CEBL Championship Weekend kicks off with conference final doubleheader on TSN
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CEBL Championship Weekend is here and TSN has you covered with all of the action from Montreal, starting with a pair of conference finals on Friday.
Western Conference Final
The Calgary Surge take on the Vancouver Bandits in the Western Conference final, a rematch from last season’s Championship Weekend that saw the Surge victorious in a tightly contested 77-75 win.
Led by Sean Miller-Moore in their 78-69 win over the Edmonton Stingers last week, the Surge will once again be in tough against Vancouver, who boast the league’s recently crowned MVP Taze Moore, Canadian Player of the Year Koby McEwen, and Coach of the Year Kyle Julius.
Miler-Moore, a Brampton, Ont. native, scored 18 points, including the game-winning layup, to upset the Stingers in a Western semifinal edition of the Battle of Alberta.
“I was thinking about going to the left, but I just ducked my head, tried to get it up, and the ball bounced in my favour,” said the 26-year-old when describing the tough bucket to send Edmonton packing.
His efforts were helped by teammate Corey Davis Jr., who posted a game-high 22 points to lead Calgary back to the Western Conference final for the second consecutive year.
Surge head coach Tyrell Vernon knows the challenge his team faces in the first-seeded Bandits, but says his players will be up to the task Friday.
“For us, it’s just attention to deal,” said Vernon after the team’s Western semifinal win. “ Go back to the film, rest up and keep everybody healthy. We’ll be motivated come the weekend.”
Finding a way to contain Moore will be paramount if Calgary is able to pull off the upset.
After signing with the team earlier this spring, the 26-year-old American guard has looked like a star in his first CEBL season, averaging 17.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.3 assists in 17 games played for the Bandits.
McEwen, a Toronto native, is also in his first year with the team, leading the Bandits in scoring at 18.4 points per game.
The 27-year-old guard will look to add another championship to his resume this weekend after winning it all with the Hamilton Honey Badgers in 2022, but first, a tough matchup with the Surge awaits.
Eastern Conference final
TSN’s Friday doubleheader closes with a matchup between the Montreal Alliance and the Niagara River Lions.
Watch the Montreal Alliance take on the Niagara River Lions LIVE at 8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT on TSN3, TSN.ca and the TSN App.
The Alliance automatically qualified for 2024’s CEBL Championship weekend as the hosts of the tournament. After finishing the regular season at 6-14, Montreal will be fighting an uphill battle Friday against the top team in the East.
Led in scoring by the American duo of Jordan Bowden and Ahmed Hill with 17.4 and 16.2 points-per-game, respectively, the Alliance come into Friday’s contest as a heavy underdog. They were swept in the season series by Niagara, losing all three games.
This will be their first-ever Championship Weekend appearance after the team was founded in 2021.
While the season hasn’t gone their way so far, Montreal comes into Friday as winners of their last two contests.
“We’ve had some bright spots,” said Alliance guard Alain Louis to Douglas Gelevan of CBC News. “But at the same time, I think we rested a bit knowing that we had that bye. But during the end of the season, we started to figure out some things, so I’m pretty sure we’re going to be ready to go.”
The River Lions are fresh off of a thrilling 94-91 victory over the Ottawa BlackJacks in the East semifinal, led by Khalil Ahmad and his 13 straight points in Target Score Time.
Ahmad, a two-time Clutch Player of the Year, capped off his heroics with an alley-oop slam to send his team to Montreal, his third Championship Weekend appearance in a row with the River Lions
“I told TJ [Lall], throw it up and I’ll go get it,” said the California native. “And my guy trusted me, it was beautiful, picture perfect.”
“They literally pushed us to the limit,” said Niagara’s head coach Victor Raso. “Our guys played hard as hell and Khalil Ahmad is a special talent, like what he did down the stretch and in Target Score Time was incredible.”
Ahmad led the way with a game-high 23 points against Ottawa, adding eight assists and six steals, while Canadian guard Jahvon Blair poured in 22 points of his own in the winning effort.
After losing the final in 2021, the River Lions will look to advance past the Alliance to get another shot at winning the franchise’s first-ever CEBL championship.