Shooting Stars End Losing Streak With With 104-72 Win Over Montréal

The Scarborough Shooting Stars (2-4) closed out the Montréal Alliance (2-4) with a 26-4 run to earn an impressive 104-72 victory at Verdun Auditorium on Sunday.

The Shooting Stars snap a four-game losing streak with the blowout win, while the Alliance have now dropped four consecutive games by 10 points or more.

“[We were] emphasizing this game specifically because we got a week off now, so just going into this week with a good one, just building off of this — it was definitely a very big win for us,” Scarborough forward Kameron Chatman said.

Scarborough guard Cat Barber continued his scorching start to the 2023 season with a game-high 25 points to go along with four rebounds, five assists and four steals.

The Shooting Stars went deep into their bench with all 10 players seeing the floor and scoring in the victory. Zeke Moore contributed 19 points, four rebounds and four assists to Scarborough’s win, while Chatman added 18 points and seven rebounds.

A trio of U Sports talent also had big games for the Shooting Stars. Toronto Metropolitan star David Walker scored 10 points, St. FX’s David Muenkat notched eight points and 14 rebounds, and reigning U Sports Player of the Year Thomas Kennedy tallied nine points, eight rebounds, three assists, four blocks and the game-winning dunk.

Meanwhile, the bulk of Montréal’s offence came from the duo of Blake Francis and Treveon Graham. Francis netted a team-high 23 points and Graham picked up a double-double with 22 points and 15 rebounds. With Ahmed Hill on a minutes restriction due to injury, no other player reached double figures for Montréal.

“When we started the game, clearly we weren’t ready to play because we got down so early and we were down so big in the first half. That’s on me,” Alliance head coach Derrick Alston Sr. said. “We’re at home, we got our fans, family, friends [here] and they punched us in the mouth.”

The Alliance suffered 18 turnovers in the game that included 12 steals for the Shooting Stars. Montréal also struggled from long range at 27 per cent. On the other side, Scarborough was on fire on Sunday, shooting 49 per cent from the field, 55 per cent from three and 90 per cent from the free throw line.

In the first quarter, Barber drilled a wing three to open the scoring and Shooting Stars jumped out an early advantage. Montréal fought back and traded leads with Scarborough six times. However, a Barber layup started the Shooting Stars on a 16-2 run to end the quarter. Kennedy capped off the stretch with an alley-oop slam and helped Scarborough to a 26-13 lead after 10 minutes.

The Alliance fell flat in the second quarter while the Shooting Stars continued to dominate. Chatman and Barber led the Scarborough offence on another big run that gave them a 28-point lead. Muenkat showed off his elite athleticism with a putback slam and Barber buried another three to give Scarborough a 53-28 lead at halftime.

Montréal struggled offensively outside of Francis and Graham in the first half. As a team, they shot 32 per cent from the field and 28 per cent from three while turning the ball over six times. Scarborough’s fortunes were better – they shot 53 per cent from the field and 64 per cent from three.

The Alliance offence started to perform in the third quarter with impressive plays from Elijah Ifejeh, Graham and Francis that included three and-ones. However, every time it seemed Montréal might catch fire, Scarborough would douse the flames. The Alliance decreased the deficit, but Scarborough carried a 78-58 lead into the fourth quarter.

The final stretch began with optimism for Montréal after a 10-0 run in the first three minutes cut the lead down to 10. But the bank was open for Moore as he buried a crucial three off the glass to stop Montréal’s run and start one of their own, Barber hit another three for the Shooting Stars before a scuffle led to the ejections of both Ifeheh and Muenkat. The bruhaha resulted in two free throws and the ball for Scarborough. The Shooting Stars regained a sizable 94-71 lead heading into target score time.

Kennedy closed out the game for Scarborough with five points in target time that included an emphatic game-winning dunk. After the Alliance cut the deficit to 10, Scarborough closed the game on a decisive 26-4 run.

Each team exits the game with a 2-4 record, deadlocked in a three-way tie for third place in the Eastern Conference with Niagara.

Following Sunday’s result, the Shooting Stars will return to Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre for a three-game homestand that begins next Sunday (June 18) with a matchup against the Brampton Honey Bandgers at 7 p.m. ET. Montréal will hit the road for a matchup with the Niagara River Lions on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET.

All games are available for streaming on TSN+, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor and on the CEBL Mobile app available on iOS and Android devices.

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 71 per cent of its 2022 rosters being Canadian. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. Nine players have moved from the CEBL into the NBA following a CEBL season, and 28 CEBL players attended NBA G League training camps during October. The CEBL season runs from May through August. More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on
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