Vancouver Bandits are in Toronto tonight (Friday, July 26), looking for a victory against the Scarborough Shooting Stars to clinch first place in the west.
A victorious game against the Brampton Honey Badgers, 108-83, on Thursday night helped secure the 91原创-based team a playoff berth.
A victory tonight at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, will cement that first-place position in the Canadian Elite Basketball League's western conference, thereby earning them an automatic bye to the finals in Quebec next month.
This is the second meeting between these two sides. The first one happened way back on May 26, with the Bandits emerging victorious 88-83 in Vancouver.
The Shooting Stars, who are locked into second place in the East and a home date with the Ottawa BlackJacks in the Eastern Conference Play-In, will look to Friday鈥檚 game against the Bandits as a solid test against stiff competition before the playoffs begin.
The game tips off at 5 p.m. PT.
"Expect lots of fireworks Friday night as this matchup pits the two top scoring teams in the league against one another," said Bandit's Steven Loung.
Statistically, the Bandits are coming in as the favourite as they also allow the fewest points per game, and have the best point differential in the CEBL, but this isn鈥檛 to say that the Shooting Stars can鈥檛 compete, Loung elaborated.
Far from it, in fact.
Scarborough is currently the hottest team in the league right now, having won four straight and its solid 7-1 home record certainly gives it an advantage over the 4-4 mark that Vancouver has managed on the road.
"Led by the electric Cat Barber, the defending champs are peaking at the right time, and he鈥檚 been a big part of it, averaging 25.2 points per game over the course of the Shooting Stars鈥� win streak. Toronto native Koby McEwen has taken the reins as Vancouver鈥檚 leader this season, with his deadeye three-point shooting a key aspect of the Bandits鈥� balanced attack, but he missed last night鈥檚 game in Brampton and is currently listed as day-to-day," Loung noted.
Both the Shooting Stars and Bandits are locked into playoff spots. The Montreal Alliance will be hosting Championship Weekend this year and get an automatic bye to the final four tournament.
Considering how their respective regular seasons have gone, Scarborough and Vancouver alike look to have legitimate aspirations toward earning their place in Montreal for Championship Weekend.
Following tonight's game against Scarborough, who is sitting 11-7 for the season, the Bandits (who have 13 wins and 5 loses to their record this year) only have one more regular season game, again on the road. They'll play next on Sunday, July 28 in Montreal.
