Bandits Re-Sign Kelowna Product Grant Shephard

KELOWNA, BC - May 26, 2026 – The Vancouver Bandits and City of Kelowna announced Tuesday the full lineup of events surrounding Kelowna HOOPFEST, a weekend-long celebration of basketball culture in British Columbia’s Interior highlighted by the first-ever Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) regular season game at Prospera Place on Saturday, June 6th. The marquee event of the weekend will feature the Bandits taking on the Saskatoon Mamba at 6:00 p.m. PT in what marks the first professional basketball game in CEBL history hosted in the Okanagan. Kelowna HOOPFEST will also include youth basketball tournaments, coaching and dance clinics, fan activations, and an outdoor streetball showcase following the Bandits game. “Kelowna HOOPFEST is about bringing communities together through basketball and creating a full weekend experience for fans, players, coaches, and families across British Columbia,” said Dylan Kular, President of the Vancouver Bandits. “From youth tournaments to clinics to the energy of professional basketball inside Prospera Place, this weekend is an opportunity to celebrate how much the game continues to grow throughout the province.”  “Kelowna is excited to welcome the Vancouver Bandits and the Canadian Elite Basketball League to Prospera Place for the first professional basketball game of its kind in our city,” said Mayor Tom Dyas. “Kelowna HOOPFEST brings together youth, families, athletes, and fans for a full weekend that celebrates the growth of basketball in our community while showcasing Kelowna as premier event-hosing city. It is an opportunity to bring people together, activate our downtown, and highlight the positive impact sport and community events have in Kelowna.” KELOWNA HOOPFEST SCHEDULE HOOPFEST Youth Tournament June 5-7, 2026 More than 90 teams from across British Columbia will compete throughout the weekend at gyms across Kelowna. Bandits Dance Crew Workshop Presented by Bandits Dance Crew & Village Dance Academy Friday, June 5, 2026 Location: Village Dance Academy 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. PT: Marius Ortanez & Youney Terefe – Bandits Dance Crew Members 7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. PT: Francis Aranton & Kelsey Martin – Bandits Dance Crew Choreographers Dance workshop sessions open to dancers of all skills, led by members of the Bandits Dance Crew. Registration and payment required, visit www.thebandits.ca/kelowna-hoopfest . Kelowna HOOPFEST Fan Zone Presented by Otter Co-op & Angry Otter Liquor Saturday, June 6, 2026, 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. PT Location: Outside Prospera Place Fans are invited to arrive early and experience the Kelowna HOOPFEST Fan Zone featuring pre-game activities, entertainment, and community activities outside Prospera Place leading into tip-off. Kelowna HOOPFEST Game - Vancouver Bandits vs. Saskatoon Mamba Presented by Westland Insurance & Kelowna Minor Basketball Association Saturday, June 6, 2026, 6:00 p.m. PT tip-off Location: Prospera Place Canada’s professional basketball league will tip-off inside Prospera Place for the first time ever as the Bandits and Mamba battle in a marquee regular season matchup. Fans can expect a high-energy game experience featuring non-stop entertainment and elite professional basketball action. Tickets are moving quickly and fans are encouraged to secure their seats today, visit www.thebandits.ca/kelowna-hoopfest . Bandits Coaches Seminar Presented by Chances Kelowna Saturday, June 6, 2026, Post-Game Location: Manhattan Point restaurant at Prospera Place The Bandits coaching staff will host a free coaches clinic following the game for fans who purchased tickets to the Bandits vs. Mamba matchup. Free for all fans with a ticket to the Vancouver Bandits game. Bandits Run The Ones Saturday, June 6, 2026, 8:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. PT Location: City Park basketball court Following the game, the Bandits will host the first-ever “Run The Ones,” a 1v1 outdoor streetball tournament under the lights at Kelowna’s City Park. Admission is free and all Bandits ticket holders are invited to attend and watch the action. For tickets and more information on Kelowna HOOPFEST, visit www.thebandits.ca/kelowna-hoopfest .

It wasn’t as clean as they would have liked, but the Vancouver Bandits will take the result, another victory, this time a 111-101 win over the Calgary Surge. The Canadian Elite Basketball League game was played Sunday afternoon on Envision Financial Court at Langley Events Centre, with Vancouver improving to 3-1 while the winless Surge fell to 0-3. “It was really messy. Again, another game adding a new player right before is not easy,” admitted Bandits coach Kyle Julius. The new player this time was Jarkel Joiner, who most recently played for the Toronto Raptors G League affiliate, Raptors 905, and signed with Vancouver on Saturday. Despite limited time with his new teammates, Joiner did not look out of place, finishing with 22 points and seven assists. He was one of three Bandits to score 20-plus points alongside Jaelen House (27 points, nine assists) and Tyrese Samuel (21 points, 10 rebounds). Samuel’s dunk –which would have been an and-1 opportunity – ended the game in Target Score Time. “Oh man, it was fun, man. Shout out to God, giving me energy to come here and do what I do, my Lord and Savior. But the guys gave me energy from the jump, and I got acclimated, welcomed me with open arms and I don't know what I can do as a player,” Joiner said. “Coach gave me confidence, the players gave me confidence, and it was fun.” “(The message was) just be me, have high energy. I play with emotion, just like Jaelen (House); I can score and I can guard, that’s what they told me to do and that’s what I did.” The Bandits led for all but five minutes of the game and never trailed by more than three points. “I felt like we had a sense of urgency from the jump, so that was good,” Joiner said. “We just played a ton of one-on-one basketball. That's not really who we are or what we're about. So, the good news is we have guys that can really play one-on-one basketball at a high level … we've got to kind of find a way to just get organized,” Julius said. “We just need to start playing a little bit more together and I think the sky's the limit, to be honest, because to score 111 points and not really feel great about the game is a good thing at this point.” Julius especially wants to see improvement defensively. “I think we should be holding teams in the 80s; I thought we were a little bit sluggish and just not totally connected,” he explained. “It’s not like we're playing bad defense because we're a bad defensive team. I think we're playing bad defense because chemistry is not there yet and the rules and the understanding. There's no real continuity from last year, so all of our rules and terminology is still trying to be digested.” Calgary was led by Evan Gilyard II’s game-high 31 points, while Olumide Alelodun added 19. But it was not enough as the Surge’s difficult start to the season continued. Calgary coach Perry Huang was complimentary of Vancouver’s talent. “They just have a lot of tough shot-makers — and in a basketball sense, you want to force tough one-on-one 2’s and tough one-on-one pull-up 3’s, but they have the talent to hit those shots, and we didn’t necessarily have the counter to those,” Huang said. “I think just the overall talent level of what they had just kind of overwhelmed us in the end.” UP NEXT: The Bandits head out on an eastern road swing, playing three games in five days with stops in Niagara (May 29), Brampton (May 30) and Ottawa (June 2). The team’s next home game is June 6 in Kelowna against the Saskatoon Mamba at Prospera Place as part of Kelowna HOOPFEST.  For tickets, click here .

The Vancouver Bandits are excited to welcome back Connect FM as the team's Official Punjabi Radio Broadcaster for the 2026 Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) season, entering a third consecutive year of collaborative and community-focused basketball coverage. As part of this partnership, Connect FM will broadcast live in Punjabi all Saturday and Sunday Bandits regular season home games taking place at Envision Financial Court at Langley Events Centre. In 2024, the Bandits and Connect FM made history by becoming the first team in CEBL history to deliver a live Punjabi-language radio broadcast. Furthermore, the club’s South Asian Heritage Night has become a mainstay for Bandits fans, consistently ranking as one of the club’s highest-attended and most popular game dates of the season. The Connect FM radio broadcast team will feature play-by-play broadcaster Jagraj Lalli and analyst Jarman Chahal, who together bring experience from Hockey Night In Canada: Punjabi Edition, the BC Hockey League as well as several broadcasting stints with various leagues and community events throughout the Lower Mainland area. Connect FM will provide live Punjabi commentary for seven Bandits home games this season. Fans can tune in across multiple platforms: Online: connectfm.ca → Click Listen LIVE Surrey FM 91.5 App: Connect FM Canada (available via App Store & Google Play) Radio: 91.5 FM in Surrey and surrounding areas 2026 Vancouver Bandits Punjabi Radio Broadcast Schedule on Connect FM: Sunday, May 24: vs. Calgary Surge | 5:00 p.m. Saturday, June 13: vs. Ottawa BlackJacks | 6:00 p.m. Saturday, June 20: vs. Brampton Honey Badgers | 6:00 p.m. (South Asian Heritage Night) Saturday, June 27: vs. Winnipeg Sea Bears | 6:00 p.m. Sunday, July 5: vs. Calgary Surge | 12:30 p.m. Saturday, July 25: vs. Saskatoon Mamba | 6:00 p.m. Sunday, August 2: vs. Winnipeg Sea Bears | 12:30 p.m.