Bandits Open Road Trip with Victory Over River Lions
The Vancouver Bandits spoiled the Niagara River Lions’ banner ceremony with a dominant 110-100 win over the two-time defending Canadian Elite Basketball League champions on Friday night.
Tyrese Samuel’s season-high 29 points and season-high 14 rebounds led the game in both categories. The 6’9 forward missed just one shot all game, going 9-10 from the field and a perfect two-for-two from three.
Samuel credited his teammates for helping get into a groove offensively, describing the Bandits as a “good time” early in the season.
Bandits head coach Kyle Julius praised Samuel’s play as a backbone for the rest of the team’s play.
“He knows he’s a leader and he wants to keep leading us,” said Julius.
Jaelen House, who entered action averaging a league-high 10.0 assists per game, notched his third double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 assists.
The game began in back-and-forth fashion with neither team putting an emphasis on defence, tied at 29 after the first 10 minutes. The Bandits created separation in the final minutes of the second quarter to take a 59-55 lead into the break, which they built on in the second half.
Samuel scored 20 of his 29 points in the first half, remaining a perfect eight-for-eight from the floor.
Julius praised his team’s resiliency to play in front of a road crowd, particularly in a game where a banner is raised.
“Sitting through the ring ceremony is always difficult. Our guys did a great job of playing together and fighting through some adversity.”
Eight players were on the scoresheet for the Bandits, including D’andre Davis who made his Bandits debut.
Out of half time, the defence tightened up with the Bandits holding the River Lions to just 14 points in the third quarter. Vancouver ended the final five minutes of the quarter on a 14-6 run.
The Bandits pulled away in the latter minutes of the third quarter, highlighted by a four-point play by Miller Kopp, to lead 80-69 heading into the final frame. Kopp finished the game with 18 points and five three pointers made.
The Bandits extended the lead to as many as 18 points in the fourth quarter, but once the target score of 110 was set, the River Lions went on a 11-2 run to cut the deficit to 103-94.
Julius called his team’s play in target time a “struggle”.
“We’ve come in with some big leads and relaxed so we’ve got to work on that,” he said.
Vancouver eased off a Niagara comeback as Coquitlam native Dominic Parolin clinched the victory with a game-winning free throw. Parolin, who is in his first professional season, scored a career-high 14 points to go along with seven rebounds and two steals.
The River Lions outscored the Bandits 43-40 in bench points, but the main highlight was Jarkel Joiner who scored 17 points in 22 minutes off the bench in only his second game as a Bandit.
Vancouver wins its third straight game to improve to 4-1 on the season, the best record in the Western Conference.
The Bandits are next in action tomorrow against the undefeated Brampton Honey Badgers (5-0) in the second game of a three game road trip.
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