“Disheartening,” summed up Rattlers head coach Larry Abney, whose team fell to 5-4 in the Canadian Elite Basketball League this season.
Surge 105, Rattlers 77
Missed opportunity.
Ice-cold outside shooting, untimely miscues and a number of rebounding lapses by the Saskatchewan Rattlers added up to a lopsided loss to the Calgary Surge on Thursday night before 3,211 fans at SaskTel Centre with the home squad coming out on the short end of a 105-77 score.
“Disheartening,” summed up Rattlers head coach Larry Abney, whose team fell to 5-4 in the Canadian Elite Basketball League this season.
“I think it started in the second quarter. We had some good stuff going in the first quarter, good execution and energy. Second quarter, we started to play one-on-one and it led to them getting leak-out points and finding their rhythm. Overall disheartening, but, again, it’s a quick turnaround, bounce-back and get ready for our next one.”
Next up are the rejuvenated Winnipeg Sea Bears (3-5) and former Rattlers star Justin Wright-Foreman in Winnipeg on Saturday. The Sea Bears are coming off a big win over the first-place Vancouver Bandits.
On Thursday, Calgary enjoyed a 47-27 edge in rebounding and shot 14 three-pointers, going 53 per cent from beyond the arc. Saskatchewan mustered only five three-pointers, hitting only 22 per cent of their attempts.
The Rattlers actually led by 10 — 26-16 — early in the second quarter before allowing the Surge to go on a 12-2 run.
Calgary took a 40-39 lead at the half and never looked back.
“We stopped executing what we were doing; we stopped executing what was working,” said Abney.
“Especially coming out in the third, we took the ball out of the basket every time. They came out, found their rhythm and we didn’t do anything to distort their rhythm, disrupt their rhythm, and it ran away from us.”
Calgary had three players hit double digits in scoring. Mathieu Kamba led the way with 27 points, knocking down five of six three-point attempts. Sean Miller-Moore had 26 points, while Corey Davis Jr. scored 25 points after hitting four of five from beyond the arc.
“Taking the ball from under the basket (following baskets by Calgary), it’s hard to get any pace going,” said Abney. “Once they get a lead and hit a couple of shots, even guys who aren’t the greatest shooters are launching it with confidence. We didn’t put our best foot forward tonight and that was the result.”
Jalen Harris led Saskatchewan with 22 points and five assists. Bryson Williams added 19 points, six rebounds and three assists. Elijah Harkless chipped in with 13 points to go along with five assists and four rebounds. Former Surge forward Maurice Calloo added 10 points, five rebounds and four assists. Cody John chipped in with seven points, hitting both of his three-point attempts.
“I came in at half-time and I told them, ‘We gave up 10 offensive rebounds and that’s our total for the game’ — we try to keep it to single digits and we gave up 10 by half-time. It’s hard to win that way,” admitted Abney.
“I think they had 75 shots to our 50-something. How to you compete with that?”
With a win by Winnipeg against Vancouver, a win by Calgary coupled with a loss by Saskatchewan, the CEBL’s Western Conference has tightened up.
“There are no nights off in this league — I talk about it all the time,” said Abney. “There are no nights off with any team. Again, we put ourselves in a position and it’s up to us to respond and come out of it.”
Next home game for the Rattlers is Saturday, June 29 against the Niagara River Lions (5-3).
SNAKE-BITES: Former Rattlers guard Devonte Bandoo signed with the CEBL’s Vancouver Bandits on Thursday. Bandoo played two seasons for the Rattlers before a knee injury sidelined him for all of last season and this past winter.
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