Shooting Stars Victorious in Battle of Conference Leaders
Scarborough Moves to 8-1 After Defeating 7-3 Vancouver
The Scarborough Shooting Stars defeated the Vancouver Bandits 108-105 on Monday night at the Langley Events Centre in Vancouver.
It was a heavyweight matchup between the Eastern Conference leading 8-1 Shooting Stars and the Western Conference leading 7-3 Vancouver Bandits.
The two best offenses in the league lived up to their billing quickly. The Shooting Stars broke their franchise record for points in the first half with 65, passing their previous record of 61 back in their championship 2023 season. Myles Powell had 20 points in his first 12 minutes of action and Scarborough shot 65% from the field as the first half ended 65-61 for Scarborough.
Matching Powell was two MVP candidates of their own in Vancouver’s Jaelen House and last year’s CEBL MVP, Mitch Creek. Creek dropped 29 points, 7 rebounds and four assists and House scored 22 points on 71% shooting.
Despite Vancouver’s star’s having a great game, Scarborough went on a 15-2 run out of the second half to take an 80-63 lead. The Bandits took back-to-back technical fouls and it looked like Scarborough was going to pull away.
As the second half dragged on, the Shooting Stars offence got more and more stagnant and isolation-focused. Vancouver fought all the way back and we went into Target Time tied at 99.
To kick off Target Time, Scarborough forward Javan Johnson scored two of his 20 points on the night before the Aamir Simms show started. Simms scored the team's final seven points with an array of offensive rebounds and grown man finishes in the paint.
Simms’ third Target Time winner of the season has the Shooting Stars off to the best start in franchise history.