Bandits Nearly Complete Comeback Versus Honey Badgers

LANGLEY, B.C., July 14, 2023 – The search for consistency continues for the Vancouver Bandits.



Following a strong opening quarter where they led 19-18, the Bandits surrendered 33 points over the next 10 minutes and found themselves trailing by double digits for nearly the rest of the game.

The end result was a 96-91 loss to the visiting Brampton Honey Badgers on Friday night in Canadian Elite Basketball League action at Langley Events Centre.

The victory snapped a five-game losing streak for the Honey Badgers, who improved to 6-9, while the Bandits lost a third-straight game to see their record fall to 5-9.

“Lots of learning,” said Vancouver’s Diego Maffia of what the players can take away from the defeat. “Another game where we are down 20 and then it is too little, too late.

“It is a bad habit of ours to get down and then crawl back and get energy. It is almost like ‘OK, six minutes left in the game? Now we are going to start to defend.’”

Trailing 87-72 heading into Target Score time, the Bandits finally made their push, getting the score down to 95-91 thanks to a 19-8 spurt. But pressing for a steal, the team was whistled for a foul with Christian Vital sinking the winner for the Honey Badgers.

The Bandits could not overcome that shaky first half, especially the second quarter where they were outscored 33-19 and outrebounded 14-6. 

The Honey Badgers’ trio of Koby McEwen (13 points), Jeremiah Tilmon Jr. (12 points) and Vital (12 points) combined for 37 points, matching the entire output of all nine Bandits players who stepped on the floor as Brampton took a 52-37 lead to the locker room.

Vancouver can look at their struggles from beyond the arc in that first half – they shot 3-for-15 (20 per cent) in the first 20 minutes. For the game, the team was 9-for-36 on 3-point attempts (25 per cent).

Brampton coach Antoine Broxsie said his team knew Vancouver’s Nick Ward would get his touches down low in the paint, but the strategy was to make sure the Bandits’ outside shooters were constantly marked and did not get open looks at the basket.

“Nick is going to do this thing, but we can’t allow their other shooters to get off. This team can run off threes like that. That is one of the messages I wanted to get to my team,” Broxsie said. 

As for his team snapping a five-game losing streak – a full quarter of their regular season – the coach said the victory was huge in the packed eastern conference standings where third to fifth place is separated by 1.5 games.

“I loved that they played together. They had a certain edge that I haven’t seen for a couple of weeks,” he said.

Over in the other locker room, Vancouver is still in search of answers.

“In our last two games, we have had portions where we really look like we are clicking. And then what happens is we lose our way and we weren’t able to sustain what we want to achieve offensively and defensively,” said Bandits assistant coach Tony Scott.

“If we can transfer how we played in the Target Score section into a full game, then we have what we want to do. We have the chemistry we need; we have the ability to play offence and defence, we have the flow, the quickness. But we haven’t been able to bridge that gap yet.”

For the second straight game, Malcolm Duvivier led the offence, this time with a team-high 20 points. He also had eight rebounds.

Giorgi Bezhanishvili scored 18 and also had 10 rebounds while Doug Herring Jr. had 16 points, seven assists and six rebounds and Ward had 15 points and eight rebounds.

Vital led the Honey Badgers with 20 points, while McEwen and Cody John both scored 18.

Vancouver – which is guaranteed one of the four spots in the CEBL’s Championship Weekend in August as the host team – has six games remaining to find its rhythm.

“We just have to be consistent. We have moments in games where we have lapses, we lose focus, we are not rebounding, we are not defending,” Maffia said.

“We have to tighten that up and just be consistent throughout the game, so we only have little lapses. Runs are going to happen, but just limit it to little lapses and we will be good.”

Next up for the Bandits is a visit from the Montréal Alliance to Langley Events Centre on Sunday, July 16. Tip-off is 5 p.m. PT for Vancouver’s second annual girls and women in sports game night

Single game tickets for the fifth season of Bandits Basketball are available for purchase at this link.

A key highlight of Vancouver’s fifth CEBL campaign will be its hosting of Championship Weekend, which takes place between Friday, August 11 and Sunday, August 13. An annual celebration of the highest level of Canadian professional basketball, Championship Weekend features a postseason format that combines three games of playoff basketball as part of a multi-day festival experience designed to celebrate the intersection of arts, culture and sport. As hosts of Championship Weekend, the Bandits receive an automatic berth in the conference finals doubleheader on Friday, August 11.

Individuals interested in learning more about tickets for the Vancouver Bandits’ 2023 season are kindly asked to call (604) 455-8881 or email tickets@thebandits.ca. A complete regular season schedule can be found by clicking here.

More information is available at thebandits.ca and @vancouverbandits on Instagram and TikTok, as well as @vancitybandits on Facebook and Twitter.