August 9, 2024
The Vancouver Bandits are Western Conference champions!
With the grueling grind of the CEBL’s regular season now over, and with the play-in’s now settled; comes CW24 weekend. What the final four teams have been playing for, as Vancouver, Niagara, Calgary and hosts Montreal head to Verdun to battle for Conference titles and a chance to advance to the finals on Sunday.
The first game of today’s double-header saw the Vancouver Bandits take on the Calgary Surge. The Bandits earned a by for finishing first in the West, while the Surge upset the favorite Edmonton Stingers in the play-in’s to stay alive. In the second game of the day, the host Montreal Alliance, who finished in last place in the East for the third straight year, take on the Niagara River Lions, who punched their ticket but eliminating the Ottawa Black Jacks, who had in turn knocked out the Scarborough Shooting Stars.
See Also: Montreal Alliance beat league best Vancouver Bandits
Several times the power inside the Verdun Auditorium fluttered as the tail end of hurricane Debby ravished the city outside. Roads flooded and just two blocks away, citizens found themselves in the dark. Several times, the DJ lost power and the big screen went down a few times, but the game continued without interruption. Parts of Montreal were hit with as much as 150 milliliters of rain – more than the average monthly rainfall in a full month, in just a few hours.
The Vancouver Bandits have never won a game on this court, and needed to end that streak today if they had any chance at leaving Montreal as champions. Amusingly enough, Vancouver’s first win in Verdun could possible come against a team other than the Montreal Alliance, who play all their home games at the Verdun Auditorium.
Bandits star Mitch Creek, as he had a whopping 27 points on his way to setting a franchise single-game playoff scoring record. “It’s about taking what comes,” said Creek, “It’s a reflection of the team and culture we have it’s not about points or steals – it’s about winning.”
“For us, it’s always about one more thing,” added Creek. “And right now, it’s about one more win and we’ll be champions.”
On paper, Vancouver should have had a relatively easy game facing the Surge, but Calgary had other ideas and they put up an absolute dogfight in what was a physical contest. There’s often a lot of bite in an underdog team and that was personified here. At times the Bandits looked stunned as Calgary continued to eek ahead time and time again, and as the target score period approached, it looked like the Surge would upset the leagues best squad.
Calgary had multiple chances to put the game away, needing just a single bucket to end the contest, and they couldn’t find it. The Surge were up 87-86 at that point with the target score score set at 89. At least five throws went off the rim or the backboard and stayed out – which gave Vancouver the chance to sink a Zach Copeland long three-point shot and they did just that. Credit the Bandits defense, but this was a game where Vancouver were outplayed.
“We knew it was going to be a very hard-nosed basketball game,” said Surge star Corey Davis, following the loss. “The ball didn’t land the way we wanted to. We had multiple chances to win the game.”
The Bandits had been cold throughout the target score period but found a way to win when it matters, and that’s what counts. It’ll be a hard loss for the Surge to swallow but ultimately – they had the game on their fingertips.
Read More:
>> Montreal Alliance defeated the Saskatchewan Rattlers at home
>> Montreal Alliance defeat Winnipeg Sea Bears at home
>> Alliance slaughtered at home by River Lions
The Montreal Alliance and Niagara River Lions battle after this game for a spot in Sunday’s CEBL Championship final. The last time these two teams faced off in Verdun, the River Lions ran rampant over the Alliance.
Tomorrow, the CW24 weekend will host a series of outdoor free events at Arthur-Therrien park, which is located right next to the Verdun Auditorium, and will feature a celebrity basketball game as well as a Special Olympics game among other activities.
