2023 CEBL season

Sports season

2023 CEBL season

League	Canadian Elite Basketball League
Sport	Basketball
Duration	Season: May 24 – July 31 Play-in games: August 4, 2023 Playoffs: August 6–13
Number of games	20 per team
Number of teams	10
TV partner(s)	TSN
Draft
Top draft pick	Simon Hildebrandt
Picked by	Winnipeg Sea Bears
Regular season
Top seed	Niagara River Lions
Season MVP	Teddy Allen
Top scorer	Justin Wright-Foreman
Championship weekend
Venue	Langley Events Centre Langley, B.C.
Champions	Scarborough Shooting Stars
Runners-up	Calgary Surge
Finals MVP	Isiaha Mike
Seasons
← 2022 2024 →

The 2023 CEBL season was the fifth season of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). It began on May 24, 2023, and the regular season ended on July 30, 2023. It was the inaugural season for the Calgary Surge and the Winnipeg Sea Bears. The Calgary Surge relocated from Guelph while Winnipeg was added as an expansion franchise.

This year was the first season where the league was divided in two conferences. The top four teams in each conference qualified for the playoffs; had the Vancouver Bandits finished in fifth place in the Western Conference, the fourth-place team would have been eliminated instead; as hosts, the Bandits automatically qualify for the semi-finals as a de facto first-place team, along with the first-place team from the Eastern Conference. The playoffs commence with the third- and fourth-placed teams in play-in matches, with the winners facing their own conference's second-place teams in the quarterfinals. The quarterfinal winners will then face their respective division semi-final opponent.^[1]

On March 16, 2023, CEBL announced a television deal with TSN: TSN will televise weekly games and broadcast the rest of the games online, and they will also televise the championship weekend.^[2]

Regular season

Standings

Western Conference

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	PCT	Qualification
1	Calgary Surge	20	12	8	1648	1631	+17	.600	Advance to quarter-finals
2	Winnipeg Sea Bears	20	12	8	1812	1802	+10	.600	Advance to play in games
3	Edmonton Stingers	20	9	11	1737	1661	+76	.450	Advance to play in games
4	Vancouver Bandits (H)	20	8	12	1707	1792	−85	.400	Advance to championship weekend^[a]
5	Saskatchewan Rattlers	20	8	12	1688	1745	−57	.400

Source: CEBL
(H) Hosts
Notes:

^ Automatically qualified for championship weekend as the host team.

Eastern Conference

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	PCT	Qualification
1	Niagara River Lions	20	13	7	1833	1714	+119	.650	Advance to championship weekend
2	Ottawa BlackJacks	20	12	8	1767	1719	+48	.600	Advance to quarter-finals
3	Scarborough Shooting Stars (C)	20	11	9	1731	1726	+5	.550	Advance to play in games
4	Brampton Honey Badgers	20	8	12	1698	1719	−21	.400	Advance to play in games
5	Montreal Alliance	20	7	13	1640	1752	−112	.350

Source: CEBL
(C) Champions

Results

Teams	BHB	CGY	EDM	MON	NIA	OTT	SSK	SSS	VAN	WPG	BHB	CGY	EDM	MON	NIA	OTT	SSK	SSS	VAN	WPG
Brampton Honey Badgers	—	93–80	77–103	89–65	84–101	82–88		78–80	98–74	75–71	—				72–82			103–86
Calgary Surge		—	74–70	75–83	85–82	86–79	79–64	65–79	77–82	97–81		—	85–67							96–82
Edmonton Stingers		81–82	—	92–68	99–94	85–91	79–74	89–91	92–78	95–99		91–83	—				85–86
Montreal Alliance	82–94	74–77	93–88	—	84–69	97–76	79–88	72–104		89–85	69–89			—				80–83
Niagara River Lions	87–79	99–86		100–93	—	87–101	116–74	99–81	87–78					98–91	—	99–82		98–89
Ottawa Blackjacks	95–93			89–75	82–93	—	97–86	93–82	89–90	99–86	79–60			83–86	87–89	—
Saskatchewan Rattlers	86–84	63–80	70–89		75–90	88–89	—	79–65	109–85	93–96		89–92					—		103–82
Scarborough Shooting Stars	93–73		88–83	103–93	90–84	85–83	84–96	—	79–82	93–98	97–90					79–88		—
Vancouver Bandits	91–96	84–81	90–80	74–79		93–97	92–89		—	103–106		88–93	84–74						—	79–90
Winnipeg Sea Bears	110–89	100–75	68–97	96–88	93–90		86–78		90–85	—			86–98				96–99		93–84	—

Source: https://www.cebl.ca/result2fiba
Legend: Blue = left column team win; Red = top row team win.

Attendance

As of August 1, 2023^[a]

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Winnipeg Sea Bears^[b]	54,846	8,230	3,504	5,484	n/a^†
2	Edmonton Stingers	34,736	3,996	3,500	3,859	+100.8%^†
3	Niagara River Lions	31,063	3,971	2,448	3,106	+36.6%^†
4	Calgary Surge	29,797	4,116	2,324	2,979	+101.0%^{^[c]}
5	Montreal Alliance	28,795	3,500	2,307	2,879	−1.7%^†
6	Saskatchewan Rattlers	1,958	1,958		1,958	n/a^†
7	Ottawa Blackjacks	19,240	2,553	1,366	1,924	+5.9%^†
8	Vancouver Bandits^[d]	8,566	4,566	1,000	1,713	n/a^†
9	Brampton Honey Badgers	15,736	3,451	618	1,573	−13.1%^{^[e]}
10	Scarborough Shooting Stars	15,157	1,665	1,025	1,515	−7.1%^†
	League total	238,869	8,230	618	2,843	+55.9%^†

Source: [1]

^
The following teams did not report attendances:
- Edmonton on May 28
- Saskatchewan for all games except May 31
- Vancouver on June 6, June 17, June 25, July 1, July 9
^ Attendance for June 23 was recorded incorrectly.
^ As the Guelph Nighthawks.
^ Attendance for July 14 was recorded incorrectly.
^ As the Hamilton Honey Badgers.

Playoffs

Bracket

Play-in round
August 4

Quarterfinals
August 6

Semifinals
August 11

Championship
August 13

Niagara

Ottawa

Scarborough

Brampton

Calgary

Vancouver

Winnipeg

Edmonton

Play-in games

Note: all times are local

TSN5

August 4
7:00pm

recap

Scarborough Shooting Stars 98, Brampton Honey Badgers 74
Scoring by quarter: 18–19, 27–17, 25–22, 28–16
Pts: Cat Barber 32 Rebs: Isiaha Mike 9 Asts: Kalif Young 10		Pts: Callum Baker, Shamiel Stevens 16 Rebs: Zane Waterman 10 Asts: Callum Baker 4

Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, Scarborough, Ontario
Attendance: 1654
Referees: Tony Turnbull, Chris Bucella, Farhan Baig

TSN5

August 4
8:00pm

recap

Winnipeg Sea Bears 81, Edmonton Stingers 87
Scoring by quarter: 23–23, 18–22, 24–21, 16–21
Pts: Teddy Allen 35 Rebs: Simon Hildebrandt 11 Asts: Teddy Allen 5		Pts: Isiah Osborne 24 Rebs: Nick Hornsby 14 Asts: Brody Clarke 6

Canada Life Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Attendance: 10580
Referees: Michael Weiland, Ryley Kerrison, Frank Rizzuti

Quarterfinals

TSN4

August 6
7:00pm

recap

Ottawa Blackjacks 72, Scarborough Shooting Stars 77
Scoring by quarter: 14–15, 23–15, 25–20, 10–27
Pts: Jakeenan Gant 21 Rebs: Zena Edosomwan 8 Asts: Matthew Coleman III, Kadre Gray 5		Pts: Isiaha Mike 24 Rebs: Isiaha Mike 13 Asts: Myck Kabongo, Kassius Robertson 4

TD Place Arena, Ottawa, Ontario
Attendance: 2519
Referees: Max Audette, David Maxin, Greg Spagnoli

TSN4

August 6
7:00pm

recap

Calgary Surge 84, Edmonton Stingers 68
Scoring by quarter: 21–13, 27–16, 12–21, 24–18
Pts: Stefan Smith 21 Rebs: Sean Miller-Moore 12 Asts: Stefan Smith 7		Pts: Brody Clarke 19 Rebs: Brody Clarke 10 Asts: Munis Tutu 5

Winsport Arena, Calgary, Alberta
Attendance: 3089
Referees: Reed Scott, Neil Donnelly, Mitch Strom

Championship Weekend

Semifinals

TSN4

August 11
5:00pm

recap

Niagara River Lions 71, Scarborough Shooting Stars 74
Scoring by quarter: 20–14, 12–21, 15–18, 24–21
Pts: Jahvon Henry-Blair 20 Rebs: TJ Lall 8 Asts: Khalil Ahmad 5		Pts: Cat Barber 15 Rebs: Kalif Young 11 Asts: Kyree Walker 7

Langley Events Centre, Langley, B.C.
Attendance: 1000
Referees: Michael Weiland, Reed Scott, Ryley Kerrison

TSN4

August 11
7:30pm

recap

Calgary Surge 77, Vancouver Bandits 75
Scoring by quarter: 22–15, 16–18, 13–20, 26–22
Pts: Stefan Smith 25 Rebs: Jordy Tshimanga 10 Asts: Sean Miller-Moore 4		Pts: Nick Ward 21 Rebs: Giorgi Bezhanishvili 8 Asts: Doug Herring Jr. 8

Langley Events Centre, Langley, B.C.
Attendance: 5000
Referees: Tony Turnbull, Jayson Stiell, Max Audette

Championship

TSN3

August 13
4:00pm

Calgary Surge 70, Scarborough Shooting Stars 82
Scoring by quarter: 19–16, 13–25, 19-19, 19–22
Pts: Jordy Tshimanga 15 Rebs: Jordy Tshimanga 15 Asts: Stefan Smith 5		Pts: Cat Barber 23 Rebs: Isiaha Mike 9 Asts: Isiaha Mike 7

Langley Events Centre, Langley, B.C.
Attendance: 5000
Referees: Tony Turnbull, Michael Weiland, Max Audette

Awards

Source: ^[3]

Most Valuable Player: Teddy Allen, Winnipeg Sea Bears
Canadian Player of the Year: Kadre Gray, Ottawa BlackJacks
U SPORTS Player of the Year: Simon Hildebrandt, Winnipeg Sea Bears
Defensive Player of the Year: Khalil Ahmad, Niagara River Lions
Clutch Player of the Year: Khalil Ahmad, Niagara River Lions
Coach of the Year: Mike Taylor, Winnipeg Sea Bears
Sixth Man of the Year: Jelani Watson-Gayle, Winnipeg Sea Bears
CEBL Finals MVP: Isiaha Mike, Scarborough Shooting Stars

All-CEBL teams

First Team		Pos.		Second Team
Player	Team	Pos.		Player	Team
Simisola Shittu	Calgary Surge	F		Deng Adel	Ottawa BlackJacks
Teddy Allen	Winnipeg Sea Bears	G		Kadre Gray	Ottawa BlackJacks
Justin Wright-Foreman	Saskatchewan Rattlers	G		Christian Vital	Brampton Honey Badgers
Cat Barber	Scarborough Shooting Stars	G		Ahmed Hill	Montreal Alliance
Khalil Ahmad	Niagara River Lions	G	F	E. J. Anosike	Winnipeg Sea Bears

All-Canadian team

Pos.	Player	Team
F	Simisola Shittu	Calgary Surge
F	Thomas Kennedy	Scarborough Shooting Stars
F	Jackson Rowe	Ottawa BlackJacks
G	Kadre Gray	Ottawa BlackJacks
G	Sean Miller-Moore	Calgary Surge

Individual statistic leaders

Category	Player	Team(s)	Statistic
Points per game	Justin Wright-Foreman	Saskatchewan Rattlers	29.2
Rebounds per game	Simisola Shittu	Calgary Surge	10.6
Assists per game	Kadre Gray	Ottawa BlackJacks	6.3
Steals per game	Khalil Ahmad	Niagara River Lions	2.4
Blocks per game	EJ Onu	Niagara River Lions	2.0
FG%	Nick Ward	Vancouver Bandits	61.9%
3P%	Jelani Watson-Gayle	Winnipeg Sea Bears	49.0%

CEBL Clash

The first CEBL Clash is a "showcase game featuring 20 players from around the league",^[4] scheduled to be played on August 26, 2023 at Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Quebec. Head coaches were announced on August 15,^[4] followed by rosters on August 18.^[5] Each team is represented by at least one player, with the nearby Montreal Alliance having a Clash-leading four players on Team East. Team West ended winning the Clash 107-102.

Team West
No	Player	Team
0	Sean Miller-Moore	Calgary Surge
4	Cody John	Brampton Honey Badgers
6	Alex Campbell	Vancouver Bandits
11	Terry Henderson Jr.	Calgary Surge
13	Marlon Johnson Jr.	Vancouver Bandits
15	Malik Benlevi	Saskatchewan Rattlers
16	Meshack Lufile	Edmonton Stingers
21	Chad Posthumus	Winnipeg Sea Bears
30	AJ Hess	Winnipeg Sea Bears
32	Jordy Tshimanga	Calgary Surge
Head coach: Nelson Terroba (Calgary Surge)

Team East
No	Player	Team
0	Jahvon Blair	Niagara River Lions
8	Nathan Cayo	Montreal Alliance
9	Ahmed Hill	Montreal Alliance
14	Maxime Boursiquot	Ottawa BlackJacks
16	Kyree Walker	Scarborough Shooting Stars
21	Elijah Ifejeh	Montreal Alliance
23	Alain Louis	Montreal Alliance
30	Jackson Rowe	Ottawa BlackJacks
32	Elijah Lufile	Scarborough Shooting Stars
54	Prince Oduro	Brampton Honey Badgers
Head coach: Chris Exilus (Scarborough Shooting Stars)

Notes

References

^ "Fifth anniversary season to feature new two-conference model". CEBL. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
^ "TSN to Showcase CEBL Game of the Week, Tipping Off May 24". CEBL. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
^ "Allen, Gray Earn Top Honours at 2023 CEBL Awards". cebl.ca. August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Exilus, Terroba Named Head Coaches For CEBL Clash". August 15, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
^ "CEBL ANNOUNCES ROSTERS FOR THE CLASH ON AUGUST 26". August 18, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2023.

External links

Official website

Canadian Elite Basketball League

Championship Weekend

Teams

Current	Brampton Honey Badgers Calgary Surge Edmonton Stingers Montreal Alliance Niagara River Lions Ottawa BlackJacks Saskatchewan Rattlers Scarborough Shooting Stars Vancouver Bandits Winnipeg Sea Bears
Former	Guelph Nighthawks (relocated) Newfoundland Growlers Hamilton Honey Badgers (relocated)