Two teams looking for a season turnaround are preparing to face each other in Montreal.
The Alliance (3-8) host the Brampton Honey Badgers (3-8) this Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Verdun Auditorium, with live streaming on CEBL+, TSN+, RDS.ca and the RDS app.
Montreal is currently going through a three-game losing streak, with a total difference of just 16 points, indicating that the Alliance may be on the verge of breaking that streak.
For the Alliance, which as host of the Championship weekend automatically qualifies for the playoffs, the regular season can be seen as a preparation for the decisive matches.
However, the standings remain important, and the goal is to maintain positive momentum over the team’s final nine games.
For Brampton, on the other hand, the urgency increases with each successive defeat.
The Honey Badgers finally ended a seven-game losing streak by defeating Alliance at home last week, but they failed to capitalize on that victory in their next game, a loss at Scarborough.
Although the Eastern Conference has been shown to be weaker so far, the chances of making the playoffs are lower with the Alliance’s automatic qualification.
Brampton currently sits in last place in the East, but remains well away from a playoff spot, half a game behind Ottawa.
The Alliance and the Honey Badgers, who are the only teams attempting fewer than 70 shots per game on average, adopt playing styles based on defensive stops.
Brampton has the lowest points per game average in the league at 80.1 points, while Montreal ranks eighth at 87.1 points.
In their most recent meeting, Brampton won a close game by a score of 85-79, limiting Montreal to just 61 shot attempts and forcing 14 turnovers. The Honey Badgers also found their rhythm on three-pointers during this game, hitting 10 of their 23 attempts.
However, Montreal had crushed Brampton 95-77 in their first meeting of the season with a similar formula, forcing 16 turnovers and making half of their three-point shots.
Friday’s game will be the final meeting of the season between the two Eastern rivals, with the winner getting tiebreaker advantage for the playoffs.
New reinforcements
In a series of trades on Thursday, the Honey Badgers added two CEBL veterans, Michael Okafor and Elijah Mitrou-Long. Okafor is a veteran of 33 games with the Brampton Honey Badgers (2022) and Winnipeg Sea Bears (2023), while Mitrou-Long played 10 games with the Niagara River Lions in 2022. Both will bring a strong presence much needed veteran for the Honey Badgers.
To make room for new signings, Brampton parted ways with Javonte Cook and Lucas Siewert earlier this week.
To monitor
Prince Oduro made his debut for the Honey Badgers in their most recent game after missing the first half of the season with an upper body injury.
Oduro, a Toronto native, made an immediate impact with 16 points and eight rebounds despite the loss.
With 39 career LECB games under his belt, Oduro’s consistency and experience should help Brampton find its groove in the second half of the season.
– LECB –
About the LECB
A league created by Canadians for Canadians with a mission to develop Canadian players, coaches, sport administrators and officials, the CEBL has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with rosters comprised of 75 per cent Canadians and a record 10 players with NBA experience on their rosters in 2024. Players also come from the NBA G League, top international professional leagues, the Canadian National Team program, NCAA programs, as well as U SPORTS and the CCAA. Fourteen players have signed NBA contracts following a CEBL season, and many CEBL players attend NBA G League training camps each year. The CEBL season runs from May to August, with games streamed live on CABLE+ powered by BetVictor, TSN, TSN+, RDS, Game+, Next Level Sports & Entertainment et Courtside1891. Further information on the LECB is available at CEBL.ca and via @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook et YouTube.
