Head coach and general manager Kyle Julius is looking for answers following another loss for his struggling Vancouver Bandits squad.
Bandits led 70-69 heading into target score time but were outscored 10-4 to fall 79-74 to the visiting Montreal Alliance in Canadian Elite Basketball League action on Sunday, July 17, at Langley Events Centre.
The 74 points tied a season-low for the Bandits and while the 79 points they surrendered was well below their average of 91.3 points per game, that brought little solace to Julius.
“We are bad right now. We are very bad and I don’t think it is just the offence. I think it is kind of everything,” Julius said.
The loss was a fourth straight for Vancouver, which fell to 5-10 on the season. Montreal improved to 6-9.
Guaranteed a spot in the CEBL’s Championship Weekend as the host team, Julius said the team needs to do some “soul searching” as they enter the last two weeks of the regular season.
Sunday’s contest began with the Bandits looking like they had solved their shooting woes, as they sank four of their first nine attempts from the three-point line. Despite that, they still trailed 18-17 after a quarter and 41-38 at the half, before clawing back to level the score at 55 after three quarters.
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But once the target score frame began, the Bandits committed a pair of turnovers and scored just a single point on their first six possessions. At the other end, Montreal converted an offensive rebound into a bucket, sank two free throws and made a pair of three-pointers for the 10 points they needed.
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Malcolm Duvivier and Diego Maffia led the Vancouver attack, but only had 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Vancouver was missing a key component to their offence in big man Nick Ward, who was suspended for the game after getting two more technical fouls in Friday’s contest.
In his absence, Kur Jongkuch did get some extended playing time and made a positive impression with nine points, six rebounds (four on the offensive end) and a pair of blocked shots.
“Definitely a bright spot,” Julius said. “That is how he works every day. We probably should have given him some minutes a lot sooner.”
Vancouver is back in action Wednesday, July 19 at SaskTel Centre to face the Saskatchewan Rattlers. Their home game at Langley Events Centre is set for Friday, July 21 with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m. against the Edmonton Stingers.
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