June 2, 2024
The Montreal Alliance defeat the Brampton Honey Badgers by a score of 95 to 77
For the second game in a row, the Montreal Alliance held the lead going into target score time; this time they emerged victorious against a Honey Badgers team that was coming off a big loss after winning their first two games of the season..
The Brampton Honey Badgers were still reeling after a massive 104-60 hammering at the hands of the Niagara River Lions in their previous outing, and it was obvious from the start that the team had come into the Verdun auditorium with a chip on their shoulder about it.
See Also: Alliance drop home opener to the Edmonton Stingers
Tensions were obviously high for Brampton, who attempted to bully the Alliance with their physical play – but Montreal was up for it, and engaged in some unusually physical hoops themselves. There was a whole lot of physical contact that took place when crashing the paint and going for the basket that the officials seemed comfortable to let go. A lot of shoulder contact off drives, as well, and eventually tempers boiled over.
Zane Waterman earned the ire of the Montreal faithful with a minute left in the second quarter when he and Elijah Ifejeh had an altercation that upon video review, lead to Ifejeh getting tossed from the game for his second technical foul of the game. Waterman and Ifejeh pushed each other and spoke harshly to one another, and once separated by the referee, Ifejeh intentionally elbowed Waterman in the face while pretending to adjust his head band.
The Alliance blew a slender lead in their home opener last Saturday, when the Edmonton Stingers came back to win the game in target score time in a game that Montreal had dominated. Montreal was again the better team this afternoon, and this time where able to extend a half-time lead into a wide gap in the fourth quarter, and finally able to put the game away when it came to Target Score time. Something the Alliance have struggled with so far in this young season.
Montreal’s off-season moves look to have bolstered the team, as former Detroit Piston Chris Smith lead the Alliance today. Jayden Edward’s too had an impressive match while Ahmed Hill continued his strong start to the season. Team captain Alain Louis continued to show his leadership, guiding his teammates and running the offensive plays.
Chris Smith led the way for Montréal as he finished with a double-double of 23 points and 10 rebounds on better than 50 per cent shooting from the field and beyond the arc. Ahmed Hill also chipped in with 19 points while Jaden Edwards added 17 points off the bench.
“Today we put together a full game,” Edwards said postgame on how the Alliance snapped their losing streak. “That was the biggest difference between this game and the other two; the talent is obviously there, we’re a great team. Watch out for the Alliance.”
Montreal opened the game on a pair of three-point shots but the Badgers surged back to tie the game at eight points a piece. From there on, the two teams began to trade buckets. Slowly but surely, Montreal started to spread the points into a lead and use a strong defense to force Brampton into a season-high amount of turnovers.
Montreal held a slim three point lead at half-time but the early moments of the third-quarter were all Montreal, as Hill sank two three-pointers, leading Montreal to ten points to just two from Brampton.
Still, the give always remain an issue for the Alliance who lead the league in giveaways through four games this season – and is still the squads main weakness. Montreal has played this year so far, but have lacked the killer instinct to put games out of reach. Game after game, they have allowed their opponents to come back up the scoreboard – not today.
Prior to Sundays tilt, the Alliance had blown back-to-back games despite being up heading into the final frame. Against Brampton, Montreal was up at least twelve points at every moment of the final frame and Target Score period. Everything clicked this afternoon, and Montreal looks to have found their identity.
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The Montreal Alliance are back in action on Wednesday, June 5th, when they host the Ottawa Blackjacks at the Verdun Auditorium. Ottawa is the only team in the CEBL without a win so far this season. The Brampton Honey Badgers will next face the Winnipeg Sea Bears at home.
