Stingers down the Shooting Stars 98-81 in back-and-forth battle

The Stingers used an excellent three-point shooting performance to beat the Shooting Stars 98-81 at the Edmonton EXPO Centre on Sunday night to cap off June with a 5-2 record. 

Edmonton continued their winning ways on home court to take down Scarborough as Sean East II led the charge and recorded his 300th career point in the Stingers' third straight win. 

After opening the four-game homestand with a 98-85 win against the Winnipeg Sea Bears on June 23, the Stingers were looking to improve to 2-0 on the homestand and continue their recent run of dominance. 

In the first quarter, Edmonton came out of the gate on fire and quickly jumped out to an 8-1 lead. The Stingers' defence created tough shooting lanes for the Shooting Stars, and as a result, Scarborough went 0/5 from the field to start the game. Meanwhile, Edmonton started 4/5 from the field and controlled the pace in the first minutes of the game. That hot streak for Edmonton would continue through the rest of the quarter. Chris Smith's six points and Scottie Lindsey's seven helped push the Stingers' lead to 22-11 at the end of the opening 10 minutes. 

However, Edmonton's momentum would quiet down in the first minutes of the second. The game tightened up and became more evenly matched as Scarborough found its groove on offence. Donovan Williams clocked in 11 in the quarter as the Shooting Stars began focusing on more shots in the midrange and paint, which brought the Stingers' lead to just three with four minutes left. But Edmonton responded with an 18-6 run that featured three three-pointers from Sean East II to bring the lead back up to 54-39 for the Stingers at halftime.

Scarborough was not done yet, though. The Shooting Stars came out in the second half swinging and managed to tie the game at 54 apiece early in the third. Some offensive struggles for Edmonton out of the break allowed the Shooting Stars to grab the momentum, but it would not last long. Right after the game-tying basket, Keon Ambrose-Hylton finished off a lob dunk to get the Stingers rolling again. Edmonton did not look back after that. A pair of threes from Sean East II helped get the momentum back for the Stingers as they extended their lead to 77-69 at the quarter's end.

Edmonton never relinquished the lead they recaptured from the third and kept the pressure on Scarborough in the final frame. The Shooting Stars stayed around and continued to linger, with Edmonton leading by 10 through most of the quarter, but they never mounted a comeback to make it close. By the time the game hit target time, it was all but sealed for the Stingers, who led 89-77. A layup by Sean East II capped off a 9-2 run in target time to complete his 27-point night and capture the win for Edmonton--their fifth in the past six games

The ability for the Stingers to overcome the Shooting Stars runs was something Head Coach Jordan Baker was proud of, but he believes there's room for growth in the future. 

"We're happy with the effort, but sort of not satisfied. We've got lots of work to do," Baker said post-game. "It's a game of runs. We did a good job once they punched back right after halftime. We punched back, and we didn't collapse."

Another deciding factor in the win was the success of Edmonton's bench. The Stingers' bench outscored the Shooting Stars' bench 37-15 and was met with praise from Baker for its importance in securing the win over Scarborough. 

"When we go to our bench, we tend to get better," Baker said. "We've got lots of depth and can rely on them when things aren't going right for the starting unit."

Edmonton's run of dominance continues as they improve to 7-6 on the season and extend their season-high win streak to three games. 

The Stingers are right back at it on Tuesday at the Edmonton EXPO Centre for a Canada Day matchup against the Montreal Alliance on July 1 @ 4:00 p.m MT.