Agada leads Honey Badgers past Alliance to deny Montreal's dream debut in CEBL opener

Caleb Agada posted game-highs of 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists to lead the Hamilton Honey Badgers past the visiting Montreal Alliance 80-72 on Wednesday in Canadian Elite Basketball League opening night action.

NBA G-league champion Christian Vital and Jeremiah Tilmon added 15 points each for Hamilton (1-0). Koby Mcewen also scored in double digits, tallying 12 points from the bench.

Isiah Osborne had 16 to lead Montreal (0-1), one of the three expansions franchises in the CEBL this season along with the Scarborough Shooting Stars and the Newfoundland Growlers, raising the league's total to 10 teams.

Bandits edge BlackJacks

Also on Wednesday, Alex Campbell's contested three-pointer handed the Fraser Valley Bandits a 90-87 road victory over the Ottawa BlackJacks.

The 2019 CEBL finals MVP had team-highs with 23 points and 9 rebounds to lead Fraser Valley (1-0). Deng Adel poured in 37 points for Ottawa (0-1).

A single point separated the teams entering Elam Ending, with Ottawa leading 80-79. The hosts then proceeded to take a 87-83 lead but failed to reach the 89-point target to secure the win.

WATCH l Campbell's Elam Ending 3-pointer powers Bandits over BlackJacks:

Bandits edge BlackJacks with Campbell's 3-pointer

3 years ago

Duration 0:36

Alex Campbell hits the Elam Ending 3-pointer to lift Fraser Valley to a 90-87 victory over Ottawa.

Rattlers down River Lions

Scott Lindsey scored 23 points to lift the Saskatchewan Rattlers to a 92-89 home win over the 2021 runner-up Niagara River Lions to conclude the opening night.

Anthony Carr helped the Rattlers (1-0) with 17 points and 10 assists to post the first double-double of the 2022 CEBL season.

Khalil Ahmad led the River Lions with 34 points. The 25-year-old shooting guard hit a 3-pointer from half-court heading into the break to give Saskatchewan (0-1) a four-point lead.

WATCH l River Lions end 1st half in style with Ahmad's half-court basket:

River Lions' Ahmad hits shot from half-court to end 1st half

3 years ago

Duration 0:33

Niagara guard Khalil Ahmad hits a 3-pointer from half-court to give his team a 4-point lead over Saskatchewan heading into the break.

The 2022 CEBL regular season will run from May 25 to August 1. The league made its debut in 2019, with the Rattlers taking the inaugural title. The Edmonton Stingers are the current back-to-back reigning champions.

On Thursday, the Guelph Nighthawks will host the Shooting Stars.

WATCH l A look ahead to the 2022 CEBL season:

2022 CEBL Season Preview

3 years ago

Duration 6:09

Host of 'CEBL Weekly' Sean Woodley joins CBC Sports' Vivek Jacob to preview the 4th season of the CEBL as the season gets set to tip off on May 25th.