ST. CATHARINES – The Edmonton Stingers will enter the CEBL Summer Series playoffs as the top-seed after beating the Guelph Nighthawks 85-71 Monday night.
The Stingers end the round-robin portion of the tournament with a 5-1 record.
Guelph’s final game of the round robin is against Fraser Valley on Wednesday. Seeding implications are on the line as both clubs have 3-2 records and will look to solidify a second-place finish and the last remaining bye for the semifinals.
Edmonton outscored Guelph in each of the first three quarters until the Nighthawks awoke in the final frame, outscoring the Stingers 26-18 in the fourth.
Joel Friesen did his best to spur a Nighthawks comeback, knocking down three three-pointers and 11 of his team-high 14 points in the final quarter.
The Nighthawks trailed by as many as 23 points and cut the deficit to 11 points in the fourth quarter, only for Daniels to calmly step back and drain a three-pointer to seal the game.
Although the Nighthawks’ bench had a strong outing, Edmonton’s size and ability to control the glass paid dividends as the Stingers prevented extra possessions and wore Guelph down on the glass. Edmonton outrebounded Guelph, 51-33.
Edmonton's Adika Peter-McNeilly scored a game-high 21 points and also had nine rebounds.
“Hats off to Edmonton, they just played with a lot more toughness and physicality than we did. I think that was the main difference,” said Nighthawks head coach and general manager Charles Kissi. “We’ve bounced back before and now we’ve lost another one – we didn’t expect to go 6-0. We’re going to figure it out.”
