Waterman Leads BlackJacks to Crucial Win Over Shooting Stars

July 30, 2025

Freshly back from a stint on the injured list, Zane Waterman didn’t miss a beat as he led the Ottawa BlackJacks to a crucial 100-93 victory over the Scarborough Shooting Stars.


The win clinches the head-to-head tiebreaker for the BlackJacks, giving them a leg up on their provincial rivals in the race for second place and the right to host the Eastern Conference Semifinal.


Tuesday’s result also ensures that the Niagara River Lions will finish first in the East and claim the conference’s automatic bye to Championship Weekend.


Waterman made 14-of-17 field goals on the night to finish with 36 points – one shy of the franchise record held by teammates Deng Adel and Javonte Smart. The former had five points and 10 assists against Scarborough, while the latter scored 22 points to go with his 10 assists for the double-double, and made the game winning three-pointer in Target Time. 


Tyrell Tate chipped in with 14 points including four three-pointers.


“I had a lot of energy because I was off for a while,” said Waterman. “I kind of lost my wind in the first half, but a lot of the credit goes to my teammates because they found me. Both Deng and Javonte had 10 assists, so we really moved the ball well. I was just lucky to be the one who took advantage of it tonight.”


The performance couldn’t have come at a better time for the BlackJacks, who found themselves shorthanded coming out of the first quarter. Key defensive piece Shakur Daniel left with a foot injury just minutes into the game, while league-leading rebounder and the team’s second leading scorer Isaih Moore was ejected with two technical fouls late in the period.


“We beat a quality opponent today, shorthanded,” BlackJacks head coach Dave DeAveiro said of his team’s performance. “We had Zane back – he’s a big piece for our team. You saw tonight what Zane can do for us. Tate was spectacular tonight. Deng had 10 assists and two turnovers. Really proud of the guys and the way they competed shorthanded. Big players make big plays, and that’s why they’re in this league.”


Three-point shooting was paramount to Ottawa’s early success as they came out shooting red hot. They made 61.8-percent of their field goals in the first half, including 10 shots from beyond the arc. Scarborough was colder out of the gate, only make one of their first seven three-pointers and shooting just 40.5-percent in the first half. Despite the disparity in shooting numbers, it was a tight game for most of the first half until the BlackJacks went on a 14-2 run to pull away late and eventually take a 58-47 lead into halftime.


The Shooting Stars made a push in the third quarter thanks to their three-point attack finding some life in the period. They shot 5-of-8 from deep in the quarter to help erase the deficit completely and bring a tie game into the final and deciding quarter. 


The teams traded blows until Ottawa entered Target Time with the slight 90-89 edge. From there, Smart took over the game, scoring seven of his teams 10 points to secure the big win.


“Very offensive game. Both teams I thought played well offensively,” Shooting Stars head coach Mike De Giorgio said. “Some big-time performances. Zane was out of this world tonight. Kudos to him, that’s a big-time game from him. I thought our defensive effort in the first half was poor. Second half we did a better job. A lot of shot making in that game and they made more shots than we did down the stretch.”


“You have to keep your head up,” he added. “It’s always next game, next play. You can’t dwell on what happened tonight – we got another game Thursday. We have to drive home tomorrow and be ready to play Thursday night against Calgary. That’s a good team coming in. We’ll finally be back at home. We haven’t been home in a while. So we have to come ready to play that game on Thursday night.”


Scarborough was led by Donovan Williams, who had 29 points and five made threes. Aaron Best added 20 points and seven assists, while new addition Michael Foster Jr. had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the double-double.


Terquavion Smith – who came into the game second behind Smart in league scoring – was held to 14 points, though he did add nine assists.


One of the intriguing headlines coming into the game was the inclusion of the CEBL’s top three scorers in Smart, Smith and Williams. The latter said that was front of mind as he took to the court.


“I’m a competitive guy,” said Williams, who recently rejoined the team after a stint in the NBA Summer League. “I’m not stat hunting, but I always like matchups where the guy across from me is really good. So I was looking forward to this matchup today. Just sucks that we lost.”


Regardless of what’s Tuesday’s outcome was, both teams knew there was a real possibility that they would eventually meet against this season come playoff time. While DeAveiro was happy to come out on top this time, he said he was looking forward to meeting Scarborough again.


“Every time we play Scarborough it’s a battle,” the Ottawa coach said. “They’re well coached, they can score a lot of points. But I still feel confident that anytime we have our full roster, we’re hard to beat. It’s probably a lot easier to play them at home than to play them on the road. It’s always going to be a good matchup.”


Box Score

https://www.cebl.ca/game?id=2600664


Up Next
The Ottawa BlackJacks hit the road to take on the East-leading Niagara River Lions on July 31. The Scarborough Shooting Stars return home to face the Calgary Surge on July 31 in a game that marks the beginning of their season-ending four game homestand.


Next CEBL Action

The Niagara River Lions play host to the Ottawa BlackJacks in their final home game of the season on July 31. The game will stream live on CEBL+ and TSN+. For the full 2025 CEBL schedule and up-to-date results, please visit
cebl.ca/games.


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