As the season continues for the Brampton Honey Badgers, they find themselves still in search of a win as they take on the Calgary Surge in the second leg of their only back-to-back of the season. 

Last year, the Calgary Surge finished 11-9 and made their second straight Championship Weekend appearance since their inception. While still looking for their first CEBL championship. They made noise in last year’s playoffs beating the Winnipeg Sea Bears in their play-in game and upsetting their provincial rivals, the Edmonton Stingers in a 78-69 thriller before losing to the Vancouver Bandits in the conference finals. 

Meanwhile, the Honey Badgers had a final record of 6-14, missing the CEBL playoffs for the second straight season since winning their first championship in 2022. However, they got the better of Calgary in their most recent matchup, winning 108-105 during the 2024 season.

Brampton’s most productive players that game included Zane Waterman who posted up 15 points and 13 rebounds. Shamiel Stevenson and LJ Thorpe also contributed with 14 points, five rebounds and one steal from Stevenson and 13 points and nine assists from Thorpe. Their most productive player came off the bench as Elijah Mitrou-Long scored a game high 28 points on 75% from three-point land and 9-for-14 from the field. 

It was enough to keep pace and eventually overcome 27-point and 25-point outings from Calgary’s Justin Lewis and Stefan Smith while Calgary Stalwart Sean Miller-Moore contributed with 19 points (9-for-17).

Both teams look quite different from last year’s iterations. For the Honey Badgers, Stevenson departed for the Euro League with BK Inter Bratislava and Mitrou-Long left for Italy. Waterman also left in free agency, going to the Ottawa BlackJacks.

To replace these losses, Brampton assembled a variety of free agency signings to support their current core. CEBL champion David Muenkat was brought in to add extra rebounding and energy to the forward position. Former George Mason University big man Amari Kelly was brought in to be the partner in the front court to Prince Oduro and is currently averaging close to a double-double in four games. 

Brampton’s most exciting free agency signings were both at the guard position. Firstly, they brought back former Honey Badger and the reigning CEBL Canadian Player of the Year Koby McEwen. McEwen was a rookie when the Honey Badgers previously made championship weekend and won their championship in 2022 where he became a fan favourite as a rookie averaging 12.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists. He continued to improve in 2023 before having his breakout opportunity in Vancouver where he averaged 17.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. 

They also brought in former NBA Champion and CBA star Quinndary Weatherspoon. Weatherspoon won the NBA Championship with the Golden State Warriors in 2022. While in China he exploded as a scorer and playmaker averaging 26.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 7.6 assists with Qingdao. Weatherspoon has had a good start to the season averaging 20.0 points, 1.3 rebounds and 6.0 assists.

Calgary has their own star NBA signings to match Quinndary Weatherspoon however, as they signed Greg Brown III who played three years in the NBA with Portland and Dallas before signing with the Calgary Surge. He’s had a great start to the season so far, averaging 17.2 points , 6.2 rebound and a CEBL-high 2.8 blocks in three games with the Calgary Surge. The second NBA signing for Calgary is former Pistons shooting guard Khyri Thomas who is currently averaging 5.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.8 steals as their perimeter defense anchor.

Along with Brown and Thomas, Calgary’s new signings Jameer Nelson Jr. and hometown kid Olumide Adelodun have contributed early in their first season in the CEBL with Nelson averaging 17.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists and Adelodun posting up 11.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 16.9 minutes. 

Rounding the team off is longtime Surge player Sean Miller-Moore. Miller-Moore has been with the team since 2022 as a starting guard and has been a consistent performer in some of their biggest games. In their win over the Edmonton Stingers, Miller-Moore scored 17 points (6-for-15), 12 rebounds, two assists, one steal and two blocks. In the semi-final victory over the Vancouver Bandits, he posted up 15 points and eight rebounds. He is currently averaging 13.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists. 

This season, the Surge have gotten off to a good start at 3-1 including a 32-point blowout win against the Winnipeg Sea Bears. In their win against the Sea Bears, the Surge assisted on 69% of their field goals and went on three double-digit scoring runs including a 21-3 thrashing while the Sea Bears could not buy a bucket for seven minutes. NelsonJr., Brown, and Sean Miller-Moore had highlight reel after highlight reel as the Surge entered target time up 71-48, comfortably winning the game 93-61. 

For Calgary head coach, this game was the result of the hard work put in on and off the court.

“They’re a great practice group and we’ve just been carrying that over to the game.” Canales said in praise of his players. 

Things have gone poorly for the Honey Badgers so far as they find themselves 0-4, their worst start to the season in franchise history. Despite the struggles, Head Coach Sheldon Cassimy is keeping calm and focusing on what the team has done well when speaking after the game.

“I think we consistently show flashes of how good we can be. So it’s just a matter of us staying together through the losing streak and knowing that there’s still a whole other 20 games left, so it could turn around very easily”. Cassimy said. 

Honey Badgers forward Amari Kelly had his own insight of how the team played against Edmonton. 

“I think we could have done a little bit better job on the glass and being physical in the paint. Defensively, we weren’t locked in,” Kelly said after the game. 

The Brampton Honey Badgers look to get their first win of the season against the Calgary Surge. Will the Honey Badgers get scorched by the Surge like the other teams, or can they get the better of the Surge in a heat check of a win? You can watch the Honey Badgers take on the Surge on CEBL+ and TSN+.

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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