Unselfish Basketball Leads to Winning Basketball for Stingers

There’s no team playing better right now in the Canadian Elite Basketball League than the Edmonton Stingers.

They have an opportunity this weekend to set the longest win-streak (six games) of the inaugural CEBL season, but one thing is certain -- they aren’t a team that’s resting on their laurels during this crucial three-game road trip throughout southern Ontario over the next week.

They want to punch their ticket to Championship Weekend in Saskatoon on Aug.23-25.

With a win Saturday, they can do serious damage to the Guelph Nighthawks playoff hopes.

A win Sunday against the Hamilton Honey Badgers and next Friday against the Niagara River Lions would all but clinch their spot in the playoff weekend, but it would also give them a source of redemption too.

The last time Edmonton faced Hamilton and Niagara on the road, they lost both contests by a combined 65 points, including a 42--point loss on May 16 to Niagara.

But this clearly isn’t the same team that got smacked in the face by the River Lions and Honey Badgers back in May.

The Stingers want to continue to show the rest of the league they’re serious contenders to win the first-ever CEBL championship.

“Those two games (against Hamilton and Niagara) were losses we want to remember. I want us to feel that hurt for when we get back there,” said Stingers small forward Akeem Ellis.

“The players that weren't here at this time, I want them to be angry and feel that pain. You never want to lose like that in basketball.”
Since head coach and general manager Jermaine Small took over the reigns on June 19, the Stingers have been virtually unstoppable with a 5-0 record.

The team has received a big boost from the return of Ellis and starting point guard Xavier Moon to the lineup.
More reinforcements have arrived for this road trip as power forward Jordan Baker and small forward Mamadou Gueye are back in the lineup.
Throughout this win streak, it doesn’t who Small’s putting out on the floor, different players are stepping up big and finding ways to contribute to the team’s success.

Whether it’s power forward Grandy Glaze coming off the bench and posting back-to-back-to-back double-doubles, including a 28 point, 15 rebound performance in the Stingers 110-91 win over Guelph on July 11 or guard Mathieu Kamba emerge as a scoring threat and tough defender and force himself into the starting lineup or Adika Peter-McNeilly giving the Stingers a strong scoring presence from the second unit, Small has plenty of weapons in his arsenal.

The team is playing unselfish basketball and it’s become winning basketball.

“Guys know their role and they’ve figured it out,” said Small.

“We don’t need a guy to score 25 or 30 points for us to win. We could have six guys with 12 points and nobody gets upset about it. They just want to win.”

With Moon’s return to the lineup, his presence on the court is felt throughout the lineup.

The fan favourite missed seven games due to injury, and has come back even stronger and spread a dose of confidence among his teammates in his return.

“Nobody has an ego on this team. it can be anybody's night. We all play for each other and we know we have each others back,” said Moon.

“The unselfishness on this team is on another level. We want every one of us to be successful. Guys are making sacrifices, playing different roles and doing whatever they are asked to do.

We have something really special with this team.”

The Stingers return home on Aug.1 when they battle the Fraser Valley Bandits. Gets your tickets at

www.thestingers.ca/tickets