RECENT NEWS

The Ottawa BlackJacks head on the road to Winnipeg as they get ready to play their second last game of the regular season. Currently placed in fifth in the Eastern Conference and in a tight race to clinch the playoffs, a win tonight for the BlackJacks is crucial for moving up into a playoff spot. Seeding would be dependent on the Niagara River Lions game against the Calgary Surge. The Smart vs Allen battle Javonte Smart will be the key to winning tonight’s game. He’s set to face the current league leader for points in a single game, points per game and total points this season, Teddy Allen. The battle for top-scorer in the league has been a consistent battle between Smart, Allen and Niagara’s Khalil Ahmed. The same names could be mentioned in the race for CEBL MVP. Allen and Ahmed already have that trophy in their case, so the battle for Smart’s first piece of recognition from the league won’t be easily fought. Smart is currently second in the league for total points this season with 476, just under Allen, who has 644. Where Smart outshines Allen is beyond the arc. Smart is currently third in the league for total three-point shots on the season with 72, compared to Allen climbing to overtake him with 70. But Smart easily wins the consistency battle from deep, sitting in fourth place in the league at 3.6 three-pointers per game, compared to Allen’s 3.2 in eighth place. If Smart can stay consistent in Winnipeg from the outside perimeter, the BlackJacks have a good chance of shutting Allen down. The block party Another place where the BlackJacks shine is at the rim. Alex Fudge and Christian Rohlehr are leading the high on the scale of blocks per game, averaging 1.7 and 1.5 per game, making them third and fifth in the league. But just behind them on the list is Jeremiah Tilmon Jr. for the Sea Bears. The third-year veteran is currently seventh in the league for total blocks per game with 1.3. But when it comes to total blocks, the battle is a hard-fought one. Fudge has held on to the number-one spot since early in the season and now has a total of 36 blocks on the season. Shortly behind him is Tilmon Jr. with 29 blocks on the season. Rohlehr counts in shortly behind the two of them, with 25 total. Since the BlackJacks have struggled to find their defensive rebounding guy for the entire season, they have started to depend on guys like Fudge and Rohlehr for their rim protection from blocks, rather than rebounds. Once they smack it out, a BlackJack is usually there to retrieve it and force a turnover. This late in the season, they’ll want to continue with the game plan they’ve been executing, so they’ll most likely be continuing to trade d-boards for blocks. The BlackJacks clean-up crew One place where the BlackJacks could take advantage of the Sea Bears is their tendency to play messy basketball. The team is currently averaging 12.9 turnovers per game, and Allen leads the league in total turnovers with 70. They are also averaging 18.7 team fouls per game, and Tilmon Jr. is third in the league for total fouls with 69. If the BlackJacks can bring the mop and bucket and clean up the mess the Sea Bears make, that will be an important step to their western road trip win. The BlackJacks are currently last in the league for steals per game, only averaging 6.2. This could be the next step they’d need to bring their game to the next level and look playoff-ready. The steal game will most likely be led by Smart and Justin Harmon, who are averaging 1.2 and 1.1 steals per game. They’ll be facing Xavier Moon from the Sea Bears, who is currently second in the league for steals per game, averaging two. The race for a playoff spot continues in the West Once the BlackJacks are done in Manitoba, they head deeper into Western Canada to face the Edmonton Stingers on Sunday night. This will be their last game of the season. If the BlackJacks fall to Winnipeg, the playoff dream will not be lost. They can take a win against Edmonton and clinch a fourth-place spot (If Niagara beats Calgary). The Stingers are currently fourth in the Western Conference, also having a 9-13 record on the season. They are sitting comfortably in a playoff spot, though, as Calgary is guaranteed not to clinch. The Western Conference playoff push was rather uneventful, but the competition out there is still no joke.

The Ottawa BlackJacks played what could be their final home game of the season last night. The game against the Scarborough Shooting Stars was a back-and-forth battle, ultimately taken by Scarborough. The 113-106 loss was dominated by third-year veteran Isaih Moore, who returned to Ottawa halfway through the season. In his seventh game with the BlackJacks this season, he is averaging 15.7 points, 9.1 rebounds and two assists per game. Last night, Moore finished with 24 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and two steals. He shot 76 per cent from the field and 90 per cent from two, only missing one close-range shot the entire game. “[I’m] happy, but not satisfied without the win,” said Moore about his play last night. “Got to put [this game] behind us, but these next 2 games are really important,” said Moore. For the final regular-season home game at The Arena at TD Place, the BlackJacks’ theme of the game was fan appreciation. Moore, who has been with the BlackJacks since his rookie season in 2024, says the Ottawa fans mean a lot to him. “There's no place like Ottawa, no place like our fans, no home like ours,” said Moore. Moore even said that Ottawa fans will text him on Instagram during his G League season to make sure he’s doing well and to check in if he’ll be returning to Ottawa. And most importantly, they’ll tell him they miss his dunks. “To hear the roar from the fans, I know I must look crazy. To me, it just feels like another dunk,” said Moore on his poster-worthy shots. For Head Coach Justin Mazzulla, Fan Appreciation Night meant a lot to him personally. In his first professional head coach position, he said the fans in Ottawa really accepted him, and he tries to give back to them after every game by going to the logo and clapping for them with the whole team. The crowd last night was especially loud. “I think today was amazing to be in an environment that everyone stood up and clapped and chanted ‘Blackjacks,’” said Mazzulla on the energy in TD Place. “And that's going to carry us into this next round where we want to get the home-court advantage in the playoffs.” The BlackJacks head on the road for four games to finish their regular season. Currently sitting in third place in the Eastern Conference, wins in the away column will be crucial to bring them to second place and host a playoff game. First, they will head to Montreal to play the Alliance on Friday, and then head across the province for their final match-up with the Niagara River Lions on Sunday. In these final Eastern Conference meet-ups, wins are essential to keeping their playoff position.

The Ottawa BlackJacks took a 102-89 win over the Scarborough Shooting Stars on Saturday. The win brought the BlackJacks back to third place in the Eastern Conference standings, as the back-and-forth race for the playoffs continues. Scarborough is the only team in the Eastern Conference to have clinched a spot in the playoffs, with a 15-4 season. The BlackJacks, the Niagara River Lions, the Brampton Honey Badgers and the Montreal Alliance are all fighting for the final three spots. Until Saturday’s game, the Shooting Stars were undefeated at home. But when the BlackJacks came to the Toronto Pan Am Centre, that streak was broken. The BlackJacks also gave the Shooting Stars their second loss back on June 24, on home turf. Now that the teams have faced off three times, Ottawa has taken two of them. The Shooting Stars will come back to face Ottawa at home on Wednesday, as their final matchup of the regular season. If the BlackJacks can take that game and make the series against the consistently number-one-seeded team 3-1, the energy going into the final stretch before playoffs will be unmatched. In the game against Scarborough, young star Wilson Dubinsky had his best game of the season and finished with 19 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals. “I've always known I could do this. I just had the opportunity,” said Dubinsky. Another duo that has been shining together is Javonte Smart and Isaih Moore. The two both played on the 2025 team together, and since Moore joined the BlackJacks this year, both their stats have skyrocketed. At Scarborough on Saturday, Moore finished with his fourth double-double of the season with 19 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and five blocks. He shot down two big three-point shots and averaged 60 per cent from three. Smart countered with 29 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals. Smart is the franchise record-holder for points in a single game and has averaged 31 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists over the last three games. When it comes to the race for MVP, he should definitely be in the conversation. Justin Harmon made it back from the NBA Summer League, just in time for the game on Saturday. After a red-eye flight and a race to make it on time, he finished the game with nine points, four rebounds and two assists. He, alongside fellow Salt Lake City Star player Matthew Cleveland, have both made it back from the Summer League for the BlackJacks' final regular season game at home. Scarborough preview Scarborough takes the trip down the 401 to face Ottawa the final time in the regular season on Wednesday. After a 2-1 series, the Shooting Stars will be looking to tie the series up, while Ottawa looks to call the series a win. Scarborough player Frank Mitchell currently leads the league in double-double games with 10 of 19 games played. He also leads the league in total rebounds with 198. When comparing the two teams’ statistics, the BlackJacks lead in field goals and three-point percentage. The BlackJacks are averaging 48.6 per cent from the field and 35.1 per cent from three. This compares to the Shooting Stars 44.3 per cent from the field and 33.5 per cent from three. Where Scarborough shines, and Ottawa will be looking to clean up is the rebounding game. Scarborough averages 43.1 rebounds per game, while the BlackJacks average 39.2. Looking towards playoffs The battle against the number-one-seeded team and the fight for a playoff spot is far from over. Ottawa will play four games on the road before the final playoff seeds are decided. If Ottawa can beat out Brampton for the number-two seed, the BlackJacks will host a playoff game against the number-three-seed. If they finish as the number-three or four seed, they will play on the road for the conference semi-finals. The first playoff game is Thursday, August 6.