The Montréal Alliance (+180) will look to wrap up a four-game road trip with a win over the Ottawa BlackJacks (-267) at TD Place on Thursday night at 7 p.m. ET.

The game will be available for streaming on TSN+, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor and on the CEBL Mobile app available on iOS and Android devices.

The Alliance enter the game at 3-6 after going 1-1 in their trip to Alberta last weekend against the Calgary Surge and Edmonton Stingers. Montréal snapped a five-game losing streak with an impressive win over Calgary last Friday and find themselves in a tight race for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. 

Meanwhile, the BlackJacks are coming off a narrow defeat to the Scarborough Shooting Stars in the CEBL Game of the Week on Tuesday that dropped their record to 4-4 on the season.

Deng Adel led Ottawa with 23 points in the loss while three other starters contributed double-digit scoring numbers as well. In four games with the squad this season, the NBA-experienced Adel is averaging 15 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per game. 

Meanwhile, Kadre Gray has been central to Ottawa’s offence as both a scorer and facilitator. The CEBL journeyman has started every game for the BlackJacks and contributed 17.4 points per game and 6.9 assists per game, which ranks second in the league. 

Michael Flowers, Jackson Rowe and Zena Edosomwan are producing offensively for Ottawa as well. The smooth jumper of Flowers has spaced the floor for the BlackJacks this season and he is averaging 15 points through eight appearances. Rowe adds 13.4 points per game, while Edosomwan is averaging close to a double-double with 10.1 points and 8.5 rebounds. 

Entering the matchup with the Alliance, the BlackJacks boast one of the most efficient offences in the league. Ottawa ranks in the top five in both field goal percentage and three-point percentage but they also sit first in turnovers.

On the other side, Montréal has struggled on the offensive end almost halfway through the season. However, they’ve been effective from beyond the arc and at the free throw line. The Alliance make more free throws per game than any team in the league at over 15 per game while shooting roughly 75 per cent. The squad also shoots 32 per cent from long range, sitting in the league’s top five in that category. 

American guard Blake Francis leads Montréal in scoring at 19.3 points per game on 40 per cent shooting from the field and a league-best 92 per cent from the free throw line. However, Francis has missed almost three full games with an injury. 

Montréal has relied on the trio of Ahmed Hill, Nathan Cayo and Treveon Graham to step up in his absence. A veteran sharpshooter, Hill also dealt with an injury earlier in the season but is averaging 16.8 points per game in eight appearances.

The homegrown Cayo provides the Alliance with a strong interior presence and scoring on the low block. The big man is averaging 13.7 points and 6.3 rebounds while starting every game this season. 

Graham has also started every game and is nearly averaging a double-double at 12.9 points per game and 9.9 rebounds per game. 

Thursday’s contest will be the third meeting between Montréal and Ottawa in the regular season. The Alliance emerged victorious in the first matchup at Verdun Auditorium 97-76 early in the season, while the BlackJacks responded with a 89-75 win at home less than a week later. 

Montréal shot 62 per cent in their win over Ottawa, powered by over 60 combined points from the trio of Francis, Cayo and Hill. 

Double-doubles from Gray and Edosomwan allowed the BlackJacks to avenge their loss days later, while outrebounding the Alliance 48-33.

Tonight’s rubber match will be the final meeting between the two teams in the regular season. 

Following Thursday’s game, Montréal will start a four-game homestand when they host the Edmonton Stingers on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET while Ottawa visits Niagara on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.