Vancouver Bandits Earn Gritty Win Over the Edmonton Stingers
Bandits play last home game this Sunday at LEC vs. the Winnipeg Sea Bears.
LANGLEY, BC, July 21, 2023 – One game doesn’t make a season, but it was a much-needed step in the right direction.
The Vancouver Bandits picked up a much-needed victory to halt its five-game losing skid, defeating the Edmonton Stingers
84-74 on Friday night at Langley Events Centre in Canadian Elite Basketball League action.
Vancouver is 6-11 on the season while Edmonton sits at 8-10, tied for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference standings.
Coming off a blowout loss two days earlier in Saskatchewan, Vancouver used a dominant first half to earn their first victory since July 1, which also came against this same Stingers squad.
Central to Friday’s positive result was a strong defensive effort – Edmonton was held to 26 points in the first half – and an unstoppable Nick Ward as the Bandits big man was too much for the Stingers.
Ward scored 18 points, hauled in eight rebounds, dished out two assists and drew seven fouls in the first 20 minutes alone and finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.
And while Ward dominated the inside, Alex Campbell provided some much-needed outside scoring with 20 points, including a pair of triples – one of which was the game-winner – during Target Score time.
“I am a shooter so if I get the opportunity, it is up,” Campbell said. “Doug (Herring Jr.) saw me on the wing, so I raised (my hand) and luckily knocked it down.”
Despite the lengthy-losing streak, Campbell said the players have kept their heads up during the struggles.
“Believe it or not, we have an optimistic group,” he said. “Today, it felt good to stop the bleeding and get the win. It is just about building towards Championship Weekend.”
Bandits head coach and general manager Kyle Julius said that replicating the necessary urgency of needing victories has been a challenge, knowing they have a spot in next month’s Championship Weekend as the host team.
“That has been the conversation all season long, just figuring out how we can get better day-by-day so we can be our sharpest for that particular day,” he said.
Defensively on Friday, he said the team followed their assignments, while of offence, their dual big-man combination of Ward and Giorgi Bezhanishvili works best when the inside game is complimented by an outside game.
And they finally received that on Friday, especially in the second half as they hit five of their 12 three-point attempts. For the game, the team was 8-for-26 (30.8 per cent).
“We need that compliment of shooting from outside and we haven’t really had it a lot this year. Today, we had a good blend of perimeter shooting and some good interior play,” Julius said.
“It is all about executing; when all of us are on the same page, good things happen.
“We have some weapons and if we are hitting on all cylinders like we were in the first half, I think we will be a tough out for anybody on that final weekend.”
While Ward and Campbell each cracked the 20-point mark, Bezhanishvili scored 16, a dozen of which came in the second half. Herring directed the offence, finishing with nine assists, to go along with his eight points and three steals.
After a first half to forget, the Stingers did make things interesting in the fourth quarter, cutting the deficit to as low as six points, but could get no closer.
The inability to get the ball consistently in the paint in the first half proved costly, said Edmonton coach Jordan Baker, referencing the fact his team was outscored 28-12 in the paint in quarters one and two. They would finish the game with 36 points in the paint.
“We weren’t putting the ball into the basket, and it avalanched into an 18-point deficit,” he said.
Another factor was the team’s inability to slow Ward on the glass as he hauled in seven offensive rebounds, with his team needing to be better positionally.
As for the second half surge, Baker said it is too late in the season for morale victories.
“It is winning time now. Every game is a must-win for us. We showed what we could have been for the full 40, but when you (only) play 15 minutes of Edmonton Stingers basketball, it becomes challenging to win games,” he said.
Isiah Osborne led the Stingers with 15 points, while Nick Hornsby scored 14 and Aher Uguak and Brody Clarke each had 11.
Vancouver is right back in action on Sunday night as they host the western conference-leading Winnipeg Sea Bears (11-7) at Langley Events Centre on Fan Appreciation Night in the Bandits’ final regular season home game before they wrap up with a pair of road contests.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. PT against the Sea Bears. Single game tickets are available for purchase at this link.
A key highlight of Vancouver’s fifth CEBL campaign will be its hosting of Championship Weekend, which takes place between Friday, August 11 and Sunday, August 13. An annual celebration of the highest level of Canadian professional basketball, Championship Weekend features a postseason format that combines three games of playoff basketball as part of a multi-day festival experience designed to celebrate the intersection of arts, culture and sport. As hosts of Championship Weekend, the Bandits receive an automatic berth in the conference finals doubleheader on Friday, August 11.
Individuals interested in learning more about tickets for the Vancouver Bandits’ 2023 season are kindly asked to call (604) 455-8881 or email
tickets@thebandits.ca. A complete regular season schedule can be found by
clicking here.
More information is available at
thebandits.ca and @vancouverbandits on
Instagram and
TikTok, as well as @vancitybandits on
Facebook and
Twitter.
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