June 6, 2025
Montreal Alliance thrash the Edmonton Stingers to stay unbeaten
The Edmonton Stingers arrived in Verdun to take on the undefeated Montreal Alliance, who are currently enjoying their best start to a season in franchise history. The Alliance hammered the Brampton Honey Badgers in this building to kick off their 2025 campaign, and were up twenty-three points on the Ottawa Blackjacks at Stade IGA at half-time during the nation’s first ever outdoor game – which ultimately was ruled a no contest when the game couldn’t resume due to condensation on the court – then went to Brampton and beat up on the Honey Badgers there too.
This new look, new approach squad has been rolling under new coach Jermaine Small, and despite Edmonton sitting mid-pack in the Western conference, tonight the Stingers were going to be a proper test of how good the Montreal Alliance truly are. Coach Small, of course, was the head coach of the Edmonton Stingers prior to joining the Alliance.
See Also: Canada defeat Haiti at Stade Saputo
Tonight, the Alliance celebrated Haitian Heritage Night; which comes perfectly timed following the Canadian and Haitian women’s international friendlies that took place on Saturday in Winnipeg and Tuesday here in Montreal.
A half an hour prior to tip off, Canadian forces fighter jets could be seen and heard flying over the city. No, there wasn’t any sort of incident going down – this was a planned and publicly announced military exercise, presumably ahead of next week’s Formula 1 race that takes place at circuit Jacques Villeneuve, where jets traditionally fly overhead before the race starts.
Guard Tavian Dunn-Martin, the newest member of the Montreal Alliance, put on a clinic in front of his new home time fans. Early on, he sank a pivotal three pointer, and from there went to have an astounding opening half, where everything he threw seemed to sink. Three pointer after three pointer, the Alliance were running up the score in large part due to Dunn-Martin. HE wasn’t alone, however, as Malcolm Duvivier was also hot when shooting three’s tonight, hitting three in the second quarter alone.
Ben Stevens made a massive defensive play to deny the Stingers a bucket, that lead to Dunn-Martin sinking back-to-back three point shots in quick succession – one from near the center court logo. The Alliance were rolling, building up a commanding twenty-six-point lead that they took into the half-time break.
Montreal Alliance 60 – 34 Edmonton Stingers.
Montreal’s strong play continued into the second half of the game, while the depth of the Alliance started to shine through once again. In total, nine players would play at least fifteen minutes for the Alliance, who were attacking the Edmonton Stingers in waves. Montreal scored thirty-seven points off the bench, and where Dunn-Martin and Duvivier had shone early on, Kevin Osawe and Dontay Bassett where big parts of the latter quarters, with of them each contributing thirteen points a peace. The third quarter came to an end with Montreal up a commanding twenty-eight points over the Edmonton Stingers.
However, the Edmonton Stingers didn’t fold – they pushed back against the Montreal Alliance and were able to do something nobody else has been able to do so far this season – win a quarter. It wasn’t by much, just six points, but for the first time this year, the Montreal Alliance were outscored in a quarter. It was a case of Montreal taking their foot off the gas a little, which is easy to do when you’ve built up such a big lead, and it’s something head coach Jermaine Small said he’ll address.
“I’m glad it happened” said coach Small. “That fourth quarter is tape we’re going to watch because that’s how you get better.”
For the Edmonton Stingers, Sean East II again had a great night, going nine for fifteen on field goals; five for eight on the three-pointers.
In other CEBL action tonight, the Niagara River Lions defeated the Scarborough Shooting Stars, meaning that the Montreal Alliance are now the only team in the league that is still unbeaten. With this, their third win, fourth in your count the nullified outdoor game where the Alliance were up twenty-three points on the Ottawa Blackjacks when the game was called off, Montreal is now just three wins shy of their most wins in a season. What an incredible turn around season this has been so far for the Alliance.
“This road trip, this week will test us”, said coach Small. “It’ll really test who we are. After playing Brampton twice and the half a game against Ottawa, it was a good test but we were at home. My philosophy is on the road is where you really build your skin and build chemistry so I’m looking forward to the test. Athletically, Scarborough is top of the league and its going to be a challenge for us, but a challenge we’ll take on because of our depth, and I think our depth will help us take on three games in a week”.
Despite the Montreal Alliance winning by 105 to 83 over the Edmonton Stingers, coach Small still thinks giving up 83 points is too many.
Read More:
>> CEBL rule outdoor game no contest; tickets transferable
>> Alliance versus Blackjacks outdoor game postponed at halftime
>> Alliance take convincing win over Honey Badgers
Any thoughts that the Alliance might struggle this season, having lost key players in Ahmed Hill, Jordan Bowden and Chris Smith have been silenced, as the new look Alliance, led by hometown icons Quincey Guerrier and Alain Louis have proven to be one heck of a team.
The Alliance are next in action on Monday, June 9th, when they travel to Toronto to take on the Scarborough Shooting Stars. The Edmonton Stingers return home where they will welcome the Ottawa Blackjacks on June 10th.
