Hamilton Honey Badgers Win Third Straight 87-81 Over Edmonton Stingers

The Edmonton Stingers Fall to 7-7

The Hamilton Honey Badgers came back in Elam time to defeat the Edmonton Stingers 87-81 on Sunday afternoon at Edmonton Expo Centre. The Honey Badgers extend their win streak to three games and improve their league-best record to 11-3.  The two-time defending champion Stingers drop their second consecutive game and fall to 7-7 on the season. 

“Defensively we really locked in [during Elam time],” Hamilton head coach Ryan Schmidt said. “Leading up to Elam, they were burning us with some easy cuts and finishes at the rim. I thought we tightened that up a little bit and made every possession for them really difficult. The biggest thing was we converted the stops into easy scores."

With their leading scorer Christian Vital and interior force Jeremiah Tilmon playing in the NBA Summer League, the Honey Badgers relied on a balanced attack to compensate for their stars’ absence. Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) MVP candidate Caleb Agada struggled to score for Hamilton but converted when it mattered most, scoring the game-winning layup in Elam time. Agada finished with just 4 points on 2-8 shooting, but contributed a game-high 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals in the victory. 

Zane Waterman’s jumper was wet in Sunday’s matinee, netting a game-high 19 points for the Honey Badgers on 6-10 shooting from the field and 3-5 from three. Isaiah Reese was spectacular from beyond the arc and scored 18 points on 6-8 shooting from three. Meanwhile, Koby McEwan and Nikola Djogo also reached double-figures for Hamilton with 12 points and 11 points respectively. 

Demarco Dickerson and Adika Peter-McNeilly led the way offensively for the Stingers, tallying 16 points apiece in a losing effort. Jordan Baker scored 12 points for Edmonton but was less effective in other areas than normal, with 5 rebounds and 1 assist. Marlon Johnson Jr. added 10 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists in a starting role, while Aher Uguak had 10 points on 5-6 shooting to go along with 7 rebounds off the bench. 

Both teams were efficient from the field, with Edmonton finishing at 50 per cent and Hamilton finishing at 48 per cent. However, Edmonton struggled from three point range and the free throw line, going just 26 per cent from beyond the arc and 58 per cent from the charity stripe. The Honey Badgers had no such problems from three, going 46 per cent from long range. 

The first quarter saw some sloppy play from the Stingers with 7 turnovers in the opening frame. The teams traded blows all quarter with 9 lead changes and 3 ties in the opening ten minutes. Isaiah Reese closed the quarter with some impressive plays for Hamilton, hitting a three on one possession then tossing a behind-the-back pass to Prince Oduro for a transition jam. Demarco Dickerson beat the first quarter buzzer with a contested mid-range jumper to cut Hamilton’s lead to 18-17 heading into the second. 

Hamilton opened the quarter with a Keevan Veinot three and a transition flush from Nikola Djogo on David Pekarek. The squads continued to exchange blows until the Honey Badgers went on a 9-0 run midway through the quarter, built by a Reese three, an alley-oop from Agada to Michael Okafor and a McEwan layup. Adika Peter-McNeilly stepped up for Edmonton to close out the second with 6 points to make it a 39-34 Hamilton lead heading into the locker room. Reese led all scorers at halftime with 9 points while Johnson Jr. and Peter-McNeilly led Edmonton with 8 points each. 

Zane Waterman opened the third quarter on fire for the Honey Badgers. He finished a slam on a pass from Agada, finished a layup inside, hit a three and converted a pair of free throws. After Edmonton climbed back into the game, they went on a 7-0 run to close out the quarter to bring a 64-57 lead into the fourth. Aher Uguak was sensational in the third for Edmonton, finishing three emphatic slam dunks to help Edmonton to a lead.

Uguak finished a putback layup to open the fourth quarter and give Edmonton their biggest lead of the night, but an Okafor three from the corner quickly made it a 6 point game again. A beautiful pass from Dickerson to Uguak gave the Stingers a 75-66 lead approaching Elam time, but the Honey Badgers were able to make a run. Djogo, Reese and McEwan were able to score to cut Edmonton’s lead to 77-73 heading into the Elam ending with a target score of 86.

McEwan kicked off Elam time with the hoop and the harm, followed by another and-one finish from Djogo to give Hamilton the lead once again. Reese connected on his sixth three of the night with just a sliver of space to give Hamilton a four point lead. A pair of finishes for Jordan Baker tied the game and forced a Schmidt timeout. A pair of off-ball fouls while in the bonus put the Honey Badgers at the line where they hit four consecutive free throws to put them one score away from victory. Caleb Agada picked up a steal and finished a contact layup in transition to give Hamilton the victory. 

Both teams play again on Tuesday, with the Stingers hosting Ottawa at 7:00 p.m. MT and the Honey Badgers travelling to Saskatoon to face the Rattlers at 7:30 p.m. CT. Edmonton will have another shot at Hamilton next Sunday at the FirstOntario Centre. 

The games 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.

Edmonton Stingers season tickets are available at https://www.thestingers.ca/season-tickets17e760ad  while Hamilton Honey Badgers season tickets are available at https://www.honeybadgers.ca/tickets. 

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