BANDITS DROP CLOSE AFFAIR AGAINST NIGHTHAWKS

LANGLEY, B.C., July 15, 2022 – The playoff race just got a whole lot tighter.

One game separates third place from seventh place after the visiting Guelph Nighthawks left Langley Events Centre with an 87-79 win over the Fraser Valley Bandits on Friday night in Canadian Elite Basketball League action.

The Bandits currently hold down third place at 9-7 with Guelph improved to 8-8, tied for sixth place. Teams ranked fifth through eighth place will make the CEBL play-in round, which precedes the quarterfinals and semifinals.

Fraser Valley will look to rebound when it hosts the Ottawa BlackJacks this Sunday, July 17 for its first ever “Star Wars Game.” Tickets are available now by clicking here. Tip-off is at 1 p.m. PT.

Just five games ago Fraser Valley was 8-2 and fighting for a share of top spot but the team has now lost three games in a row.

“My concern is we have to put ourselves in position to win games and finish the games. We were doing that early in the season, and of late, we have not been able to close the games like we need to,” said Bandits head coach Mike Taylor.

Through the first three quarters, the Bandits led for all but 2:23 of the 30 minutes but Ahmed Hill hit a three-pointer for Guelph in the fourth quarter to put his team up 78-77 just ahead of the Elam Ending and the Nighthawks then dominated, outscoring Fraser Valley 9-2.

Giorgi Bezhanishvili scored the first seven Guelph points in the Elam Ending before Cat Barber scored a lay-up in transition for the clinching bucket.

Fraser Valley managed just two points in the Elam Ending as they made just one of their four field goal attempts while also turning the ball over twice.

The Bandits played well for much of the first three quarters, especially the first and third periods, where they combined to score 56 of their 79 points.

Friday’s game marked the 2022 debuts of Brandon Gilbeck and Jabs Newby as well as the return of Thomas Kennedy, who was away playing for Canada at the GLOBL Jam event in Toronto.

Shane Gibson led Fraser Valley with 16 points while Marek Klassen and Alex Campbell each had 15 and James Karnik scored 12. Kennedy finished with 10 points and a team-high 11 rebounds.

 

“We have some new pieces that have not played a lot together, we have some guys that are new to the system, and the zone (defence) disrupted us a little bit, so that was the main point,” Taylor said, while also crediting Guelph for their game plan and effort.

“We did not execute (in Elam); what you see is some new pieces who don’t have much experience playing together … we could not get much of an offensive rhythm. That will come.”

At 9-7 and with four games to play, the Bandits are still in a great position to earn a spot in the post-season, but they have their sights set higher as first place receives a bye straight to the Final Four while the second and third seeds get to avoid the play-in game and go straight to the quarterfinals.

“There has to be a sense of urgency from our guys, and I think we have to recognize that we have to help ourselves to achieve the best position for the playoffs,” Taylor said. 

“The common theme in these (last few) games is teams are really getting into us and pressuring us; that’s playoff basketball, so we have to respond, raise our game and respond to that pressure together.”

“The guys didn’t quit. That was a really good win. Our guys just did not quit, regardless of what was happening,” said Nighthawks coach Charles Kissi. “Early on, I thought (Fraser Valley was) a lot more physical, and in the second half, we matched it.”

Guelph was led by Bezhanishvili’s 19 points while Barber and Stefan Smith each had 15.

Smith scored 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and was a key reason the Nighthawks bench outscored Fraser Valley 26-11.

“I think our bench is understanding what their true value is. We are getting there as a group, but they were fantastic tonight and Stef was huge in the fourth quarter,” Kissi said. 

Game notes:

A fourth-quarter three-ball from Marek Klassen was the 12th of the game for the Bandits and it set a new franchise record for three-pointers made in a season with 183.

Fraser Valley had the rebounding edge 40-33, including 11-5 on the offensive glass.

Games are available on CEBL+ live internationally and in Canada at cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices and the free CBC Gem streaming service. Games are also available on the CEBL’s official app, CEBL Mobile (available on iOS and Android devices), as well as TELUS Optik TV Channel 1901 Lower Mainland and via live streams on 604 Now’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

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