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Brampton Honey Badgers

Hamilton and Guelph Clash in Rubber Match

June 30, 2022 - Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL)
Brampton Honey Badgers News Release


The 7-3 Hamilton Honey Badgers and 6-5 Guelph Nighthawks both look to get back on the right track when they meet at the FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday. Both the Honey Badgers and Nighthawks enter the game off of two losses.

The Honey Badgers sit second in the CEBL, one game behind the Fraser Valley Bandits. The Nighthawks record puts them tied with the Edmonton Stingers for fifth in the CEBL.

This is the third time these two teams have matched up, in their first meeting Hamilton came away with a 103-85 win. Their second meeting went the other way with the Guelph Nighthawks winning 89-83 at home. Going back to Hamilton for their third meeting, the rubber match between these two teams features new faces and different stories.

The Honey Badgers went into their last matchup on a six game winning streak and since then have lost to the Scarborough Shooting Stars. Their 89-83 loss to the Nighthawks saw them go up 35-23 in the second quarter over Guelph before Guelph went on a run and took a 44-43 lead early in the third quarter which shifted momentum back in their side in a back and forth matchup that ended with Guelph on top.

Zane Waterman shined in their last matchup finding opportunities around the paint, he scored 23 points and recorded eight rebounds on 57 per cent shooting as the primary threat for the Honey Badgers using their size advantage against the Nighthawks. Playing without Jeremiah Tilmon Jr who is now back with the team, the Honey Badgers went to Waterman inside the paint and got the ball to Caleb Agada and Koby Mcewen who attacked the paint.

Waterman and Tilmon will be matched up with Aj Hess, Tj Lall and the Nighthawks forwards, with most recent addition Lucas Nogueira who has experience with the Toronto Raptors. In their last matchup, Hess hit a pair of big threes to keep the Nighthawks in-front and add depth in the scoring. Now going against Tilmon who is back in the lineup and Waterman, the battle inside the paint for rebounds will be equally important as their impact in scoring.

The guards of the Nighthawks make just as big of an impact on the boards as the forwards, and their ability to move the ball and find open shots will be important as Tilmon ranks fourth in the CEBL in blocks per game at 1.5. Cat Barber sits fifth in the league in scoring at 20 points per game and his tandem of Ahmed Hill scored 23 points in the Nighthawks win over Hamilton.

The shot creation of Hill and Barber against the facilitation of Agada and attack of Mcewen and Christian Vital will set the pace of both offences while Lall, Tilmon, Waterman and Nogueira set the tone inside the paint with their shot blocking. The season series is tied and Guelph sits 1.5 games behind the Honey Badgers, and these two teams are set up to go against each other once on Thursday night.

All games will be streamed live internationally on the CEBL's OTT platform, CEBL+, and on the CEBL Mobile app for iOS and Android devices. Games will also be available to stream live in Canada via cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices, and the free CBC Gem streaming service.

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.

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