The Brampton Honey Badgers are playing at home for the first time this season against the Scarborough Shooting Stars on May 25 after going 0-2 in their first away games of the season.

Still early in the season, the home opener can provide a lot of momentum for the Honey Badgers who have an all time record of 3-3 in home openers including an 80-72 win against the Montreal Alliance in 2022, the year they won the Championship. This home opener looks to be even more exciting as the Brampton Honey Badgers take on their crosstown rivals in a 2022 CEBL championship rematch. 

Remnants of that championship matchup are present on both teams. For the Honey Badgers, Prince Oduro remains on the team and has become an experienced leader along with the returning Koby McEwen, who is coming off a Canadian Player of the Year campaign in 2024.

“This organization is like home to me. It is good to be somewhere where you know how things go and you know everyone there,” said Oduro. 

“I’m excited to be back and I'm excited to play in front of you guys,” said McEwen in his message to fans after coming back to Brampton after last season in Vancouver. 

In the 2022 home opener, McEwen posted 12 points and Oduro cleaned up the glass grabbing six rebounds. A year in which McEwen would finish top-five in scoring and steals on the Honey Badgers with 12.1 points and 1.2 steals per game. Oduro would finish top-five in rebounds and second in blocks per game on the Honey Badgers averaging 4.4 and 0.8, respectively. 

For Scarborough, only forward Danilo Djurcic remains from the team Brampton beat in the championship and has remained with the team since winning the CEBL Championship in 2023. Other players remain from Scarborough’s championship team including the CEBL Championship Player of the Game, Cat Barber and former Brampton Honey Badger, David Walker. 

It will also be a reunion for Honey Badger's new acquisition David Muenkat, who won the CEBL championship with Scarborough averaging 7.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 16.4 minutes with the Scarborough Shooting Stars. His year was highlighted by a 21-point, nine-rebound and one-block outing against the Niagara River Lions.

Last season, the Honey Badgers and Shooting Stars faced off against each other three times with Scarborough winning the season series 2-1. Scarborough finished the season with a 12-8 record and made their third consecutive Championship Weekend appearance before losing to Calgary in the first round. 

The Honey Badgers finished last season 6-14 and are looking to get back to Championship Weekend for the first time since winning it all in 2022.  McEwen, Oduro, and Muenkat’s experience will be a great boost to the team as far as understanding what it takes to win a championship. 

“Its going to be a day-to-day process. The first year we won the chip, my rookie year, I feel like we won because guys worked hard everyday. So just after winning one chip already, I know it’s an everyday process,” Oduro said, reflecting on what it takes to win a CEBL championship. 

This game will be all the more important as Brampton finds themselves 0-2 after failing to win on the road versus Montreal and Ottawa. Brampton’s loss to Ottawa was particularly sapping as Brampton led going into the third quarter 50-47, courtesy of a stellar game from Quinndary Weatherspoon who finished the game with 29 points (11-18), one rebound, seven assists and three steals. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to secure the win as the Honey Badgers fell 105-83 to the BlackJacks.

Scarborough on the other hand, has yet to play a regular season game and are effectively at a blank slate. Returning players include Cat Barber, who averaged 19.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 28.9 minutes per game last season and is currently the all-time leading scorer in CEBL history. Donovan Williams had a career-year in Scarborough after playing overseas, averaging 17.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 27.0 minutes per game. They have also made some new signings such as forward Khalil Miller, who began his career with the Ottawa BlackJacks before playing overseas in Germany. For his career he posted up 13.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.8 blocks. 

The other major free agency signing made by the Shooting Stars was wing-scorer Jayden Coke. He showed his gift for scoring in university when he averaged 19.9 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists. He then played professionally in Poland for KKS Polonia W where he averaged 19.0 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.2 blocks in 32.2 minutes per game in 34 games. If his scoring translates to the CEBL, he will pair nicely with Miller’s defense and Barber’s scoring. 

The Honey Badgers campaign continues on in their home opener on Sunday afternoon, May 25 vs. the Scarborough Shooting Stars. Brampton will then travel to Alberta for a back-to-back against the Edmonton Stingers on May 28 and the Calgary Surge on May 29. You can watch the Honey Badgers take on the Shooting Stars on Game+, CEBL+, and TSN+, and NLSE.

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About the Brampton Honey Badgers

One of the original franchises of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL), the 2022 CEBL Champion Brampton Honey Badgers proudly call the CAA Centre home. The Brampton front office and basketball operations department bring NBA, NBA G League, national team, NCAA and major international pro league experience to the franchise. With a vision of promoting Brampton grassroots basketball and local businesses through community and corporate engagement, the Honey Badgers will leverage the explosion of basketball as a vehicle for innovation and change. For more information visit honeybadgers.ca.

About the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) 

A league created by Canadians for Canadians with a mission to develop Canadian players, coaches, sports executives, and referees, the CEBL boasts the highest percentage of Canadian players of any pro league in the country with 73% of its rosters being Canadian and more than 10 players with NBA game experience in 2025. Players also bring experience from the NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, NCAA programs, as well as U SPORTS and CCAA. More than 20 players have signed NBA contracts following a CEBL season, and numerous CEBL players attend NBA G League training camps every year. The CEBL season runs from May through August with games broadcast live on CEBL+ powered by Tonybet, TSN, TSN+, RDS, Game+ and Next Level Sports & Entertainment. More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.

Media Contact:
Elias Eldridge - Account Executive & Communications Specialist

Brampton Honey Badgers

eeldridge@honeybadgers.ca