In what’ll be the final game of the 2023 CEBL season, the Scarborough Shooting Stars (-167) and Calgary Surge (+120) go head-to-head for the championship. The contest will tip-off at 4:00 pm local/7:00 pm ET from the Langley Events Centre on Sunday night.
The game will be nationally televised on TSN 3 and also available for streaming live on TSN+, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, and on the CEBL Mobile app available for iOS and Android devices.
Scarborough make it back to the final for the second consecutive season, this time looking to come out victorious, after losing to the Brampton (then Hamilton) Honey Badgers in the championship game a year ago. Meanwhile, the Surge (formerly the Guelph Nighthawks) will be playing in the final for the first time in franchise history, as both teams try to win their first CEBL title.
It will be the second contest between the Eastern and Western Conference champions this season, and first since Scarborough picked up a 79-65 win. It was a convincing victory for the Shooting Stars in a contest where they never trailed after the six-minute mark of the second quarter.
Despite Scarborough missing 11 free throws on the night, they were still able to manage a 14-point win thanks to their dominance on the interior. Scarborough shot 60 per cent from inside the arch compared to Calgary’s 42 per cent, earning the team a +12 edge on points inside the paint as a result. The Shooting Stars didn’t just make their presence felt inside by scoring the ball, they also managed to outwork the Surge on the glass, as they ended the game with a +9 advantage on rebounds.
However, if Scarborough hope to replicate that performance and be crowned champions of the CEBL, they’ll need new players to step up. The likes of David Walker who put up 15 points while going a perfect 6-6 from two-point range, or Thomas Kennedy, who notched an 18-point, 13-rebound, double-double won’t be with the team this time around.
Fortunately for Shooting Stars’ fans, their current role players have stepped up one-by-one during their post-season run. In their play-in win versus the Honey Badgers, Kyree Walker led the way with a season-high 25 points, only to be followed-up by Isiaha Mike who tallied a season-high 24-points of his own in the conference semi-finals victory against the Ottawa BlackJacks.
In their latest 74-71 win against the Niagara River Lions, it was Gedi Juozapaitis that put his stamp on the team’s run to the final with a season-high 13 points off the bench. The guard knocked down four of Scarborough’s six triples on the night in his 15 minutes of action, helping the team clinch the East in the process. Other contributors included Kalif Young who had a double-double by way of 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Cat Barber who led the way with 15 points, six rebounds, and two steals.
Barber continues to be the team’s top scorer (20.1 PPG) and is someone fans should keep an eye on as he found success the last time the Shooting Stars and Surge faced off. In that previous victory for his team, the guard put up a game-high 27 points, four assists, and four steals, and if Scarborough is going to make up for last year’s final loss, a big performance from Barber could go a long way.
Scarborough aren’t the only team with a dynamic guard leading the way for them however, as Calgary’s Stef Smith has been doing the same for his team. The Ajax, Ontario, native has picked up his game this post-season, averaging 20 points per game, most recently notching a season-high 25 points and eight rebounds in the Surge’s 77-75 win over the Vancouver Bandits.
Smith also found success against Scarborough as he was the team’s second-best scorer in that lone matchup earlier this year. Despite the loss, the guard put up 17 points and six assists and was one of just two players to post a plus-minus rating of 10 or higher for Calgary.
The other Surge player to do so was Simi Shittu, who led the team that night with team-high 21 points and 12 rebounds. He won’t be available this time around so fans should hope for a big game from Jordy Tshimanga, who’s taken over the starting spot. Calgary will surely miss the presence of the league’s best rebounder, but Tshimanga has been filling in admirably.
His offensive production may not jump out like Shittu’s, but the forward has averaged nine boards these playoffs, and is coming off a 10-rebound game in the team’s conference clinching victory. Tshimanga’s double-digit rebounds led a Surge unit that outrebounded the league’s best rebounding team in Vancouver, on both the offensive and defensive glass. The Western Conference champions will hope he can help them to one more victory and end the team’s inaugural season in Calgary with a title.
Full list of betting props available on BetVictor. Preview written by Zulfi Sheikh (@zulfi_sheikh).
A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with 71 percent of its current rosters being Canadians. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. The only First Division Professional League Partner of Canada Basketball. The CEBL season runs from May through August. Head to CEBL.ca for more information or follow us (@cebleague) on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.
The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.
Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.
He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.
Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.
Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.
The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.
Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.
Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.
PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.
The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.
He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.
Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.
He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.
Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — No. 1 Texas will start Arch Manning at quarterback Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe while regular starter Quinn Ewers continues to recover from a strained muscle in his abdomen, coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday.
It will be the first career start for Manning, a second year freshman. He relieved Ewers in the second quarter last week against UTSA, and passed for four touchdowns and ran for another in a 56-7 Texas victory.
Manning is the son of Cooper Manning, the grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, and the nephew of Super Bowl-winning QBs Peyton and Eli Manning.
Ewers missed several games over the previous two seasons with shoulder and sternum injuries.
The Longhorns are No. 1 for the first time since 2008 and Saturday’s matchup with the Warhawks is Texas’ last game before the program starts its first SEC schedule against Mississippi State on Sept. 28.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: and
