Short-handed Surge scrape past Bandits for second straight win

Absent five key players from its lineup, Calgary continued to show its resilience. 

The Surge outlasted the Vancouver Bandits 97-94 on Thursday at WinSport Arena, their second straight victory over a top-two team in the Western Conference after also beating the Edmonton Stingers two days earlier. 

In the Edmonton game, Calgary overcame the loss of a trio of players — Gabe Osabuohien, Justin Lewis and Trhae Mitchell — who went to Las Vegas for NBA Summer League. 

Against Vancouver, two more starters were absent in the form of the Surge’s two leading scorers, Stefan Smith and Sean ‘Rugzy’ Miller-Moore, who were each sidelined by lower-body injuries, per the team. 

No matter. Calgary refused to give up throughout the game, blowing a 17-point second-quarter lead and seeing a seven-point edge at Target Score Time evaporate quickly. 

But the Surge, as they have all week, bounced back. Eventually, centre Jordy Tshimanga found position down low and deposited a layup to secure the roller-coaster win. 

“We knew it was gonna be a challenge coming in. … There’s a bunch of new faces around, but again I think they’ve locked in defensively on what we’re trying to do,” Surge head coach Tyrell Vernon said. 

“They gave us everything they had, and in this league, when effort is at a premium, when you get that effort from guys, I would have been proud of them win or lose today. But at the same time, I’m very happy we got this win.” 

Vancouver missed a chance to clinch a playoff spot with the loss, falling to 10-5 and out of first place in the West. Calgary moved back above .500 at 8-7 with the victory.

Bandits head coach Kyle Julius was succinct when asked to assess his team’s performance on the night. 

“Not good.” 

After the clock turned off with Calgary leading 87-80, Vancouver roared back with a 12-4 run to take a onepoint lead at 92-91. 

But the Surge tied the game on a free throw from Kyler Edwards after a questionable shooting foul went against Bandits guard Koby McEwen – his fifth personal, knocking him out of the contest with a game-high 26 points.

Calgary moved back ahead when reserve big man Gatluak James converted an and-one to put his team one point away from victory. Vancouver would score on its next possession, but it proved irrelevant as Tshimanga iced the game on the very next play. 
The team effort from Calgary was exemplified by its scoring dispersion as starters Mathieu Kamba, Edwards, Corey Davis Jr., and Malcolm Duvivier all scored between 18 and 20 points. 

“I was trying to kinda pace myself because basketball players can only do so much. We’re only human, so you can’t be superhuman. So I just knew my teammates had my back and I knew if I gave 100 per cent, it’d kinda bring guys along,” Kamba said. 

Calgary went ahead early thanks to sharp three-point shooting in the first quarter. After the Surge scored the first four points of the second frame to go up 34-18, Julius called timeout – and it seemed to turn the Bandits around. 

Vancouver slowly chipped away at its deficit, and eventually tied the game at 50 apiece heading into halftime. The third quarter was more tightly contested as neither team was able to build a lead bigger than two possessions. It was the Surge who came out ahead by three points entering the wild final frame. 

And it was the Surge who battled through adversity to get the victory – their first of the season over Vancouver.

“I think it was just a next-up mentality. We have a lot of talent, so a lot of guys can always step up and fill those roles. Obviously it hurts, 30 shots are gone [between Miller-Moore and Smith], but I feel we have the personnel to make up for that defensively and offensively,” Kamba said. 

“And we owed Vancouver one, so I knew it was gonna be intense tonight.” 

While McEwen led the Bandits with 26 points to go with his eight rebounds, Australian big man Mitch Creek – who only signed with the team on Sunday – provided 24 points and seven boards off the bench. 

Creek said he drew on his experience playing across the world from Puerto Rico to China and Australia. 

“It’s basketball. I didn’t come here and play ice hockey. If I did, I would’ve been really, really bad,” he said. “I’m not trying to over-dribble and do something crazy. I’m just trying to make sure I set good screens and help any way I can [by] motivating from the bench, doing the little things and playing the game of basketball and respecting it the way it deserves to be respected.” 

The 32-year-old, who played five NBA games in the 2018-19 season, said he hopes to use his experience to keep the Bandits at a steady level moving forward even when calls – such as the one against McEwen in Target Score Time – go against them.

“Everyone looked at me before the game like who’s this white guy who’s coming in with tattoos? But when I start playing, my game kinda speaks for itself. And I think even tonight’s performance we can kinda take a lot from each other and how we behaved, and it wasn’t to a high level,” Creek said. 
Guard Tazé Moore, an MVP frontrunner, was held relatively silent with 15 points and nine assists while committing seven turnovers. The American now sits three dimes away from tying Tony Carr’s single-season mark of 110 set in 2022. 

Moore suffered an injury scare in the third quarter when his right leg – on which he’s already had five surgeries – was caught awkwardly underneath the Surge’s James. Moore was down on the court for a few minutes before limping to the bench. He returned to play in the fourth. 

Up next 

The Bandits return to action with a visit to the Winnipeg Sea Bears on Saturday, while Calgary heads to Saskatchewan for a game against the Rattlers on Sunday.