BlackJacks and Rattlers Face off on Monday, Eyeing Playoff Spots

The Saskatchewan Rattlers (1-9) travel to TD Place to take on the Ottawa BlackJacks (3-7) on July 26 at 7:00 p.m. ET.

Both teams are coming off games that were decided by one basket. Saskatchewan earned its first victory of the year, 86-83, in thrilling fashion on Thursday night against the Guelph Nighthawks. The BlackJacks found themselves on the losing side of a tight match after a 94-92 loss to Niagara on Saturday.

Dominating down low

Despite dropping two games in a row, Ottawa accomplished a feat no other CEBL team has yet to this year when the BlackJacks beat the reigning league champions, the Edmonton Stingers on July 17. Nick Ward led all scorers with a game high 26 points on 72 per cent shooting, and his interior presence has been solid all season long.

Ward ranks fourth in the league in scoring, averaging 18.7 points per game, and sits in the CEBL’s top three in rebounding with 9.4 per contest. In Ottawa’s most recent loss to Niagara, the former Michigan State Spartan once again lead all scorers with 28 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field.

In addition to Ward, BlackJack forward Dominique Archie produced his best performance in Ottawa’s last game. The 23-year-old scored 20 points, grabbed eight rebounds along with five assists in the BlackJacks loss to Niagara. Look for Ottawa to use Ward and Archie’s size and interior presence against a guard-driven Rattlers team.

Playing together

Saskatchewan earned its first win on Thursday night thanks to a pull up three-pointer by Kemy Osse. The Montreal, Que., native registered 15 points and eight rebounds in just his second game back from injury. Earlier that week in the team’s contest against Niagara, Osse tallied 10 points and helped the Rattlers bench outscore the River Lions’, 30-8.

The six-foot-one guard has been an instrumental part in the Rattlers’ recent growth, as Saskatchewan has benefitted from a stronger secondary scoring effort. In the team’s win over the Guelph Nighthawks, Saskatchewan’s bench outscored Guelph, 32-23, and had five players finish in double-digits.

A large catalyst to this improved offensive attack has been the team’s ball movement. The Rattlers registered a season high 23 assists against Guelph, including nine helpers in the second quarter that allowed Saskatchewan to build a 10-point lead.

“That run was all propelled by going small. When we play a four-guard lineup with one five in there, the ball really zipped around, there’s a lot of energy on the ball, the ball wasn’t sticking,” said head coach Conor Dow after his team’s win on Thursday. “The thing I was worried about was rebounding and when our small group got rebounding, the speed we advance the ball up the court with was unbelievable. We have to continue to build on that moving forward.”

The Rattlers will see a familiar face tonight in Negus Webster-Chan. The Scarborough, Ont., native played his first two seasons in Saskatchewan and helped the Rattlers win the inaugural CEBL championship. He appeared in four games for the green and gold this season before leaving for Ottawa on July 20. Through two contests with the BlackJacks, Webster-Chan is averaging 10.0 points per game.

Playoff picture

Every win is important for these two teams as they battle it out alongside the Guelph Nighthawks for the final two playoff spots. Ottawa currently sits in fifth place with a 3-7 record, while the Rattlers remain in seventh with a 1-9 record. Saskatchewan is hoping for its first playoff berth The Nighthawks hold onto the sixth and final playoff spot with a record of 2-7 and have one game in hand, having only played nine of 14 contests.

While Guelph occupies the last playoff spot, the team saw some roster moves this week with starters Justin Jackson and Chad Brown departing to participate in summer training sessions with NBA squads. As of Tuesday, all CEBL rosters have now been finalized for the rest of the season and fans are in for an exciting playoff race.