Stingers Host BlackJacks in Lone Season Matchup

The Ottawa BlackJacks (3-2) are set to square off against the Edmonton Stingers (1-2) in the second half of a back-to-back at 9:30 pm ET at the Expo Centre.

The game will also be available for streaming on TSN+, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, and on the CEBL Mobile app available on iOS and Android devices.

The BlackJacks, who had won two in a row following a loss in their second game of the season, had their two-game win streak snapped in Calgary last night. Kadre Gray led the way for Ottawa, scoring 21 points and 5 assists.

The Canadian point guard is coming into tonight’s matchup averaging a league best 8 assists per game. Additionally, the supporting cast of Michael Flowers and Zena Edosomwan are averaging roughly 18 and 11 points respectively.

Forward James Jean-Marie had a standout game last night in Calgary. The Montreal product scored a season-high 10 points off the bench to go with 2 assists and 5 rebounds—two of which were on the offensive glass.

The loss dropped Ottawa to half a game behind the Brampton Honey Badgers for tops in the eastern conference.

The Stingers, meanwhile, come into tonight’s game well rested, as they have not played since defeating the Niagara River Lions on May 31.

“Edmonton is sitting there, they haven’t played in like nine days, they’re sitting at home watching and getting ready for us,” Ottawa head coach James Derouin said last night after the loss to Calgary.

“It’s going to be tough. Coach [Jordan] Baker has those guys playing tough, they got their first win last week.” The win over Niagara on the final day of May snapped a two-game losing streak to begin Edmonton’s 2023 CEBL campaign. The Stingers dropped back-to-back games to the Calgary Surge by a combined five points on May 27 and 28.

Throughout the early portion of the season, the Stingers have used contributions from a variety of different sources on offence. Although no Stinger is averaging over 13 points per game, Edmonton has four players who are averaging over 10 points per game through the first three games of the year: Brody Clarke, Adika Peter-McNeilly, Nick Hornsby, and Aher Uguak.

Before tonight’s tipoff, the Stingers also added Meshack Lufile, a Burlington, ON forward who averaged 5 points and 4 rebounds with the Newfoundland Growlers last season. Lufile comes back to the CEBL having dramatically increased his scoring efficiency. The 6’9” forward averaged nearly 17 points in 32 contests with BC PH Miercurea in the Romanian Divizia A.

Edmonton will look to cut down on turnovers in their return from the extended break. Through their first three games, the Stingers averaged a league-high 19 turnovers per game.

This will be the first and only meeting in the regular season between Edmonton and Ottawa. Tickets to tonight's game can be purchased online

Full broadcast schedule of CEBL Games of the Week on TSN can be found here. All games will also be streamed live internationally on the CEBL’s OTT platform, CEBL+, and on the CEBL Mobile app for iOS and Android devices.