HONEY BADGERS TUNE UP THE ROSTER AS PREPARATION FOR PLAYOFF PUSH BEGINS
The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) regular season is quickly coming to a close, which means every game becomes more important than the previous one. In the case of the Brampton Honey Badgers, it’s about maintaining the leverage of the second-place spot in the highly competitive Eastern Conference.
For the last several weeks, it’s felt like the Honey Badgers have been walking on a tightrope after seven consecutive games against their various inner-conference rivals, where they went 2-5 and dropped four games by nine or less points. But this week, Brampton gets a change of scenery in both opponents and location.
The final road trip of the season has arrived, as the team heads to Saskatoon to take on the Mamba, another team hungry to earn their playoff spot but who have also come up short in three of their last five home contests. As Brampton gets their first look at the Mamba this season, new faces will be a huge factor on Thursday night.
Once again, the Honey Badgers have brought in new talent to round out their roster, bringing in experienced pro from overseas
Roddy Peters Jr. and a guy who knows the CEBL inside and out,
Tevian Jones. Jones now joins his fifth team over three seasons in the league, and will look to add to his CEBL resume as the 21st all-time scorer and 20th all-time three-point shooter. He will get his Brampton tenure started against the Mamba, where he played 10 games and averaged 19.3 points per game this summer.
As a corresponding move, the Honey Badgers have released Yor Anei from the team and will have to move on from another import player due to the CEBL’s roster rules. And throughout all the moving parts of the roster over the course of the CEBL season, there is one player returning to the court that Honey Badgers fans will be delighted to see.
With the NBA Summer League in the books,
Sean East II has now made his way back to the Honey Badgers for the final five games of the regular season and will look to provide a sizable spark to his team to push for the playoffs with the highest momentum. East II has averaged 22.8 points, 7.4 assists, and 2.3 steals, all of which rank among the top of the CEBL in 11 games with the Honey Badgers this season. After multiple departures for NBA opportunities, East II is now with the team to stay and will be trying to replicate the thrilling 7-1 start he led Brampton to earlier this summer.
With East II’s return looming, fans began to get excited for the formation of the dynamic duo of him and
Trentyn Flowers, one that would evidently wreak havoc on the rest of the league. But, that anticipation has been put in jeopardy after last Thursday’s contest in Niagara.
Flowers was on an absolute heater in the fourth quarter, scoring 14 out of 18 Brampton points in Target Score Time to fuel a 14-2 run in an attempt to come back from an 18-point deficit. But after taking a leaning jump shot, Flowers landed awkwardly on his knee and faced severe discomfort. The entire team’s hearts sank in an instant, as he couldn’t put any weight on his leg and was helped off the court right before Khalil Ahmad sank the game-winning free throw for the River Lions. With Flowers having just returned from a lower-body injury that kept him out of action since December, fear ran through his and everyone else’s mind that he may have possibly reaggravated the same injury once again.
As he continues to receive scannings on his knee, Flowers will not make the trip to the West Coast with the team this week. And with just two weeks to go in the regular season, if his timeline is any bit extensive he will miss the rest of the summer, leaving a noticeable hole in Brampton’s offensive punch. Point guard
Tyrese Hunter will also miss the two games on the road with an injury of his own. With pivotal pieces to the offense unable to suit up, the Honey Badgers took careful measures by bringing in Jones and Peters Jr. to try and fill the void.
Thursday’s battle with the River Lions also previewed another adjustment to Head Coach
Alex Cerda’s rotation, inserting
Josh Omojafo and
Cameron Tyson back into the starting five and bringing
Brandon Muntu and
Justyn Hamilton off the bench. Tyson was a fuel for the offense over the course of the game, dropping 19 points, six rebounds, and two steals, while splashing in five three-pointers to break the tie for most threes in a single CEBL season (including playoffs). Although Tyson made his impact, the rest fell short, as Omojafo, Muntu, and Hamilton combined to take just seven field goals, only making two of them.
On a higher note, Brampton made the most two-point baskets (27) and scored the most points in the paint (48) of the season on Thursday, rallying behind trusted bigs
Matthew Moncrieffe and
Keon Ambrose-Hylton. Moncrieffe was able to put up 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the interior, while Ambrose-Hylton brought the spark off the bench with nine points (4-of-7 shooting), 12 rebounds, and three steals in an extensive 26 minutes while Moncrieffe struggled with foul trouble.
As Brampton’s roster reaches its final product, the newly assembled pieces will come together on Thursday at the Merlis Belsher Place against the Saskatoon Mamba, and again on Saturday at the Canada Life Centre versus the Sea Bears, with a playoff game on home court in mind over this last stretch. To tune in on the action, Honey Badgers fans can stream both games on CBC Gem, the CBC Sports YouTube page, and CEBL+, with Saturday’s contest set to be broadcast nationally on CBC Sports.
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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)
The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) is Canada’s professional basketball league, featuring 10 member clubs across six provinces. Powered by elite talent, a fast-paced game format, and deep community connections, the CEBL delivers high-level basketball and unforgettable summer experiences for fans nationwide.
The league boasts the youngest fan base in Canadian professional sport, half under age 34, and one of the fastest-growing audiences in the country, now reaching nearly 4.1 million Canadians. This momentum reflects the CEBL’s ability to deliver dynamic, thrilling gameplay while connecting deeply with a new generation of fans and expanding basketball’s cultural footprint across Canada.
The CEBL is where elite performance meets homegrown talent. In 2025, 17 players with NBA experience hit the court, while nearly 70% of the league’s roster was Canadian, the highest concentration of domestic talent in any professional sports league in the country. Running from May through August, the CEBL’s season is a showcase of top basketball talent and a summer hub for fast-paced, high-energy fan excitement.
Media Contact:
Elias Eldridge - Account Executive & Communications Specialist
Brampton Honey Badgers
eeldridge@honeybadgers.ca
