After a hard-fought win at home against Scarborough, the Brampton Honey Badgers prepare for their fourth game against the Niagara River Lions July 27 @ 2:00pm. As the CEBL season approaches its finale and the playoffs are around the corner, the Brampton Honey Badgers are still on the outside looking in with a 5-15 record. With a win last night and a Montreal loss, the gap for the fourth seed between Brampton and the Alliance is now only 3.0 games. Brampton may have a steep road to climb, but they still have a chance at the playoffs, which would be their first appearance since 2023. The Niagara River Lions have solidified themselves as championship contenders, currently sitting at 13-5. After a comeback win in target time against Montreal, momentum is high as the River Lions look to enter the playoffs with momentum. Brampton is coming off a 96-89 win over the Scarborough Shooting Stars which snapped their seven game losing streak. Prior to the game against Scarborough, the Brampton Honey Badgers signed former Honey Badger Yaw Obeng-Mensah and Iona sharpshooter Wheza Panzo. In their debuts, Obeng-Mensah recorded 12 points and nine rebounds (five offensive rebounds). Panzo scored three points in his debut while providing solid defense off the bench. Koby McEwen led the team with 29 points, four rebounds, two steals and one block. Quinndary Weatherspoon scored 27 on 8-for-14 shooting while dishing out four assists and logging two steals. Prince Oduro, helped the Honey Badgers in many areas of the game as well, registering 17 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, one steal and three blocks. As a team, the Honey Badgers were aggressive on both ends of the court. They scored a season-high 27 points off 16 Scarborough turnovers and 44 points in the paint. Most of this was due to their consistent drives to the basket which, in turn, led to Brampton shooting 27 free throws and making 23. Another big reason for the Honey Badgers snapping their losing streak was the bench outscoring the Shooting Stars 19-18. After the game, Honey Badgers Head Coach Sheldon Cassimy gave his thoughts on the win. “I thought we did a good job of weathering the storm in the first quarter, Scarborough came out and they were making a lot of shots. Maybe in the past we may have crumbled but we fought back and played together and stayed positive throughout the entire game and came out with a win”. Niagara won its previous matchup against the Montreal Alliance in a thrilling comeback. Niagara was led by Khalil Ahmad and Ron Curry in scoring, with Ahmad leading the game in scoring with 29 points, and Ron Curry adding 19 points on 7-for-11 from the field. Nathan Cayo and Eddie Ekiyor were key for the defensive effort, combining for nine rebounds, one steal and two blocks. Cayo also had a solid offensive game, scoring 10 points on 4-for-8 from the field and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. As a team, the River Lions scored 44 points in the paint and 16 second chance points. However, Niagara shot 12 free throws to Montreal’s 20 and struggled to keep pace with Montreal’s deep bench which scored 57 points. Looking back at previous matchups with Niagara, crashing the glass and aggressiveness has been a theme. In Brampton’s only win against the River Lions so far, they limited the defending champions to four second chance points by grabbing 34 defensive rebounds. This was in large part thanks to great boxouts from the Honey Badgers front court, which made it difficult for Niagara’s bigs to make an impact on the glass. They also found success by forcing a high volume of midrange shots. If the Honey Badgers can keep the same energy on the glass, they can get a huge win and keep their playoff hopes alive. Both teams are coming into this game in high spirits after huge wins. The Honey Badgers snapped their losing streak in a win against the rival Scarborough Shooting Stars, inching closer to the last playoff spot as the season reaches its conclusion. Niagara’s comeback win against the Montreal Alliance maintains their control over the Eastern Conference and keeps their momentum up as they look to repeat as CEBL Champions. Overall, it’s going to be a crucial game between two teams bringing their best, which you can watch on CEBL+ and TSN+. ### 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

The Scarborough Shooting Stars' path to a playoff berth entering Friday was clear: win and you’re in. None of which mattered to the Brampton Honey Badgers, however, as they picked up a 96-89 win over their GTA rivals to spoil those plans. Brampton’s victory not only snapped a seven-game skid, now 5-15 on the season, but it also aided its chances of making a run to the playoffs. While the Honey Badgers were busy stopping the Shooting Stars from clinching a post-season spot, they were helped in their playoff quest by the Niagara River Lions, who rallied past the Montreal Alliance earlier in the night to keep Brampton’s hopes mathematically alive. Koby McEwen led the Honey Badgers in their pivotal win, scoring 29 points while going 9-for-9 from the free throw line to go with two assists and two steals. Not far behind was Quinndary Weatherspoon, who chipped in 27 points on 8-of-14 shooting with three rebounds, four assists and two steals. Meanwhile, Prince Oduro had one of his best showings of the season with 17 points on 8-of-16 shooting to go with 10 rebounds, six assists and three blocks. Rounding out Brampton’s double-digit scoring efforts was Yaw Obeng-Mensah off the bench with his 12 points and nine rebounds. “We played really hard today,” Oduro explained after the win. “We brought good intensity, and it was also good to see the ball movement … a really good team win today.” All of which was made more impressive by the fact that the Honey Badgers were missing David Muenkat and Marcus Carr, the team’s Nos. 2 and 3 scorers heading into the contest. On the other side, the Shooting Stars' second consecutive loss dropped them to 9-9 on the season and out of a tie for second in the East with the Ottawa BlackJacks. Terquavion Smith did most of Scarborough’s damage on the night as he racked up 27 points on 8-of-16 shooting to go with nine rebounds, a steal and two blocks. The import also made 5-of-9 triples, two shy of tying the franchise record. Behind him was Cat Barber with 18 points and six assists, while Anthony Walker added 12 points, five rebounds and two steals. “An unacceptable loss,” Shooting Stars head coach Mike De Giorgio said post-game. “(Our) energy and effort waxed and waned throughout the game … let them come back, let them stay close. Kudos to them, they made shots, but an unacceptable loss on our part.” It’s no secret that one of Scarborough’s main advantages in the season series against Brampton — previously leading 2-0 before Friday’s tilt, the final regular-season matchup between the two sides — was its production from distance. The Shooting Stars had shot 36 per cent from beyond the arc and averaged 11.5 triples in their previous two meetings with the Honey Badgers. And sure enough, those trends continued on Friday as Scarborough opened the game by making six of its first seven three-point attempts en route to an 8-of-12 effort from beyond the arc through 10 minutes. Leading that charge — as the Shooting Stars carved out a 34-20 lead following the first quarter — was Barber, who started a torrid 4-of-4 from distance as he spearheaded a 20-3 run midway through the frame. Unlike previous matchups, however, the Honey Badgers were able to reclaim momentum after losing it early. Remarkably, flipping what was a 14-point deficit after the first into a 52-51 lead at halftime after outscoring the Shooting Stars 32-17 in the second. The frame included an 11-2 run and a 6-0 finish as Brampton took charge headed into the break. “We did a good job of weathering the storm in the first quarter,” Honey Badgers head coach Sheldon Cassimy said post-game. “Scarborough came out and they were making a lot of shots, maybe in the past we might’ve crumbled, but we fought back.” Part of that swing was Scarborough’s hot shooting from the first fizzling out as the team shot 2-of-10 from distance throughout the second. “Once we were able to get stops — they were shooting lights out — but once we were able to get stops, it helped us get out in transition a little bit … and that’s what I think helped us,” Cassimy added. Another catalyst for that comeback was Oduro, who scored eight points in the quarter as part of 12 points at halftime on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting. All of his points came inside the paint, indicative of the Honey Badgers' collective success scoring up close, as they were a plus-10 (26-16) inside the key through 20 minutes. They’d finish plus-16 in the paint (44-28). “Just trusting (my teammates’) passes,” Oduro said when asked about his strong performance. “The season hasn’t gone how we wanted … but I still think I’m one of the best bigs in this league, so I’m still going to come out and play the same way and let the work show.” Brampton carried its narrow one-point advantage into the fourth (72-71) after a stalemate of a third quarter. And in the decisive 10 minutes, the Honey Badgers eked out the pivotal victory largely by dominating the possession battle. Once the dust settled on a back-and-forth final frame, the Shooting Stars had taken 15 fewer field goal attempts. An outcome made possible largely due to Brampton’s success on the glass (plus-11). All the while, the Honey Badgers capitalized on the Shooting Stars' 16 turnovers on the night to the tune of a 27-13 edge in points off those giveaways. “We didn’t defend at a high enough level, we turned the ball over for easy scores on their part and their guys made a bunch of those shots,” De Giorgio said. The Honey Badgers were also helped by the fact that their starting backcourt of McEwen and Weatherspoon combined to score 19 of the team’s final 21 points, including all 10 in Target Score Time. McEwen did his work first, nailing a floater and then a triple, to which Weatherspoon matched with a mid-range jumper and then a three to end the ball game. Box Score https://www.cebl.ca/game?id=2600644 Up next Both squads return to action on Sunday, starting with the Honey Badgers staying put in Brampton to host the defending champion River Lions . Meanwhile, the Shooting Stars will visit the Alliance for their third of four straight road games. Next CEBL action Just one game is on the docket for Saturday as the Saskatchewan Rattlers head to Ottawa to take on the BlackJacks. For the full 2025 CEBL schedule and up-to-date results, please visit cebl.ca/games . ### 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