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Brampton Honey Badgers

Honey Badgers Look to Get Back on Winning Path against Shooting Stars

June 25, 2022 - Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL)
Brampton Honey Badgers News Release


The Hamilton Honey Badgers will look to bounce back from their second loss of the season in a matchup with the Scarborough Shooting Stars on Saturday night. Scarborough will host their neighbours from Hamilton at 7:30 p.m. ET at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre in the pair's second meeting of the season.

The Honey Badgers enter the game atop the Canadian Elite Basketball League standings tied with Fraser Valley at 7-2 while the Scarborough Shooting Stars enter the game at an even 4-4. Hamilton is coming off a six point loss to the Guelph Nighthawks on Sunday at the Sleeman Centre that snapped a six game winning streak. The winning streak included a 84-69 win over the Shooting Stars at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre on June 4th.

Christian Vital led Hamilton to victory in the previous meeting with 27 points while Xavier Rathan-Mayes had a game-high 28 points for the Shooting Stars. The Honey Badgers kept star guard Jalen Harris in check, limiting the former Toronto Raptor to 9 points on 1-9 shooting in over 32 minutes of action. The Shooting Stars shot just 34 per cent from the field and 16 per cent from three in the loss. They were also outrebounded 49-41 and outscored in the paint 42-28.

After the loss to Hamilton, the Shooting Stars went on a three game winning streak, picking up a home win against Newfoundland and road wins over Saskatchewan and Edmonton. However, the Shooting Stars' winning streak was snapped in a narrow loss to the Fraser Valley Bandits in Langley as Scarborough closed out their west coast road trip.

"We played three really good teams," Shooting Stars head coach Chris Exilus said of the west coast road trip. "I think we played some good basketball and I think we're going to continue to get better. This league is extremely competitive- anybody can beat anybody and we understand that."

Jalen Harris sits behind only Newfoundland's Brandon Sampson in the league's scoring race, averaging 21.5 points per game for Scarborough. Harris leads the league in field goal attempts per game with 18.5, shooting at a 42.6 per cent rate from the field and 31.6 per cent from three. Kameron Chatman, Xavier Rathan-Mayes and Isiaha Mike are all averaging double figures for Scarborough as well, averaging 14, 11.7 and 11.4 points respectively.

Kyle Alexander has only played in half of Scarborough's games so far this season but has been impressive when he laces up his shoes for the Shooting Stars. Alexander is averaging 14.3 points per game on 64 per cent shooting from the floor, while grabbing 9.8 rebounds per game- good for third in the league.

"Kyle is a great guy, a tremendous player," Exilus said. "When we have our whole team together we feel really good about it."

Meanwhile, Hamilton will rely on their league-best offense to recover from their second loss of the season. The Honey Badgers lead the league with 86.9 points per game and come in second in field goal percentage at 46.1 per cent. Hamilton is also atop the CEBL in rebounds per game at 38.3 and is top three in three pointers made, assists, and steals.

The trio of Caleb Agada, Christian Vital and Jeremiah Tilmon powers Hamilton's offence. Vital leads the squad in points per game and steals, scoring 17.6 points and collecting 2.3 steals per game. Agada provides Hamilton with a well-rounded game, netting 14 points per game to go along with 7 rebounds per game, 2 steals per game and a league-best 6.1 assists per game. Tilmon rounds out the big three with 15 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per game on 69.9 per cent shooting.

The game will stream on CEBL+ live internationally and in Canada at cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app for iOS

and Android devices and the free CBC Gem streaming service. Games are also available on the CEBL's official app, CEBL Mobile, available on iOS and Android devices.

Scarborough Shooting Stars season tickets are available at https://www.scarboroughshootingstars.ca/tickets554a5865 while Hamilton Honey Badgers season tickets are available at https://www.honeybadgers.ca/tickets.

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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Canadian Elite Basketball League Stories from June 25, 2022


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