Vancouver Bandits secured tops in the Western Conference, and a bye to Championship Weekend in Montreal, with a 104-90 victory over the Scarborough Shooting Stars Friday night, July 26, at Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre.
“It was definitely a goal of ours to come here this weekend and get that done,” said Marcus Carr, who shot an efficient 8-for-13 from the field coming off the bench for the Bandits.
Going into the game, Bandits had the highest points per game average, lowest points against per game average and the best point differential in the league.
Coach Kyle Julius believes there’s still another gear for this team to hit as they try to win it all in Montreal.
"This was Phase 1 for us and now we’ve got to go into Phase 2,"Julius remarked.
“These guys have nothing to do with last year, but I was thoroughly embarrassed with the way we played last year and we’ve really worked hard this year to bring a different group in with a different approach and when we started doing it that was Phase 1 and now it’s playoff basketball and everybody’s gotta be better. The coaching staff, the water guys, the trainers, the last guy’s gotta be better and it starts right now.”
Vancouver now owns the longest active win streak in the league at four straight.
"Out of all the teams that I’ve been on all my life, we’re more connected,” said Vancouver guard Taze Moore, who finished with 15 points and five rebounds. “We go out to eat, rock climb, jump out of planes."
Bandits forward Ward appeared to suffer a calf injury and was forced to leave the court with assistance in the third quarter. Before he left the game, he put up 12 points and three rebounds, numbers that brought him to 900 points and 400 rebounds for his CEBL career in the regular season.
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