Edmonton Stingers brought their perfect 5-0 road record to Langley Events Centre where the Vancouver Bandits looked to extend their unblemished 6-0 mark on their home court as the two top teams in the Canadian Elite Basketball League squared off on Saturday, June 30.
In the end, it was the visitors extending their road winning streak with a 107-88 win in front of a sell-out crowd of 4,538 fans as the Bandits celebrated their Filipino Heritage Game.
The result leaves both teams with identical 8-3 records.
Vancouver coach and general manager Kyle Julius described it as the "Vancouver Bandits beating the Vancouver Bandits,”
"We missed a lot of good looks. I actually thought that in the first half that was some of the most open threes we have had all year, to be honest. We just didn’t make it,” Julius said.
READ ALSO: VIDEO: Vancouver Bandits remain undefeated at home
Bandits were down nine going into the second half and trimmed the deficit to three points with a 5-0 spurt to open the third, but Edmonton would respond with a 13-0 run of their own.
For the Bandits, Nick Ward finished with 29-20 of which came in the first half – while Zach Copeland had 17 and Tazé Moore scored 15 to go along with seven rebounds and seven assists.
Unfortunately for the Bandits, Moore fouled out of the game near the end of the third quarter while Ward was ejected following his second technical foul shortly before Target Score Time.
As a team, Vancouver received four technical fouls and 29 total fouls compared to 23 fouls for Edmonton.
The Stingers also had 31 free throw attempts compared to the Bandits’ 20.
Vancouver is right back in action on Canada Day as they host the Niagara River Lions at Langley Events Centre.
Game time on Monday will be 5 p.m.
READ ALSO: VIDEO: Bandits team unveils special Terry Fox jerseys
Bandits will wear a special edition jersey featuring iconic imagery of Canadian hero Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope. Proceeds from the sale of each jersey will be donated to the Terry Fox Foundation in support of cancer research across Canada. The jersey is available in both adult and youth sizes for pre-order at this link while a limited selection of replica jerseys will be available for sale at the Bandits’ Canada Day game.
