Guelph Hosts Fraser Valley Just One Win Apart
The Guelph Nighthawks host the Fraser Valley Bandits at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday Night at the Sleeman Centre. The Nighthawks are 6-3 and have won five in a row, the Bandits are one game behind at 5-2 on a two game winning streak.
The Nighthawks win streak was capped off by a home 89-83 win over the top seeded Hamilton Honey Badgers, without two starting guards in A.J. Lawson and Cat Barber. In that game, five starters finished in double-digits in scoring with Clayton Henry adding 10 points off of the bench. The depth of the Nighthawks and opportune contributions from all the way down the roster shined against the Honey Badgers and they led in almost all categories.
The guards of Sean Miller-Moore and Ahmed Hill were two leaders for the Nighthawks and they controlled the pace of the game. Hill scored 23 points on 50 per cent shooting and his ability to get to the paint and create opportunities for others around him sparked the play as the Nighthawks clawed back from down double-digits in the second quarter to take a one-point lead in the third quarter after a quick run to kick off the third.
Hill and Miller-Moore will have a matchup with the Bandits guards. Fraser Valley is coming off of two straight wins, most recently 92-89 over the Scarborough Shooting Stars at home. Going against Jalen Harris who scored 22 points in the matchup, Shane Gibson put up 29 points on 52 per cent shooting to go with 8 rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block.
Without A.J. Lawson, the Nighthawks went deeper into their bench and got the perimeter presence that Lawson provides, from Clayton Henry. Henry made a pair of threes in the Nighthawks win over Hamilton and now going into their game against Fraser Valley, the shooting will go against Alex Campbell and Gibson who attempted 13 combined threes.
The Nighthawks offence goes through the play of the guards to create opportunities, while down low for the Bandits, Murphy Burnatowski and Thomas Kennedy take advantage of every opportunity they get, like they did against Scarborough.
Burnatowski and Kennedy both scored 15 points against the trio of Kameron Chatman, Kalif Young and Isiaha Mike. They will be put up against. Burnatowksi hit three threes against Scarborough, and across the floor on Tuesday he will see Aj Hess who played his first game for Guelph and made a pair of threes while attempting six. While both Hess and Burnatowski get on the defensive glass for their teams, the shooting and extra offence from both will be key.
Alongside Hess down low will be Tj Lall who will be a defensive staple for the Nighthawks, recording a block and five steals in their win over Hamilton, and grab rebounds with six total in their recent win. The Bandits got multiple rebounds from all five starters in their win against Scarborough, and Lall’s presence down low gives the Nighthawks the ability to do the same thing, every starter recording two or more rebounds in their most recent win for 26 combined rebounds of the teams’ 38.
All games will be streamed live internationally on the CEBL’s OTT platform, CEBL+, and on the CEBL Mobile app for iOS and Android devices. Games will also be available to stream live in Canada via cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices, and the free CBC Gem streaming service.
A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with 71 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 runs from May through August. Head to CEBL.ca for more information or follow us (@cebleague) on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.
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