assimilate that into the game and execute.”
What’s next for both teams?
Edmonton looks to extend their winning streak to four as they take on the Saskatchewan Rattlers this Sunday. As for Montreal, they will look to get into the win column on the same night when they face off against the Brampton Honey Badgers.
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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 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.