December 6, 2022 – Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) Press Release
Brampton Badgers
(Brampton Badgers)
The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) announced the roster of the Brampton Honey Badgers on Tuesday ahead of the first group stage window of the Basketball Champions League Americas (BCLA). The CEBL champions Honey Badgers are scheduled to begin play on Friday, Dec. 9 when they meet host Libertadores de Queretaro of Mexico in Queretaro City at 9 p.m. ET. They will face Nicaraguan champions Real Estelí on December 10 at 1 p.m. EST at the same venue.
The BCLA brings together 12 teams representing seven countries from South and Central America as well as the national champion of Canada who compete for four months to win a place in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup 2024, one of the competitions most prestigious international championships in professional basketball.
The Brampton Honey Badgers are represented by a roster made up of seven Canadian players and four international players. All seven Canadians played on a CEBL roster last season. Notable names include 2021 All-CEBL goaltender and Brampton native Alex Campbell (Vancouver Bandits) and Kitchener Ont. native Murphy Burnatowski (Vancouver Bandits) who were both on the Edmonton BCLA Stingers roster last season, as well as 6-foot-11 center Jordy Tshimanga (Saskatchewan Rattlers), who averaged 7, 9 rebounds last season and has NBA G League experience (four games played for the Cleveland Charge and Iowa 38 games played for the Iowa Wolves).
The roster also includes Canada’s Senior Men’s National Team members Javhon Blair (Newfoundland Growlers) and Jaylen Babb-Harrison (Niagara River Lions). A native of Brampton, Blair took part in the last FIBA World Cup qualifier in Edmonton, Alberta where he scored 10 points in 14 minutes against Panama to help the national team stay undefeated (10-0) in the competition. Babb-Harrison, who ranked third in the CEBL with 3-point percentage in 2022 (43.0%), competed in the recent FIBA Amer competition where Canada finished fourth. Brampton native Sean Miller-Moore was also named to the BCLA Honey Badgers list. He last played for the Guelph Nighthawks, where he averaged a high 55.5 field goal percentage.
International players include Dominican Republic senior men’s national team member and Dominican/American guard Gelvis Solano, who played 192 games as a professional in seven countries, Texas native Josh Ibarra, who collected in averaged 12.1 points and 8.6 rebounds in 21 games with Plateros De Fresnillo of the LNBP in Mexico in 2022-23, Jordan Williams, who averaged 19 points, 2.5 assists and 1.4 steals in 31 games played with Mineros de Zacatecas of the LNBP in 2022-23, and Bahamas forward David Nesbitt, who averaged 9.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in 233 games in Argentina, Brazil and Kazakhstan.
Like last year, the BCLA’s fourth season will feature 12 teams from seven countries divided into four pools. The teams will play three games against each opponent in their group starting on December 9. The remaining nine clubs are CR Flamengo, Minas and Franca from Brazil, Instituto, Obras Basket and AA Quimsa from Argentina, Club Biguá and Club Penarol from Uruguay, and Basket UdeC from Chile. At the end of the group stage, the top two teams from each group will advance to the quarter-finals and play in a series of best-of-three matches to determine the four teams that will qualify for “Final 4”. Final 4 will be played as knockout semi-finals with the winners advancing to the championship match and the semi-final losers playing for third place. The 2023 BCLA champion will earn a spot in the 2024 FIBA Intercontinental Cup. The Basketball Champions League Americas (BCLA) is the top continental league in the Americas. It is created through an innovative partnership between FIBA, Federations and Leagues with 12 competing teams from across the continent.
All matches will be streamed live internationally on CEBL’s OTT platform, CEBL+ and on CEBL Mobile, the official CEBL app.
Canada’s competitive window at the CAA Center in Brampton begins on February 7 when Brampton take on Real Estelí. The two visiting teams, Real Estelí and Libertadores, will next face each other on February 8, while the Honey Badgers will face Libertadores on February 9. Fans are encouraged to take advantage of a 33% discount on match tickets as 3-match packs are now available. sale for all three games. All tickets can be purchased via the link here.
A league created by Canadians for Canadians with a mission to develop Canadian players, coaches, sports administrators and referees, the CEBL boasts the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, 71% of its 2022 workforce being Canadian. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international professional leagues, Canadian National Team program and top NCAA programs as well as U Sports. Nine players moved from CEBL to the NBA after one CEBL season, and 28 CEBL players attended NBA G League training camps in October. The CEBL season runs from May to August. More information about CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube.
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