NEWFOUNDLAND LOOKS TO BUILD MOMENTUM AS FRASER VALLEY COMES TO TOWN
The 1-10 Newfoundland Growlers coming off of their first win of the season, host the 8-4 Fraser Valley Bandits at 7:30 p.m. NT on Tuesday night. Fraser Valley has lost two in a row and are looking to rebound and climb back to the top of the CEBL.
The Growlers win was 83-60 over the Saskatchewan Rattlers on Sunday evening. In that game, Brandon Sampson scored 22 points on 44 per cent shooting to lead the Growlers. Winning the rebounding battle 43-35 and holding Saskatchewan to 35 per cent shooting, the Growlers defence contained the shooters of Scottie Lindsey, Devonte Bandoo and Sebastian Aris.
Newfoundland shot 39 per cent as a team but they were able to force 22 Saskatchewan turnovers, 10 of which came by a steal, and that work primarily came from Shaquille Keith who recorded four steals, and Nysier Brooks who had a team high three blocks. Newfoundland disrupted the flow of the Rattlers, and now going against the movement of the Bandits, they will have to do the same thing to come out victorious.
Going into this matchup, the Bandits have another threat at the guard position with the re-signing of Marek Klassen. Klassen’s experience brought into the backcourt of Duvivier, Adnam, Campbell and Gibson adds another shooting threat and another facilitator to spark the ball movement that Fraser Valley’s offence is based on. Fraser Valley assisted on 17 of 35 made baskets in their 102-99 loss to the River Lions on Sunday while only committing 14 turnovers, and going against the opportunistic defence of the River Lions that led the league in blocks, worked their way around the perimeter to shoot 49 per cent on the game.
This is the second time these two teams match up, the last one ending with an Alex Campbell steal and a transition layup to give Fraser Valley a 94-92 win. As Elam time started, Adnam made two free throws to put Fraser Valley ahead 86-85 and Adnam immediately followed it up with a three-pointer to put Fraser Valley up four points, 89-85. Contributing to their performances, Sampson and Brooks responded each with a bucket inside the paint to tie the game at 89 and a technical free throw shot by Campbell put Fraser Valley up 90-89. After a three by Terry Thomas and an immediate response from Karnik, the game was tied at 92 where Campbell made his defensive play and sealed the Bandits victory.
Thomas made four threes and the Growlers got the ball inside to Brooks who scored 20 points, but Brooks matchup of Maxie Esho and Karnik combined for 34 points and 12 rebounds in the win. Newfoundland found success inside the paint using drives to create space and taking advantage of their size with Brooks and the rebounding of Jermel Kennedy.
What put the Bandits over the top was taking advantage of second chance opportunities. Fraser Valley scored 22 second chance points and thanks to nine combined offensive rebounds from four starters, every Fraser Valley player crashed the boards and fought for every possession, coming out on top with their fundamentals in and around the paint.
Newfoundland’s success came from their ability to disrupt and work efficiently off of their defence, and Fraser Valley wants to get the ball moving to create their opportunities. Whether the Growlers or Bandits can limit turnovers and flow their offence against the quick hands on defence will be a key to decide who will come out on top in this rematch.
Newfoundland is looking to build momentum off of their first win while Fraser Valley will try and get back on the winning track when these two teams meet in St. John’s on Tuesday night.
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.
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