Shooting Stars Stun Stingers 78-69

The Scarborough Shooting Stars started their west coast road trip in fine form and ended the Edmonton Stingers’ four game win streak with a 78-69 victory at Edmonton Expo Centre on Sunday. 

Jalen Harris scored a game-high 21 points and drilled the game-winning step-back three to power the Shooting Stars to their second consecutive win. Harris went 6-20 from the field and turned the ball over 4 times but was a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line. 

Kameron Chatman earned player of the game for Scarborough with 19 points and 8 rebounds. Sarunas Vasiliauskas and Isiaha Mike both contributed to the victory as well with Vasiliauskas dropping 11 points and Mike adding 9 points and 8 rebounds.

“I’m around these guys every day so I believe any guy on our team it can be their night,” Scarborough head coach Chris Exilus said. “Everybody contributed and I don’t think we win this game without everyone contributing.”

The Edmonton Stingers’ bench provided the bulk of their offence in the losing effort after shaking up their starting five with some familiar faces returning to the squad. Mathieu Kamba and Marion Johnson Jr. made their season debuts on Sunday, bringing even more championship experience to the squad. 

However, it was Aher Uguak and Adika Peter-McNeilly leading the offence once again. Uguak had a team-high 14 points, while Peter-McNeilly, Jahmal Jones and David Pekarek each added 9 points off the bench. Jordan Baker had a quiet scoring night with 2 points on 1-6 shooting but hauled in 9 rebounds, dished 5 assists and collected 3 steals. 

Entering the game second in the CEBL in rebounding, the Stingers were defeated on the boards by the Shooting Stars 49-38. Scarborough shot 38 per cent from the field in the win, edging out Edmonton’s 38 per cent. 

“Rebounding a lot of times is about who wants the ball more,” Stingers head coach Jermaine Small said. “That’s the biggest and most athletic team we’ve played. They used it to their advantage—it wasn’t a lack of effort 

—they just wanted it a little bit more.”

The first quarter started with almost two minutes of scoreless basketball before Jalen Harris hit a three. Harris had 7 points in the first quarter to lead all scorers in what ended up being a fast-paced frame. Johnson Jr. scored his first bucket of the season in impressive fashion, slamming a disgusting poster dunk on a feed from Baker. Pekarek drilled a buzzer-beating three to tie the game at 20 heading into the second quarter. 

Both teams locked down defensively in the next 10 minutes, leading to a low-scoring quarter. The game spent several minutes stuck at 31-27 until both squads found some offence to close out the half. Aher Uguak stole the ball and flushed a dunk in transition to close out the half with Edmonton leading 36-34.

The third quarter was filled with ties and lead changes with neither team able to make an extended run. A Vasiliauskas elbow jumper gave the Shooting Stars a 58-57 lead heading into the final frame. 

In the fourth, Jordan Baker picked up his first and only bucket of the game to give the Stingers a 62-61 lead. He then connected with Uguak on a deep ball for a transition two to give the Stingers a three point lead. From there, the Shooting Stars went on a 8-0 run to give them a 69-64 lead heading into Elam time with a target score of 78. 

Edmonton were able to cut the lead to two but Jalen Harris scored the Shooting Stars final 7 points. He scored from the line, a long two and a step back three to give Scarborough the win. 

The Shooting Stars continue their road trip on Wednesday in Saskatoon to take on the Rattlers while the Stngers face the Fraser Valley Bandits at home at 7 pm MT on Wednesday’s 

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 Scarborough Shooting Stars season tickets are available at https://www.scarboroughshootingstars.ca/tickets554a5865. 

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.