Williams' Target Time triples help Shooting Stars escape with narrow win against Alliance

Donovan Williams heated up in Target Time to lead the Scarborough Shooting Stars to a 94-89 win over the Montreal Alliance on Sunday.

The Alliance nearly pulled off a comeback in front of their hometown fans at Verdun Auditorium. Williams, however, saved his three-point shooting for the end, hitting back-to-back triples to close out the game, including a game-winning answer to Montreal captain Quincy Guerrier’s emphatic two-handed dunk.

Guerrier stuck on him like glue, but Williams’ confident downtown stroke gave Scarborough a 94-89 victory and silenced the Montreal crowd. Williams finished with a team-high 24 points on 8-for-15 shooting.

Williams’ game-winning three had an even bigger impact today as it helped Scarborough pull ahead of the Ottawa BlackJacks for second place in the East. A Brampton loss earlier in the day sealed a playoff berth for both Scarborough and Ottawa.

Scarborough is 2-1 in their meetings with Montreal this season, and Scarborough’s Anthony Walker played on the opposing team when the two teams last met.

Scarborough recently added Aaron Best and Michael Foster. Foster had 12 points and eight rebounds in his debut game and provided inside presence.

“He came off the plane, gave us great energy … was a real rock for us down the stretch,” head coach Mike De Giorgio said. “He did everything we asked him to do today.”

The exciting Sunday afternoon game kept NBA champions Bennedict Mathurin and Lu Dort - in attendance - on the edge of their seats.

Montreal punched first in the game, getting up to an early 15-point lead in the first quarter. Scarborough quickly turned the tide in their favour, but Montreal regained their momentum by halftime.

Montreal, however, fell into a hole in the third quarter, losing 28-13. Scarborough started to relentlessly attack the rim, which gave them frequent trips to the free throw line. Montreal got some consecutive stops and kept fighting back, but a baseline drive by Walker and his ensuing pass out to a cutting Foster gave Scarborough a nine-point lead.

Terquavion Smith was pivotal, finishing with 21 points, eight rebounds and nine assists. He was often an answer to Tavian Dunn-Martin and dashed Montreal’s hopes of a comeback.

Montreal head coach Jermaine Small said that overreliance on three-point shooting in the third contributed to them being in a hole. “Not settling for three-pointers. I think we took eight straight, that’s definitely not in the game plan,” he said. He added that the most important part of getting out of that rut was “relying more on our defence than our offense.”

Even after a Jaden Campbell three and Best’s layup pushed Scarborough’s lead up to 12 in the fourth, Montreal kept fighting back. In a last-ditch effort, Guerrier made a hook shot, hit a three, followed his own missed three-pointer and scored at the basket.

Guerrier and Dunn-Martin combined for 54 of Montreal’s 89 points. TDM (28 points and eight assists) bailed his team out countless times, but Michael Diggins’ three late in the game helped Montreal inch within four points heading into Target Time.

Scarborough was relieved today after failing to punch their ticket to the playoffs earlier in a loss against the Brampton Honey Badgers. Their win today ended a two-game losing streak. Montreal is now 1-5 in the last six games.

Box score

https://www.cebl.ca/game?id=2600657

Up next for both teams

The Scarborough Shooting Stars (9-10) head west to face the Ottawa BlackJacks (8-10) at TD Place in CEBL’s lone Tuesday game on July 29. The Montreal Alliance (7-12) host the Brampton Honey Badgers (5-15) at Verdun Auditorium on Friday, August 1.

Next CEBL action

The Ottawa BlackJacks (8-10) host the Scarborough Shooting Stars (9-10) at TD Place in CEBL’s lone Tuesday game on July 29. For the full 2025 CEBL schedule and up-to-date results, please visit cebl.ca/games.