Bandits Take Top Spot in Western Conference on Filipino Heritage Night

Having watched his team miss on its previous two possessions — both from beyond the arc—and with the visiting Winnipeg Sea Bears within four points, Jarkel Joiner took matters into his own hands.



“Just playing with pace, playing with my speed at the end. They didn’t get back on their last possession (and) I knew my speed was going to get me downhill,” he said. “And I missed too many lay-ups earlier, so I had to finish that one.”

The lay-up helped the Vancouver Bandits reach the Target Score of 94 as they defeated the Sea Bears 94-88 on Saturday night in front of a sold-out crowd  on Envision Financial Court at Langley Events Centre on Filipino Heritage Night.

The win was a measure of revenge after the Sea Bears handed the Bandits their worst loss of the season nine days earlier in Winnipeg, 114-81. Vancouver reclaims top spot in the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s Western Conference at 9-4 with the Sea Bears sitting a game back at 8-5 as the season’s second-half is now underway.

“They whooped us bad in Winnipeg, so we wanted to get some get-back, not even for first place, we just knew we had to get them back for whooping us,” Joiner said. “And we had a great game plan and we came in and executed.”

“We want to win the West, we want home court advantage,” said Vancouver coach Rans Brempong. “We knew how important this game was – and I’m proud of the team for showing up and doing what they did tonight.”

What they did was lead for all but 3:19 of the game behind Joiner’s 34 points. He added eight rebounds and seven assists, and the team was +23 when he was on the court.

“He’s a joy to coach. You see the way he plays and you can rely on a guy like that because he’s playing off effort every night. You know he is going to give 110 percent,” Brempong said. “He’s a lot of fun, he’s infectious (and) he’s a leader, the head of the snake.”

“We want to have a defensive mindset and that’s what he brings every night.”

Second-chance points and points in the paint were nearly identical, separated by just one and two points, respectively. 

“Winnipeg is a great team … and to come out with everything swirling around and to hit our assignments and to play like that, I’m so proud of the team,” Brempong said.

After a tight opening quarter which saw Vancouver lead by one, the Bandits stretched the lead to 11 at the half, and the deficit proved too much to overcome.

“Vancouver played super hard. I thought they were the aggressor and they were physical from the start, and established the way the game was going to be played, and ultimately helped them be successful,” said Sea Bears coach Mike Raimbault.

“The first half put us in a challenging situation (which was) created largely by not responding to the effort and physicality that Vancouver was playing with from the start.

“I thought in the second half we were a little more succinct and connected, and we closed the gap a little bit. But before that, it felt like we gave a few too many things for free.”

Alongside Joiner’s scoring, Tevin Brown had 21 points, Lloyd Pandi finished with 11 points and six rebounds, and Dominic Parolin had 10 points and eight rebounds. Trevon Scott and Teddy Allen led the Sea Bears with 28 and 27 points, respectively.

The Bandits are back in action on Friday (July 3) as they host the Edmonton Stingers on Envision Financial Court at Langley Events Centre with a 7:00pm start time. It is one of two home games over the weekend as they also welcome the Calgary Surge on July 5 with a 12:30pm tip-off.