MYLES DICHTER
CEBL.com
Absent five key players from the lineup, the Calgary Surge continued showed resilience on their home-court Thursday night.
The home team outlasted the Vancouver Bandits 97-94 at WinSport Arena for their second-straight victory over a top-two team in the Western Conference of the Canadian Elite Basketball League.
When the Surge beat the Edmonton Stingers two days earlier on the road, they overcame the loss of a trio of players — Gabe Osabuohien, Justin Lewis and Trhae Mitchell — who went to Las Vegas for NBA Summer League.
Against the Bandits, two more starters were absent in the form of the Surge’s two leading scorers — Stefan Smith and Sean ‘Rugzy’ Miller-Moore — who were each sidelined by lower-body injuries, as per the team.
No matter.
The Calgary club refused to give up throughout the game, blowing a 17-point second-quarter lead and seeing a seven-point edge at Target Score Time evaporate quickly.
But the Surge, as they have done all week, bounced back.
Eventually, centre Jordy Tshimanga found position down low and deposited a layup to secure the roller- coaster win.
“We knew it was gonna be a challenge coming in,” said Surge head coach Tyrell Vernon. “There’s a bunch of new faces around, but again I think they’ve locked in defensively on what we’re trying to do.
“They gave us everything they had, and in this league, when effort is at a premium, when you get that effort from guys, I would have been proud of them win or lose. But at the same time, I’m very happy we got this win.”
The Bandits missed a chance to clinch a playoff spot with the loss, falling to 10-5 and out of first place in the West.
The Surge, meanwhile, moved back above .500 at 8-7 with the victory.
Bandits head coach Kyle Julius was succinct when asked to assess his team’s performance on the night.
“Not good.”
After the clock turned off with the hosts leading 87-80, the Bandits roared back with a 12-4 run to take a one-point lead at 92-91.
But the Surge tied the game on a free throw from Kyler Edwards after a questionable shooting foul went
against Bandits guard Koby McEwen — his fifth personal, knocking him out of the contest with a game- high 26 points.