Xavier Rathan-Mayes in his first game for Hamilton Honey Badgers sets new league record with 37 points.
MiKyle McIntosh one of four new signees making Badgers’ debut, ejected for second technical foul; he had 17 points in just 22 minutes and might have made a difference in two-point loss to Edmonton Stingers
If you're going to come in, come in big.
Xavier Rathan-Mayes poured in 37 points in a losing cause Sunday afternoon to set a new Canadian Elite Basketball League scoring record in his first game for the Hamilton Honey Badgers.
The previous mark was 36, established in an overtime game two months ago by guard Xavier Moon, the floor general at the opposite end of the floor.
His Edmonton Stingers edged Hamilton 105-103 in a wildly entertaining matinee at FirstOntario Place.
Moon, the league's leading scorer, had 19 for the surging Stingers.
Rathan-Mayes didn't realize he'd established a new league mark until well after the game.
"I wanted to come out here and be aggressive," he said.
"I had 37 and I think I missed seven free throws (He was actually 3-for-8) and I missed a crucial one that should have put us into overtime. But I'm honoured to have this right now. It'll probably be broken soon."
After an Edmonton time-count throw-in turnover with five seconds left and Hamilton down three, Rathan-Mayes drew a foul on a three-point attempt, but missed his first free throw.
He made the second and deliberately missed the third to give the Badgers some chance for a game-tying bucket, but it went for naught.
The Badgers (8-8), virtually assured a spot in the four-team CEBL championship tournament Aug. 22 to 25, fell three-and-a-half games behind the second-place Stingers, who could still finish first.
The Stingers (11-4) have won seven straight games since Jermaine Small moved up from assistant coach to take over for Barnaby Craddock.
The Badgers signed five new players in the week leading into their Thursday night playoff roster freeze deadline.
Four were in uniform Sunday, and two — Rathan-Mayes of Markham and Pickering's MiKyle McIntosh, both 25 years old —started.
Keanu Post and McIntosh's best friend Duane Notice came off the bench with Post grabbing four rebounds and Notice logging a solid 31 minutes of floor time.
The fifth, Murphy Burnatowski, was absent because of a family function and will see his first action next Saturday at home against the Saskatchewan Rattlers.
"We had two hours of practice together, that's it," head coach Chantal Vallée said of the revamped lineup.
"We talked before the game that it'll take time to develop chemistry. We saw the potential of what we can do, and we were without our forward for most of the second half."
That forward was McIntosh, who had contributed 17 points and five rebounds in 22 minutes of play before he was ejected in the third quarter for his second technical foul of the game.
Vallée wouldn't comment after the game but on the sideline during it she was very animated, vocal and clearly angry with both the foul call and the ejection.
"I wasn't sure exactly what happened," McIntosh said.
"I was trying to make a basketball play on the second one, to bounce the ball off someone's back so it would go out of bounds. They said it was malicious intent. Hopefully, they'll review and see it wasn't malicious at all."
Both Rathan-Mayes and McIntosh chose to come to Hamilton for the final quarter of the season to begin preparing for next season and to help the team toward the inaugural league championship.
Neither has signed anywhere for the 2019-20 season but have options in North America and overseas.
McIntosh played with Notice with Raptors 905 in the G League last season, and Rathan-Mayes actually played in the NBA for five games with Memphis Grizzlies just 16 months ago. For both, the NBA is still squarely in their sights.
Although the paycheques are far more significant in most European leagues, many NBA observers figure the G League is the best route into the NBA.
"Not necessarily," McIntosh counters. "The G League helped me out a lot. I got my numbers (10.8 pts, 5.3 rebounds, per game) in G League.
"Obviously, it's not always about money, but at this point in time I'm seeing a lot of guys coming over from Europe and signing contracts with NBA teams."
For Vallée, McIntosh and Rathan-Mayes, it all takes adjustment time to develop communication on both offence and defence. Although it was a close game, the Stingers — who didn't make big changes — had a much better understanding of, and feeling for, each other.
"It's kind of just gelling and finding that balance between everyone," Rathan-Mayes said.
"I think we did a really good job. We competed with a really good team and we lost by two. I don't do moral victories ... but I think we're right there."
When he was at Florida State, Rathan-Mayes lodged himself into school and YouTube lore by scoring 30 points in just four minutes and 38 seconds in a 2015 game against Miami.
"That was a special moment, a really special moment," he said.
"To tell you the truth, I don't even remember the feeling. I was in a different kind of zone. It was like I was just in an arena by myself shooting. We didn't get the win so it diminishes it a little bit. But it was special to be in that moment against our rivals."
Setting a new league record in a new league might not be quite so special, but it certainly was noticeable.
smilton@thespec.com
905-526-3268 | @miltonatthespec
905-526-3268 | @miltonatthespec