Stingers Find Their Mark to Edge the BlackJacks
A System Administrator • Jul 28, 2020
ST. CATHARINES, ON, July 27, 2020 – It wasn’t pretty, but the Edmonton Stingers were able to emerge victorious, 89-82, from a defensive tug of war that featured several lead changes and a brand of basketball that can only be described as ‘blue-collar.’ Despite being a low scoring affair, it’s the type of game that is to be expected from two teams with championship aspirations that were staring down the barrel of potentially dropping to 0-2.
After falling short against Fraser Valley, 113-100, on Sunday, Stingers head coach and general manager Jermaine Small tasked his players with the challenge of earning a win against a star-studded BlackJacks team that has struggled to find its touch offensively so far at the CEBL Summer Series. The usual suspects responded for the Stingers as Xavier Moon dropped a cool 24 points, dished out nine assists and grabbed four rebounds. Running mate Jordan Baker bruised his way to a double-double performance by filling the box score with 20 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and three steals.
“Holding a team like that with the kind of calibre of players that they have to 82 points is a great accomplishment. We just locked in,” Small said. “I told them, Elam doesn’t start at the four-minute mark, it starts at the beginning of the fourth quarter, so we just really locked in and rebounded the ball and didn’t beat ourselves.”
The Stingers came out with a point to prove from the game’s onset. Energy players like Baker and Mathieu Kamba proved vital, and it was clear early that Edmonton was out to prove that they were still the same team that went on a 10-2 stretch to close out the 2019 regular season. An alley-oop lay-up by Kamba off a feed from Baker midway through the first quarter set the tone for the Stingers, who frequently outraced Ottawa up and down the floor.
“I think we just have to trust each other when it comes down the stretch. Just trusting what we’ve been doing that got us there,” said BlackJacks head coach Osvaldo Jeanty. “We need to keep defending, rebounding and then just not turning over the ball and we’ll be good.”
The BlackJacks struggled to find their footing until the third quarter when Thomas Scrubb found his mark. Scrubb hit a three early in the frame and followed it up with an emphatic left-handed dunk over Moon, who fouled Scrubb on the play. Scrubb calmly hit the free throw and gave Ottawa a momentary lead, only for the Stingers to fortify defensively and take control in the fourth quarter.
Key baskets by Baker, Kamba and Moon down the stretch proved crucial as once the Elam Ending was in effect, it seemed like Ottawa might be within striking distance to make a comeback. Rising to the occasion was Kamba, who extinguished the BlackJacks’ hopes with a deadeye three to close the game, 89-82.
“You got to give them credit, a lot of those guys played for Carleton and beat up on a lot of our guys over our U SPORTS careers, so it was good to get one tonight,” said Baker. “We knew they were going to be relentless on the offensive glass by really rebounding well. They’re a very disciplined team so we had to make sure that we matched their intensity and executed down the stretch.”
The Stingers won’t play again until Wednesday when they take on Hamilton at 7 p.m. ET (5 p.m. MT). Ottawa’s next game is Thursday at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT) against the Fraser Valley Bandits.
All CEBL Summer Series games are available to watch on Twitch, CBCSports.ca and the CBC Gem App. A complete broadcast schedule can be found here.