The Honey Badgers are looking to start a win streak as they head to the Meridian Centre to take on the defending champions, Niagara River Lions, for their first matchup in the season. Things have not gone well for the Brampton Honey Badgers this season, sitting dead last in the CEBL in a nightmare of a season. However, their hard fought win over the Winnipeg Sea Bears on June 6 has given them a spark which they can use to get some much needed wins. The River Lions on the other hand, are 3-2, locked in a three-team race with the Scarborough Shooting Stars and the Montreal Alliance for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. The Honey Badgers are in high spirits after their 81-74 comeback win against the Winnipeg Sea Bears. Despite being down 67-71 at the beginning of target time, they fought tooth and nail to stay in the game and eventually, they broke through and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Koby McEwen was the star of the game, dropping a game-high 23 points and hit a game-high 11 free throws while going perfect from the charity stripe. He had support from Quinndary Weatherspoon who scored 17 points (5-for-10), dished the ball for four assists and got two steals before being ejected after accumulating two technical fouls. “I thought we did a way better job sticking together through adversity, ups and downs of the game. We got through that … I definitely feel like we’re in the right direction,” Cassimy said in his assessment of the game. The Niagara River Lions are also feeling good after getting a 98-94 win over the Scarborough Shooting Stars. The River Lions had a balanced offense throughout the game with no one scoring over 20 points while six different players scored 10+ points and put together 21 team assists. In his second game of the season, Khalil Ahmad led the team in scoring with an effective 17 points, five rebounds, and eight assists. Nathan Cayo’s second game back was just as successful, scoring 15 points, grabbing six rebounds, and getting one steal. With Ahmad and Cayo missing games early in the season, team captain Kimbal Mackenzie, Guilliame Boucard, and Ron Curry have held down the fort as the River Lions have been one of the better teams in the League. They currently lead the league in blocks per game at 7.8. They are also currently sixth in points against with 92.6 and fourth in offensive rebounds, logging 13.2. Mackenzie is currently averaging 16.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 5.2 assists. Boucard is posting 10.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.8 blocks, and Curry is scoring 10.0 points, grabbing 2.8 rebounds and dishing out 4.6 assists. Head coach Victor Raso has been pleased with Mackenzie’s performances so far and offered praise after Niagara’s comeback win over the Ottawa BlackJacks in which Mackenzie scored 24 points. “He’s a Captain. He is the Captain of the team. He’s an extension of me. Kimbal’s the Niagara College Women’s coach. He gets it from both ends and he’s playing the best basketball he’s ever played. Yes he fires up the crowd, he took a couple of fouls, he got an unsportsmanlike foul, so I can see why people don’t like him, but he’s our leader,” Raso said in praise of Mackenzie. Last year the Honey Badgers failed to reach Championship Weekend for the second year in a row, finishing the season 6-14. The River Lions on the other hand, had a season to remember with a final record of 14-6 and winning their first CEBL championship against the Vancouver Bandits. Nathan Cayo led the team in points and rebounds with 25 points (11-for-19), eight rebounds, and also recording four assists. Khalil Ahmad logged 23 points, (7-for-15), four assists, two blocks, and three steals. This year, the River Lions are fielding mostly the same team as last year. Khalil Ahmad is currently the longest tenured and most decorated River Lion, having spent his entire career there winning the CEBL Defensive Player of the Year in 2023, becoming a two-time CEBL Clutch Player of the Year and making the all-star game twice. Cayo spent his rookie and sophomore season with the Montréal Alliance before signing with the River Lions. The new faces in Niagara are Guillaume Boucard and Ron Curry. Boucard is a stable defensive forward who is currently averaging 10.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.8 blocks. Ron Curry also joins from Sporting Clube de Portugal. While in Portugal he made his name as a solid perimeter defender averaging 2.1 steals. His defense has translated well so far as he is currently averaging 1.6 steals a game in the CEBL. Meanwhile, the Brampton Honey Badgers revamped most of the team in an effort to improve upon the 2024 season’s results and get back to their winning ways. The current longest tenured Honey Badger is Prince Oduro, a forward and fan favourite, known for his rebounding and energy on both offense and defense. Oduro won a championship in his first year with the Honey Badgers and is currently the all-time franchise leader in blocks and rebounds and is currently averaging 8.7 points and 5.8 rebounds. His teammate for the 2022 championship, Koby McEwen, is the reigning CEBL Canadian Player of the Year. After averaging 12.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists in his rookie season, he eventually left for Vancouver in 2023 where he averaged 15.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists and made his second finals appearance where he lost to the Niagara River Lions. He is currently averaging 16.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.1 steals. To add to the duo of McEwen and Oduro, the Honey Badgers added former NBA Champion and CBA superstar, Quinndary Weatherspoon. A gifted scorer and playmaker, Weatherspoon averaged 26.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 7.8 assists in Qingdao. In his games with the Brampton Honey Badgers, he is averaging 19.8 points, 1.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.8 steals. The Honey Badgers also added key role players including NBA Summer League-experienced big man Amari Kelly, currently averaging 12.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 26.7 minutes. Former Winnipeg Sea Bear David Muenkat was also signed and is currently posting up a healthy 8.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 28.1 minutes. Finally, defensive guard William Douglas was signed to add extra defense to McEwen and Weatherspoon’s scoring. As both teams are coming off wins, building a win streak will be key for both teams as the season continues. For the Honey Badgers, they find themselves playing for their lives every game for the foreseeable future if they want to make playoffs. For the River Lions, they still need to solidify their hold on the Eastern Conference if they want to have any chance of being the first team to repeat since the Edmonton Stingers. Only one team can leave with a win so it will be an entertaining match from start to finish. You can watch the Brampton Honey Badgers take on the defending champion Niagara River Lions on CEBL+, TSN+, and NLSE. ### 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

Both squads entered Brampton amid skids, but only the Honey Badgers (1-6) left with a much-needed notch in the win column. They made sure of it by picking up an 81-74 comeback victory over the Winnipeg Sea Bears (1-5) at the CAA Centre on Friday. It was an entire team effort for Brampton in order to get its first win and put its franchise-worst 0- 6 start to bed. Four different players finished in double digits for points, led by Koby McEwen’s game-high 23. Behind him was Quinndary Weatherspoon, who finished with 17 points in 21 minutes on 50 per cent shooting from the field and three-point line. Meanwhile, Amari Kelly chipped in 11 points and nine rebounds while David Muenkat scored 10, including the game-winner in Target Score Time. “We’ve been talking about playing together the entire time,” Honey Badgers head coach Sheldon Cassimy said after the win. “I thought we did a way better job sticking together through adversity, ups and downs of the game. We got through that … I definitely feel like we’re in the right direction.” An impressive victory in and of itself was accentuated by the absence of Weatherspoon, who didn’t play the entire fourth quarter after he was disqualified following a second technical foul. Yet despite missing the league’s eight-best scorer (20.4 points per game) and trailing the entire fourth until Target Time, the Honey Badgers showed a resolve not previously seen until Friday. “Maybe in the past, we might have crumbled,” Cassimy said on Brampton’s comeback without its leading scorer. “(But) we’re more together as a group now, we’ve talked some things out and we’re building our chemistry together, so we were able to rally and get through adversity.” On the other side, the Sea Bears have now lost five straight and remain winless on the road. That was even with the addition of Jalen Harris, who finished with a team-high 17 points to go with four rebounds and six assists in his Sea Bears debut. And despite the loss, it didn’t take long for the two-time All-CEBL guard to reach another milestone just one game into his fourth season. With his first helper of the night, Harris became just the 50th player in league history to reach 100 total assists (regular season only). A majority of Winnipeg’s production beyond that came from its second unit. The trio of Emmanuel Akot, Terry Roberts and Nathan Bilamu put up 13, 12 and 11 points, respectively, as the Sea Bears won the bench-scoring battle 39-16. “Had the lead going into Target Score Time, but we did not finish our plays. Give credit to Brampton,” Sea Bears head coach and general manager Mike Taylor said post-game. “It was a hard-fought game, both teams really wanted to get the win … We got great bench production for our team, put ourselves where we needed to be, but we got to do a better job finishing the game.” While all eyes were on Harris early — fair, considering he set the CEBL’s single-game scoring record of 45 points just last year and scored five of Winnipeg’s first nine points on Friday, including a deep-triple on his very first attempt — it was Brampton that carved out an early advantage. “Played with such poise and helped us organize the game,” Taylor said of Harris’ Sea Bears debut. “There’s lots of potential there … really excited to have him.” The Honey Badgers took their first lead of the ball game on a Muenkat three midway through the first and held on to a 22-21 edge to end the opening frame. Leading that effort was McEwen, who scored eight of his 16 first-half points in the quarter, including a 2-of-3 start from downtown. Brampton built on that margin throughout the second, largely thanks to its rim pressure, finishing the first half with 18 paint points (plus-eight). Part of that effort was their dominance on the glass, earning a 24-11 first-half rebounding edge. Seven of those boards came on the offensive end (plus-six) for 11 unanswered second-chance points. “We did a good job controlling the glass,” McEwen said post-game. “We got out and ran a little bit more, and there was just more flow and pace to our offence … there was no choice but to get that win.” It was an inspired effort in stark contrast to their usual rebounding woes — the Honey Badgers entered Friday ranked last for total (34.7) and offensive (8.5) boards. They would go on to finish the game a plus-18 on the glass and plus-14 for second-chance points thanks to a 14-8 edge for offensive rebounds. “Definitely an emphasis,” Cassimy said on the Honey Badgers’ rebounding effort on Friday. “We’re continuing to get better … hopefully that’s something we see every game from now on. Being relentless on the offensive glass and finding other opportunities to score.” All of which should have been enough for Brampton to hold onto a seven-point lead it carved out in the opening half, had it not been for Winnipeg’s lights-out shooting. The Sea Bears shot 8-of-15 (53 per cent) from beyond the arc through the first 20 minutes and it allowed them to end the second quarter on a 7-2 run and knot the score at 45-45 going into the break. Winnipeg’s hot start was a bucking of a trend as well, entering the evening ranked last in three-point percentage (25.7) despite averaging the second-most attempts (35.8) from distance. And although that well did run dry for much of the third quarter — the Sea Bears missed their first eight shots from deep in the frame — the one that dropped proved the difference maker. With six seconds left in the period, Akot nailed his third of five triples on the night and gave Winnipeg a three-point lead (63-60) headed into the fourth. The Sea Bears held onto the lead into Target Score Time, up 71-67, before the Honey Badgers' relentless pressure returned and paid major dividends. Brampton’s effort to get to the rim not only led to back-to-back layups to start Target Time, but it quickly got the team into the bonus. The Honey Badgers ended up shooting 32 free throws (plus-17) on the night, none more important than the final five they hit while outscoring the Sea Bears 14-2 to end the game. McEwen grabbed a loose ball and nailed an acrobatic putback before finishing off the and-one play at the charity stripe, and then Muenkat nailed two freebies of his own prior to his game-winning triple. “Basketball is a next-man-up sport,” Muenkat said during his on-court post-game interview. “This is a step in the right direction for us, this is the brand of basketball we want to play for the rest of the season … hopefully we can continue on this kind of momentum.” Box Score https://www.cebl.ca/game?id=2600601 Up next The Sea Bears will get no time to dwell on the loss, as they visit Scarborough on Saturday to take on the 3-1 Shooting Stars following their first loss. Meanwhile, the Honey Badgers return Sunday, facing the defending champion River Lions (4-2) in Niagara for the first of four regular-season meetings. Next CEBL action The CEBL’s first-ever five-game slate continues on Friday, with three more games to wrap up the action. The 2-0 Montreal Alliance host the 2-4 Edmonton Stingers at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the 5-1 Calgary Surge welcoming the 1-4 Saskatchewan Rattlers for their first matchup this year at 9:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. local). Wrapping up the festivities will be the 5-1 Vancouver Bandits and the 2-2 Ottawa BlackJacks at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. local). 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