Fraser Valley Bandits defeat Edmonton Stingers 86-80 in regular season finale

The Fraser Valley Bandits finished the regular season with an impressive 86-80 win over the Edmonton Stigners at Langley Events Centre on Saturday night. 

“When you want to be a good team, you need to win when you’re not playing your best,” Fraser Valley head coach Mike Taylor said. “We were a little tired from the road trip and worn down playing with eight guys but we love the toughness and resilience of our team.”

The Bandits improve to 12-8 on the season and await the results of Sunday’s matchups between Scarborough and Newfoundland, and Niagara and Hamilton to determine their final seeding going into next week’s playoffs.  The Stingers fall to 10-10 in sixth place in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) standings heading into the playoffs. 

Marek Klassen powered the Bandits offence and totalled game-highs in points and assists, while flirting with a triple double in Saturday’s win. Klassen had 19 points. 9 rebounds and 7 assists on 8 -18 shooting from the field. Malcolm Duvivier had 18 points for Fraser Valley,11 of which came in the fourth quarter. Brandon Gilbeck and Maxie Esho added 11 points each, with Gilbeck adding 6 rebounds and 6 blocks. Shane Gibson was the only other Bandit to reach double-figures with 10 points on an off night for him. 

Adika Peter-McNeilly came off the bench to lead the Stingers in scoring with 15 points, while Derrick Woods netted 14 on 6-10 shooting before he picked up a disqualifying foul early in the third. Marlon Johnson Jr. and Brody Clarke each scored 11 in the loss, with Johnson Jr. adding a game-high 13 rebounds.

“I’m a person that likes to focus on what we can control,” Edmonton head coach Jermaine Small said. “If I’m going to be point blank there were some questionable calls. I know officiating isn’t always an easy job, especially on block/charges but for some reason it didn’t go in our favour almost every time.”

Marek Klassen had a dominant first quarter for the Bandits, scoring 10 points and hitting each of his first four field goal attempts. He helped Fraser Valley to an early 12-3 lead. The Stingers fought back to get the game within five, but the Bandits held the lead for the entire quarter and took a 22-13 lead into the second. 

Edmonton inched closer to Fraser Valley to start the second quarter with Derrick Woods coming up with back-to-back putbacks that included a vicious one-handed putback jam to tie the game at 28 and force a timeout. Shane Gibson came out of the timeout with a corner three to regain the lead but Trahson Burrell tied the game again with a three of his own.  Mathieu Kamba was able to give Edmonton their first lead of the game with a triple followed by a transition layup. Klassen tied the game with a three but a split at the charity stripe followed by a Derrick Woods and-one gave Edmonton a 44-40 lead heading into the locker room. 

Klassen led all scorers at halftime with 15 points while Woods led the way for the Stingers with 10 points. Fraser Valley did a great job of protecting the rim in the first half with 7 blocks, 5 of which came from big man Brandon Gilbeck. Both teams struggled from the field in the opening 20 minutes, with Edmonton shooting 36 per cent from the field and 23 per cent from three, while Fraser Valley shot 35 per cent from the field and 37 per cent from three. 

The Stingers were able to make some big plays to start the third quarter, with an and-one from Burrell and an Adika Peter-McNeilly bucket forcing a Fraser Valley timeout. Edmonton extended their lead to 11 points several times but the Bandits made a run to end the quarter. Threes from Jabs Newby and Malcolm Duvivier, along with a transition layup from Shane Gibson cut the Stingers’ lead to 63-58 heading into the fourth. 

Malcolm Duvivier opened the fourth quarter with a trifecta to make it a one possession game once again. Peter-McNeilly answered with a bucket before an eventful scuffle ensued between Derrick Woods and James Karnik. Woods picked up a disqualifying foul and Jemaine Small picked up a technical foul with Fraser Valley getting two shots and the ball. 

“Someone instigated it and then someone retaliated and protected themselves,” Small said. “I get a technical when their head coach runs on the floor and their guys are running on the floor. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I think if that guy scored 2 or 4 points, he doesn’t get thrown out. I think he got thrown out because he was playing very well.”

“A player was grabbing Karnik’s jersey in transition and as I turned to yell at the ref, he made the call,” Taylor said. “The two players kind of squared up, I came on to the court to try to break it up and take James and [calm him down]. I think both teams tried to come out and break it up but again I think the main point here is there’s lots of intensity, lots of compete and sometimes emotions can boil over.”

The Bandits were able to tie the game at 65 following the scuffle.  Then, Malcolm Duvivier continued a great quarter with back-to-back threes and a transition layup to put the Bandits ahead 77-73 going into the Elam Ending with a target score of 86. 

Brandon Gilbeck finished a layup with contact to open Elam time and Shane Gibson slashed for a bucket to put the Bandits five points from victory and forced an Edmonton timeout. Gilbeck hit a pair of free throws and Gibson hit a stepback jumper to put Fraser Valley one point away from victory. Despite seven points in Elam time from Edmonton’s Brody Clarke, Fraser Valley closed out the game with a Gilbeck free throw. 

Both the Bandits and Stingers have playoff spots clinched, and their matchups will be announced early next week when final playoff seeds are decided. 

“We’re going to the playoffs,” Small said. “We’re not new to this. We’ve got two championships. It’s only gonna motivate us.”

Fans will be able to live stream all games including the playoffs on the CEBL’s OTT streaming service CEBL+, the CEBL’s official app, CEBL Mobile for iOS and Android devices, cbcsports.ca, the free CBC Gem streaming service, the CBC Sports App for iOS and Android devices and on NXT Level Sports in the U.S. As part of its playoff coverage, CBC Sports will broadcast the quarterfinal games Sunday, August 7, semifinal games Friday, August 12, and the Championship game on Sunday, August 14. For the complete broadcast and streaming schedule, click here. All times are subject to change. 

The CEBL’s fourth regular season began May 25 and ends August 1. A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL is the largest pro sports league in the country with 10 teams located in six provinces. It 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.