Bandits Stay Undefeated With Fifth Straight Win, Set Franchise Record
The Vancouver Bandits weathered a late push from the Edmonton Stingers to remain undefeated on Friday night (May 30).
Mitch Creek and Kyle Mangas combined for 10 trifectas and 53 points to drive the Bandits to a 104-95 victory.
Both Bandits impacted the game as playmakers as well. Mangas scored an efficient 27 points on eight-of-11 shooting, including the game-winning triple, to go along with eight assists. Creek tallied 26 points while dishing seven assists and snagging six rebounds.
“I really tried to get my teammates involved and just make the right play,” Mangas said. “Basketball is fun when everyone's involved out there and touching the ball. If I have a shot, I'm going to take it – my team expects me to do that – but I'm trying to get others involved too.”
With the win, the Bandits became the second team in the history of the CEBL to start 5-0. Edmonton was the only other franchise to do it, with its 7-0 start in 2021 remaining the standard.
Vancouver head coach Kyle Julius said his team looked tired as they wrap up a two-game road trip.
“I thought they showed really good fight. I thought our leadership really showed out there, and we got great contributions,” Julius said.
Through one half of basketball, the Stingers looked poised for a tight finish with the Bandits. But offensive struggles in the third quarter allowed Vancouver to seize control.
“It was just our defensive game plan. I thought we were off it in the first [half] – we were missing some of our key assignments,” Julius said. “Then we were better with that in the second half and I thought the bench was really good in the second half.”
Friday’s matchup at Edmonton Expo Centre was the second meeting between the two squads in less than a week. The Bandits routed the Stingers in the previous contest 109-79.
Edmonton head coach Jordan Baker said the team isn’t satisfied with the loss but can come away with some positives compared to the previous game.
“We're still early in the season and we want to learn from our experiences and learn from every game. So we definitely have some things to clean up but the guys showed some resilience and some effort after getting down early,” Baker said.
Despite the loss, Edmonton’s Sean East II, Scottie Lindsey and Nick Hornsby all had stellar performances. East tied Mangas with a game-high 27 points, while Hornsby tallied 17 points and nine rebounds.
Meanwhile, Lindsey dropped 20 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter in an effort to crawl back into the game.
East said the Bandits had more execution and attention to detail down the stretch.
“I got to do better. We got to do better as a team, and we just got to keep fighting and keep building towards something special,” he said.
To open the game, Vancouver pounced with an 11-0 run that forced a Baker timeout. The Stingers went the opening four minutes without a field goal when East drained a triple to end the drought.
From there, Edmonton dominated the remainder of the quarter. The Stingers finished the frame on a 19-4 run to take a three-point lead into the second.
After a quarter defined by big runs, the second was more tightly contested with Edmonton getting into foul trouble early. Creek and East showcased their capabilities, duelling throughout the quarter.
Back-to-back buckets from Creek late in the half regained the lead for the Bandits and Vancouver headed into the locker room with a 48-46 advantage.
East finished the first half with 17 points, while Creek was close behind with 16.
Creek’s playmaking helped Vancouver maintain its lead early in the third. A transition three from Mangas gave the Bandits their biggest lead of the quarter and forced the Stingers into a timeout.
Mangas stayed hot out of the timeout and buried another trifecta. A contact finish from Curtis Hollis added to the run and Vancouver carried a 77-65 lead into the fourth despite a late push from Edmonton.
Lindsey started the final frame on fire with back-to-back threes, cutting the deficit to six points. Unfortunately for the Stingers, Mangas stayed just as hot.
The Indiana native connected on a pair of and-one trifectas before Creek joined the action with a three of his own. The Stingers closed the gap slightly before Target Score Time, but Vancouver headed into the final stretch ahead 14 with their sights on the 103-point mark.
Lindsey almost single-handedly pulled the Stingers back into the game with 10 points in Target Score Time, but the duo of Creek and Mangas were steady for the Bandits.
Creek scored Vancouver’s first five points of Target Time with a killer dropstep and a contested three. Meanwhile, Mangas netted the final five points with a pair at the charity stripe and a catch-and-shoot three to ice it.
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