BlackJacks gain ground in East standings with win over Honey Badgers

With a 94-79 win over the Brampton Honey Badgers (6-10) on Wednesday, the Ottawa BlackJacks (5-9) inched closer to Brampton for third place in the Eastern Conference.

As the CEBL regular season enters its stretch run, and knowing the Montréal Alliance have an automatic bye into the postseason as hosts of Championship Weekend, the BlackJacks knew coming in how important a win would be for their playoff hopes.

“We definitely had a sense of urgency,” Ottawa head coach James Derouin said after the game. “If we lost, we were really in a tough spot … if we lost today, we’d need help from other teams and that’s not a position we wanted to be in.”

Leading the BlackJacks effort was Isaih Moore as he finished with 28 points, nine rebounds a steal and a block. Tevin Brown chipped in with 21 points, drilling five threes on a 50 per cent clip and Patrick Whelan added 14 points off the bench.

On the other side, the defeat marked back-to-back losses for the Honey Badgers after having won three-in-a-row prior to that. Prince Oduro led the way as he finished with a CEBL career-high 19 points to go with six rebounds, two blocks and a steal. L.J. Thorpe chipped in with a double-double (12 points, 12 rebounds) while Shamiel Stevenson and Zane Waterman added 11 points apiece.

It looked like the hometown Honey Badgers had control of the opening frame early on, and it was largely thanks to the play of Oduro. The CEBL veteran provided instant energy for Brampton as he scored seven of the team’s first 11 points, while putting in work on the glass and on defence as well.

Oduro’s effort had earned the Honey Badgers a narrow lead but once he sat that quickly slipped away. The BlackJacks finished the final four minutes of the first quarter on a 17-4 run, erasing what was once a five-point deficit and turning it into a 28-20 lead.

“He’s made a huge impact,” Honey Badgers head coach Sheldon Cassimy said on Oduro’s performance. “Even when he’s not scoring, on the defensive end, he’s basically the heart-and-soul of our team.”

And although Brampton -- with Oduro back on the floor -- were able to cut Ottawa’s lead down to as little as four points throughout the second quarter, they couldn’t put together enough stops to get things any closer.

The BlackJacks, on the back of Moore’s 18 first-half points, build their lead back up as they entered halftime ahead 48-38. The forward shot an efficient 6-of-8 from the field through two quarters as he led all players in scoring at the break.

It wasn’t just Moore’s individual effort that proved costly for Brampton, however, as they also got outworked on the glass. The Honey Badgers were a minus-seven on rebounds in the first half, giving up nine offensive boards for 12 second chance points (minus-eight).

And that problem for Brampton persisted once action got underway following halftime. The Honey Badgers cut the lead down to as little as five points but their inability to limit the BlackJacks from creating extra possessions via the glass ended up stalling momentum yet again.

Ottawa grabbed seven o-boards in the third quarter for seven second chance points as they led 67-58 headed into the fourth.

“We knew coming in it was a must-win game,” Moore said when asked how his team that ranks second last in rebounding (35.2 per game) showed such an improved effort. “That was our motivation… we’re trying to make a push to the playoffs … there was a lot of extra added fuel coming into the game.”

The gap only got wider throughout the first six minutes of the fourth quarter as the BlackJacks rattled off a 12-3 run that put them up 85-72.

Credit to Brampton as they did show some signs of life once Target Score Time got underway. And when Thorpe drilled a corner three (and-one) it not only cut the lead back down to single digits (85-79) it got the Camp Day crowd on their feet as the comeback suddenly looked possible.

Ottawa quickly dispelled those hopes, however, as it didn’t allow Brampton to score another basket from that point on. Brown hit back-to-back triples before Moore capped-off his game-high scoring performance by ending the game by way of the charity stripe.

Ultimately it was the 13 extra possessions the BlackJacks generated (76-63 in field goal attempts) that ended up costing the Honey Badgers. Whether it was the eight less rebounds or the four more turnovers, it was clear that allowing Ottawa more opportunities on offence held back Brampton’s comeback effort – and it also made the race for a playoff spot much closer down the stretch.

“Any team we play in the East from here on out we want to win,” Oduro said on Brampton’s mindset moving forward. “It gets tight, we want to win these series so we have the upper-hand in tie-breaker situations … the same mentality Ottawa came with today … we’re going to have to be locked in, and we’ll be ready.”

Up next

The Honey Badgers hit the road for a two-game trip, starting by taking on the East-leading Niagara River Lions on Jul. 17.

For the BlackJacks, they’ll wrap up a three-game trip on Sunday as they take on the Montréal Alliance.