Vancouver Bandits Fall Short Against Ottawa Blackjacks

LANGLEY, B.C., July 9, 2023 – Second-half struggles on the defensive glass and poor free throw shooting proved costly for the Vancouver Bandits.

The Bandits started the game 10-for-10 from the charity stripe, but made just two of their next 10 at one end of the floor, while at the other, the team surrendered 14 offensive rebounds.

Combined together and it was a 97-93 victory for the visiting Ottawa BlackJacks on Sunday night at Langley Events Centre in Canadian Elite Basketball League action. The win was a sixth-straight for the eastern conference leaders who improved to 10-5 on the season. The loss was a second straight for the Bandits who saw their record slip to 5-8.

“We had a lot of guys just watching them cut, a lot of guys just standing there watching, thinking someone else was going to do it. A lot of those were in the second half and crunch time. Definitely frustrating,” said Bandits head coach Kyle Julius. 

A perfect example of this was during Target Score time when the BlackJacks twice secured huge offensive rebounds which led to baskets, including the winning points when Vancouver forced an air ball but JaKeenan Gant was able to snatch the ball midair in traffic at the basket and make the layup.

Through the first 30 minutes, Vancouver led for all but 2:10, including being ahead by 10 points in the third quarter. But following some substitutions by the Bandits, the BlackJacks were able to take advantage, tying the game at 73 after three quarters and then leading the entire fourth quarter and Target Score time.

“We had a good start to that third quarter, we had a 10-point lead, but as soon as we made some subs and some changes, I felt like the game really got away from us. Our body language, our energy changed. A really frustrating second half,” Julius said.

Ottawa entered the game already missing Kadre Gray and his 16.8 points per game and CEBL-best 6.7 assists and lost captain Deng Adel (17.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists) in the second quarter.

BlackJacks coach James Derouin said the key for his team was keeping an eye on the score and using their timeouts to keep the game close. And from there, they received contributions from across the lineup with Jackson Rowe scoring 26 – including four-for-four from beyond the arc – while Michael Flowers (16 points), Gant (13 points), Matthew Coleman III (12 points) and Abu Kigab (12 points) also hit double figures.

“Everyone just pitched in, everyone contributed,” Derouin said. “(And) with Elam, it is not always pretty at the end of the game.”

Malcolm Duvivier led the Bandits with 18 points, but all of those came in the first three quarters. Giorgi Bezhanishvili and Nick Ward each scored 15 points while Duane Notice added 14, a dozen of which came from the three-point line. Ward also had 10 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.

Derouin said his team made a concentrated effort at trying to tire Ward out.

“You are just hanging on for dear life with Nick down there. He is such a great player. The only thing we were trying to do was tire him out throughout the game with some pace and some running and multiple bodies,” he said. “That is really your only hope with Nick is that you can tire him out because there is not really anyone in the league who can guard him.”

Marlon Johnson Jr. also made his Vancouver debut with 13 points.

Julius said Johnson’s presence played a large factor in the Bandits’ offensive success as Vancouver became the first team in eight games to surpass 90 points against Ottawa. The Bandits finished with 27 assists on their 34 field goals, by far their highest assist numbers of the season.

Of those 27 assists, point guard Doug Herring Jr. finished with eight.