Key takeaways from the 2022 CEBL championship final
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The 2022 CEBL season has officially come to a close as the Hamilton Honey Badgers defeated the Scarborough Shooting Stars in the final to close out Championship Weekend in Ottawa.
Hamilton defeated Scarborough 90-88 in what was a very tight contest to secure the title. It didn’t come without some controversy and plenty of storylines, however. Here are some key takeaways from a wild 2022 CEBL Championship Final.
An extremely close contest
It is the final, after all. These two squads played an extremely close game of basketball, especially towards the end. There were 12 lead changes in the first half alone before Hamilton gained momentum and took charge. The Honey Badgers led 89-71, needing just a single point to clinch the win in the league’s Elam Ending format with a target score set at 90 points. However, Scarborough did the unthinkable, going on a 17-point run and nearly upsetting the No. 1 seed, making the championship come down to the final play. A final play that saw Hamilton win, however, not without …
Controversy!
Honey Badgers guard Caleb Agada was fouled by Scarborough forward Isiaha Mike in what was a controversial call, and Agada sank his first free throw to clinch the championship. Agada also clinched Hamilton’s semifinal win against Ottawa with a free throw.
Pundits argued that Scarborough’s 17-0 run and momentum would’ve led them to win, and that the decision to let the championship be decided by a free throw was wrong, including Scarborough’s head coach Chris Exilus.
“We’re talking about a championship,” Exilus said. “In my opinion, you let two teams battle. We came in and we battled all the way through and you don’t end games like that.”
Rapper Drake also chimed in on social media, making it known which team he was rooting for.
The stars showed up
The stars, or at least most of them, certainly came to play. Hamilton had five players score over double digits, including Finals MVP Christian Vital with 17 points and Agada with 12. Rookie guard Koby McEwen added 16 points for Hamilton, while Raptors 905 alumnus Aaron Best added 15.
In their late run, Scarborough was led by Kassius Robertson, who finished with a game-high 23 points and six rebounds. Former Raptors player Jalen Harris, who led the Shooting Stars in points and minutes this season, struggled in the first half but turned it on towards the end as well, finishing with 12 points and ten in the second half.
The stars off the court also showed up as well. While Drake was watching from home, his good friend and former Shooting Stars player J. Cole was in attendance to support his team.
Hamilton finally gets its due
The Honey Badgers have been to this stage before, albeit on the losing end. It took until 2022 for Hamilton to earn its first title in franchise history, after losing in the 2019 and 2020 finals. In a relatively short 20-game season, the Honey Badgers were off to the races from the get-go, going 14-6 on the season to secure the top seed before a close victory over the hosting Ottawa Blackjacks to send them to the final. With the victory, Hamilton will now represent Canada in the upcoming 2022-23 season of the FIBA Basketball Champions League of Americas (BCLAs).