Red-hot Stingers Aim For a Victory Against the Scarborough Shooting Stars

The red-hot Edmonton Stingers continue their four-game homestand tonight against the Scarborough Shooting Stars (7-5) at the Edmonton EXPO Centre with tip-off at 4 p.m MT. 

Edmonton enters the matchup 4-1 in their last five games and boasts a two-game win streak after a dominating 98-85 win over the Winnipeg Sea Bears on June 22.

Sean East II, who dropped 27 points in the win against Winnipeg, has been one to watch for the Stingers this season--and for good reason. The guard continues to impress night in and night out on offence and defence. In his past five games, East II is averaging 22 points and 4.8 assists. Another MVP-worthy performance from the guard should be on the docket tonight.

The success of Sean East II has also opened the door for two players to emerge as significant contributors to the Stingers' offence: Scottie Lindsey and Keon Ambrose-Hylton. 

Lindsey leads the team in points per game in the last five games with 23.4 and three-pointers made per game with four. Meanwhile, Keon Amrbose-Hylton--who has been dominant in the paint on both sides of the ball for Edmonton--leads the Stingers in rebounds this season with 7.8 and is third on the team in points per game with 13.1.

 Look for these three to have big games if Edmonton is to extend its win streak to three games.

On the other side of the court, Scarborough is a team that is also heating up recently.

The Shooting Stars are riding a win streak of their own as they roll into Edmonton for their first and only game at the EXPO Centre this season. 

Scarborough is 2-0 and dropped 100+ points in their wins over the Winnipeg Sea Bears on June 27 and the Eastern Conference-leading Niagara River Lions on June 22. Led by the duo of Terquavion Smith and Donovan Williams, the Shooting Stars are one of the best teams in the CEBL on the road this season, with four wins — only Vancouver ties them for the most road wins. 

Smith and Williams are averaging a combined 52.6 points per game and an average of seven threes made per game in their last five games. They are the engine of the Scarborough offence that holds the second-highest points per game and makes the second-most threes per game on the road this season. Limiting their chances on offence and forcing others to step up will be a top priority of the Stingers' defence. 

That should not be a problem for Edmonton, though. 

At home this season, the Stingers allow the fourth-fewest points in the league per game, with 86, and average a third-best in the league, nine steals per game. Edmonton has all the tools at its disposal to keep the Shooting Stars duo in check, and they will need to do just that to get a win tonight. 

However, don't forget about the dynamic offence that has helped bring the Stingers' season back to life. No team in the CEBL over the past five games has a better points-per-game average or shooting percentage than Edmonton. If Sean East II can continue to lead on offence and allow for the Stingers' elite three-point shooting to take over, it should give Edmonton a great chance to extend their win streak to three games.

The Stingers are buzzing as the season officially hits the midway point and will look to add to their recent stretch of dominance with a victory over Scarborough tonight and improve to 2-0 on the homestand.

Keys to the game

Limit Scarborough's three-pointers/runs

Don't let the Shooting Stars get hot early

Can Edmonton find a way to get open shots and continue knocking down threes?