BLACKJACKS THWART BANDITS’ FURIOUS COMEBACK TO EMERGE VICTORIOUS
By Justine Jones • July 11, 2021
OTTAWA, ONT., July 10, 2021 – Johnny Berhanemeskel had his best game of the year as his 24 points helped the Ottawa BlackJacks (2-4) stave off a late run by the Fraser Valley Bandits (4-2) to seal a 90-84 victory on Saturday night at TD Place.
Ottawa came out with great energy and attacked the basket early in the opening quarter. Nick Ward was dominant down low, had the team’s first 11 points, and was the only BlackJack to score during the opening five and a half minutes. The former College Park Skyhawk put up hook shots, finished pretty passing plays with slam dunks, and was physical in the paint drawing fouls. Ward tallied 17 points and six rebounds on the night.
The BlackJacks’ guards were also aggressive, driving to the hoop and attracting defenders which in turn opened up good looks for the team’s perimeter shooters. Johnny Berhanemeskel benefited from this, scoring a trio of three-pointers to help stretch Ottawa’s first-half lead.
“Johnny allowed us to get going early, he also gives us a bit of overall confidence with his presence on the court,” said BlackJack head coach Charles Dubé-Brais. “He makes the right pass and he’s obviously a great shooter.”
Ball movement in the key also allowed for some easy looks for Ottawa. The team tallied nine assists in the first quarter, with four of them coming from Earl Calloway.
While the BlackJacks’ offence was stellar early on, it was their defensive intensity that forced turnovers and allowed them to get good looks in transition. Ottawa opened up an 18-point lead after the first quarter and controlled the pace for most of the game. The BlackJacks were able to withstand a late Fraser Valley run to secure their second win on the season.
“We gave the first punch, we showed them we’re playing on our home court,” said Berhanemeskel. “We had a really good week at practice, playing hard, focusing on details, and it showed right from the beginning. Even though they came back I think we all just talked about staying together and it showed at the end of the game. We won a really good game against a really good team in the league right now.”
The Bandits were on the road for the second straight game and had a rocky start. Fraser Valley had seven first-quarter turnovers that led to 16 points for Ottawa. The Bandits took better care of the ball in the second quarter and were able to make a run to cut the lead to single digits. A couple of late BlackJack buckets opened the lead back up to 14 points at the half.
“We have to be better, specifically defensively which kind of was our hallmark to start the season. Obviously being on the road is a lot different and I don’t necessarily think we were ready for that,” said Fraser Valley head coach Dave Singleton. “You can win or lose games in one quarter and I thought that was the determining factor was the first quarter, it was an uphill battle from there. When you’re down 15, 16, 17 points in a quarter in professional basketball it’s very hard to come back.”
Fraser Valley came out with more energy in the third quarter, opening up a 15-5 run to cut the lead to single digits again. The Bandits took the lead at 1:15 in the fourth quarter, marking the first time Fraser Valley led since it was 2-0 in the opening frame. Shaquille Keith, who played with the BlackJacks in 2020, was an integral part of the Bandits’ run, scoring 14 points in the third frame alongside Alex Campbell who contributed eight points in the quarter. All of Keith’s 21 points came in the second half.
“In the first quarter we came out slow and weren’t getting to the free-throw line as much. I just tried to change that, get to spots on the court, get those mismatches and get some aggression around the rim,” said Keith. “I try to bring that same approach to every game but you definitely play with a little extra grit when you play your former team.”
Next up for the BlackJacks and the Bandits is the Guelph Nighthawks (0-4). Ottawa will travel to Guelph to take on the Nighthawks on July 12 at 7:00 p.m. ET at the Sleeman Centre.
Fraser Valley will host the Nighthawks at Abbotsford Centre on July 14 at 7:00 p.m. PT/10:00 p.m. ET. Fans will be welcomed back into the arena for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic and tickets are on sale now at thebandits.ca/tickets.
All CEBL games will be available for live streaming on the CEBL’s new OTT streaming service CEBL+, cbcsports.ca, the free CBC Gem streaming service, the CBC Sports App for iOS and android devices, and on Twitch.
A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with 75 percent of its current rosters being Canadians. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. The only First Division Professional League Partner of Canada Basketball, the CEBL season typically runs from May through August. More information about the Bandits is available at thebandits.ca.
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For media inquiries, please contact:
Andrew Savory, Director of Operations, (604) 217-6213, asavory@thebandits.ca
About the Fraser Valley Bandits:
The Fraser Valley Bandits are British Columbia’s professional basketball team. As the westernmost club in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL), the club is proud to call Abbotsford Centre home. The Bandits offer a riveting entertainment experience that combines a fast-paced game day atmosphere with a presentation of some of Canada’s top professional athletes within a world-class venue. PerfectLens, a Vancouver-based contact lens supplier, is the official presenting partner of the Bandits’ 2021 season. Head to thebandits.ca for more information.
LATEST NEWS
The Vancouver Bandits announced Monday that the club has re-signed American guard Zach Copeland for his third consecutive Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) season. A 6-foot-4 guard from Oakland, Calif., Copeland has logged 37 games for the club averaging 16.8 points, 3.1 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game across the past two seasons. Having built a reputation as an elite sharpshooter and clutch scorer, Copeland led the CEBL in total three-pointers made during the 2024 season with 67 and ranked second overall in 2025 with an average of 3.5 three-pointers per game. Most recently, Copeland played professionally in Italy during the 2025-26 season splitting time between New Basket Brindisi and Tramec Cento where he averaged 15.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists across 39 games played. His overseas career also includes stops in Germany, Finland, Ukraine and England. Copeland began his post-secondary career at City College of San Francisco, where his performance in the 2016-17 season earned him both the Coast-North Conference Player of the Year and the California Community Colleges Men's Basketball Coaches Association Co-Player of the Year awards. His impressive play at the junior college level led him to transfer to Illinois State University, where he played two seasons of NCAA Division I basketball from 2018-20. In his final year at Illinois State, Copeland became the Redbirds’ leading scorer with 14.5 points per game, also ranking 7th among Missouri Valley Conference leaders and establishing himself as one of the conference's top players.
The Vancouver Bandits have announced that forward Miller Kopp has signed an NBA Summer League contract with the Houston Rockets. The news was announced by the Rockets on the club’s website in a release . Appearing in 14 games (13 starts), Kopp quickly established himself as a key Import player for the Bandits during the first half of the 2026 CEBL season, tallying 13.9 points The Rockets' roster will be headlined by 2026 NBA Draft selection Bruce Thornton (31st overall), who will begin NBA Summer League play on July 10 with scheduled games running through July 16. The Bandits have placed Kopp on its Reserve Roster in order for him to participate in NBA Summer League play while also retaining his CEBL rights, with the option to return to the club at the conclusion of his commitments.
The Vancouver Bandits failed to hold a fourth-quarter lead as they lost to the struggling Calgary Surge. Hosting the Surge on Envision Financial Court at Langley Events Centre on Sunday afternoon as part of their Indigenous Heritage Game, the Bandits failed to make a single field goal in Target Score Time – settling for just three free throws – as they fell 92-84 to the Surge. Calgary led 83-81 heading into Target Score Time. It was the second consecutive loss for Vancouver and a fourth defeat in six games as they fell to 9-6 and second place in the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s Western Conference. Calgary picked up just their second win of the season at 2-14. Vancouver had a great opening 10 minutes as they put up 33 points in the first quarter. But from there, the offence slogged, scoring just 51 points the rest of the way. “We’re working on that. I think getting all the guys to understand the play package, understand that, you know, we're going to be playing with different lineups. And when we do, what are the best plays to run with those lineups,” said Bandits interim head coach Rans Brempong. “We're still working to get comfortable. I think that's a big thing that we just need to clean up and we just got to continue to understand and work on our pace.” For Calgary, the victory was a nice reward for a team which has been close in its last few games. “When they went on their runs, we had to just maintain our composure, not getting too up or getting too down, just staying solid,” said Surge coach Dave Deaveiro. “I thought we fought through that, and every time we needed to get a bucket, we got a bucket. Every time we needed to get a stop, we got to stop it. We just stayed solid throughout.” And that was clear down the stretch when Calgary held Vancouver without a field goal on five consecutive possessions. “Tremendous effort. That was about willpower. We talk about imposing our will on the other team, especially in target time, where it has been other teams have been imposing their will on us. Today, I thought we did a little bit of that ourselves,” Deaveiro said. Another key was sharing the ball as the Surge finished with 27 assists on their 35 field goals. “We started swinging the ball twice, attacking from the corners, and that opened up a lot of options for our offense. So I just think when the ball started moving, we really took off,” Deaveiro said. Jarkel Joiner and Lloyd Pandi led the Banders with 16 points apiece with Tyrell Samuel and Tevin Brown adding 15 and 14 points, respectively. Calgary’s Adderson Pattison led all scorers with 19 followed by Mathieu Kamba’s 17. The Bandits now embark on a three-game, five-day road trip with stops in Saskatoon (July 7), Calgary (July 9) and Edmonton (July 11). The team’s next home game is July 17 against the Montreal Alliance as they celebrate Country Night. Tip-off is set for 7:00pm.
The Vancouver Bandits have announced that Kyle Julius has stepped down as head coach to accept a head coaching position in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Julius, who has been an integral part of the organization's success since 2020, will remain with the club as general manager for the remainder of the 2026 season. The Bandits organization fully supports Julius in this next chapter of his career, with the opportunity to lead at the CBA level exemplifying the Bandits as the top development organization in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) for both players and coaches. A two-time CEBL Coach of the Year (2024, 2025), Julius guided the Bandits to two CEBL Finals appearances in 2020 and 2024 while leading the team to the postseason in each of his five seasons at the helm. In 2025, he propelled the Bandits to a .792 winning percentage (19-5), the highest by any CEBL club across a full season. "I want to thank our tremendous coaches, president Dylan Kular, our ownership group Kevin Dhaliwal, Bryan Slusarchuk, and Milan Mann, the entire Bandits organization, our players, and the incredible fans for everything we have built together over the past seven seasons. Coaching the Vancouver Bandits has been one of the greatest experiences of my career. Together, we established a culture built on energy, effort, accountability, and player development. I am incredibly proud of what we accomplished on and off the court, but even more proud of the relationships that were built along the way. This opportunity to become a head coach in the CBA is one that is very important for my family and my career and, while it is difficult to leave a place that has meant so much to us, I believe it is the right next step. I will always be grateful to everyone who believed in me and supported our journey. I will be cheering for the Bandits from afar and wish the organization nothing but continued success. Vancouver will always hold a special place in my heart,” said Julius. Julius’ relentless commitment to building a championship culture transformed the Bandits into the CEBL's premier organization, earning its status as a true destination for world-class talent and top basketball development. The Bandits have advanced players to NBA two-way contracts directly following their time with the club in each of the past three seasons, more than any other CEBL organization. "Kyle has become family. He believed in this organization and poured his heart into building something special here. His vision, passion, and commitment to developing players and people have set a standard that will define the Bandits for years to come. Beyond wins, he gave us a foundation built on passion, accountability, and genuine care for every person in our organization. I am grateful for every early morning meeting, every late-night phone call, and every moment we shared chasing this dream together. This isn't goodbye; we will be cheering louder than anyone when he succeeds in China and beyond in the next chapters of his career,” said team president Dylan Kular. Off the court, Julius participated in the Bandits' youth sports development efforts primarily through the Bandits Community Foundation School Tour. Since 2023, the free-of-charge initiative saw Julius support training and skill development directly with nearly 200 school teams across British Columbia. In addition, through the Bandits Community Foundation, Julius has hosted countless youth skill clinics and coaching seminars with athletes and volunteer coaches across the province. In a corresponding move, the Bandits have appointed Lead Assistant Coach Ransford Brempong as Head Coach for the remainder of the 2026 CEBL season. A former Canadian Senior Men's National Team member, Brempong has represented Canada at the highest level for eight years. He also played professionally for six years in Europe and was a standout NCAA DI player at Western Carolina University, where he graduated as both the program’s and conference's all-time leader in blocked shots, a record that still stands today. "The Vancouver Bandits have high expectations for our roster, and I am excited to lend my decades of experience and skills developed at the collegiate, international, and national team levels to help our players get better and to achieve success this summer,” said Brempong. Fans will have an opportunity to connect with Julius in August after he returns from training camp in China, with details to be announced in the coming weeks.
LATEST VIDEO
Highlights of the Vancouver Bandits against the Mamba on May 14, 2026.
A message from Vancouver Bandits head coach and general manager Kyle Julius on the 2025 season and thoughts on the CEBL Western Conference Semifinal.
Highlights of the Vancouver Bandits against the Calgary Surge on August 16th, 2025.
Highlights of the Vancouver Bandits against the Winnipeg Sea Bears on August 3rd, 2025.