East II, Rhooms lead way as Stingers bounce back with victory over Honey Badgers

In a battle of two desperate teams, it was Edmonton that emerged victorious over Brampton on Wednesday.

The Stingers beat the Honey Badgers 99-81 at the Edmonton Expo Centre, rebounding from a blowout loss to West rival Vancouver in their previous game to improve to 2-3.

Meanwhile, the Honey Badgers remain winless, falling to 0-4 on the season.

Edmonton led 90-77 when the clock was stopped for Target Score Time.

During a slow offensive start to the final stage of the game, the Stingers held up defensively until they were able to take the lid off the rim on the other end.

Eventually, Laurier University’s Taye Donald polished off the victory by nailing a three-pointer.

Edmonton head coach Jordan Baker said it was nice to pick up the win in front of the Stingers’ home crowd — especially coming off the Bandits loss.

“It was great to be able to bounce back after our subpar performance against Vancouver. I thought guys put in a good solid effort on the defensive side of things and shared a little bit more on offence,” Baker said.

The Stingers has experienced a somewhat rocky start to the season with a pair of one-possession defeats preceding the Bandits game.

Baker said he worked his players a little harder in practice over the past week as a result, challenging them to bounce back against Brampton.

And bounce back they did.

“That’s what professional basketball’s about. It’s about taking some coaching and taking a look in the mirror when you have a subpar performance and I think guys did a good job of responding,” Baker said.

Sean East II led the Stingers with 27 points while contributing seven assists and six rebounds, continuing the strong start to his first CEBL season.

Aaron Rhooms, the Toronto native who just wrapped his fourth-year season with the TMU Bold, sparked Edmonton with 15 points off the bench in the first half en route to scoring 19 in the game.

“My coaches are always telling me stay ready. My teammates are always telling me stay ready,” Rhooms said. “So that’s what I did.”

For Brampton, NBA champion Quinndary Weatherspoon led the way with 21 points while Honey Badgers mainstay Prince Oduro had 17 points and four rebounds.

Head coach Sheldon Cassimy said that even amid the Honey Badgers’ slow start, the team is taking the long view with the goal of peaking at the end of the season.

“I think we consistently show flashes of how good we can be. So it’s just a matter of us staying together through the losing streak and knowing that there’s still a whole other 20 games left, so it could turn around very easily,” Cassimy said.

Amari Kelly, the American competing in his first CEBL season, also posted 17 points to go with six rebounds.

He said his team lacked the requisite physicality against a smaller Stingers squad.

“I think we could have done a little bit better job on the glass and being physical in the paint. Defensively, we weren’t locked in,” Kelly said.

The Stingers led 28-24 after a fast-paced first quarter. After Brampton fought back to tie things at 30, Edmonton responded with a 23-12 run and walked into the locker rooms at halftime with a 53-42 advantage.

In the third quarter, the Stingers held the Honey Badgers at arm’s length until Cameron McGriff converted on a four-point play, extending their lead to 17. They led 78-61 heading into the final frame, and the result was hardly in doubt from there.

Now, the Stingers are hoping to capitalize on their breakthrough win. While it’s still early, the West looks strong with 4-0 Vancouver and 3-1 Calgary.

Rhooms said Edmonton just needs to focus on playing its own brand of basketball.

“We can light up the scoreboard at any time of the game. It’s just a matter of staying consistent, trusting each other and just doing what we do,” he said.

The Stingers’ next challenge comes Friday in a rematch against the Bandits.

“Overall pretty happy,” Baker said after the win, “but we know that Vancouver’s coming to town in a couple days and we gotta regroup pretty quickly.”

Box Score

https://www.cebl.ca/game?id=2600580

Up Next

The Honey Badgers wrap up their Alberta road trip on Thursday against the Calgary Surge, while the Stingers host the Vancouver Bandits on Friday.

Next CEBL Action

In addition to Brampton-Calgary on Thursday, the Scarborough Shooting Stars will hold another school day game with an 11 a.m. ET tip at home against the Saskatchewan Rattlers. For the full 2025 CEBL schedule and up-to-date results, please visit cebl.ca/games.