Kur Jongkuch made the most of his five minutes on the floor for the Vancouver Bandits Sunday afternoon, May 26, at the Langley Events Centre (LEC).
Trailing by 13 points in the fourth quarter, Jongkuch came up with three blocked shots – two of them on the same possession – with Koby McEwen and Zach Copeland drilling 3-pointers on the subsequent offensive possessions.
Those plays were pivotal as the Bandits rallied for an 88-83 victory over the visiting Scarborough Shooting Stars, their second win in a row of the new season.
“One possession can change a game; one possession can change your season,” said Vancouver head coach and general manager Kyle Julius, on the motto his coaching staff has been preaching to the players. “And Kur really demonstrated that in his minutes today. He really sparked us.”
READ ALSO: Bandits ride hot start to defeat Montreal in home opener
Sunday’s victory required the team to withstand a potent long-distance attack from the Shooting Stars, who were good on 16 of their 37 3-point attempts, connecting on 43.2 percent of their attempts.
Bandits point guard Tazé Moore said the team was focused on just one play at a time.
“Can’t hit a home run too fast. You need base hits and once you get there, you get there,” he said following his team-high 19 points. Moore also added eight rebounds and seven assists and two blocked shots.
Nick Ward had 18 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots, but left the game early in the fourth quarter and did not return. But James Karnik stepped up to score 14 of his 18 points after that, including stealing the ball for the lay-in for the winning points. Karnik finished with 18 points and a team-high nine rebounds to go along with four blocked shots.
Absolutely nasty. Just the way we like it. 💪
— Vancouver Bandits (@vancitybandits) May 27, 2024
Tonight’s game winner feat. @james_karnik#LikeABandit pic.twitter.com/qneJeGvk9c
Sunday’s match was the Bandits third annual Girls & Women in Sports game.
Ahead of the event, Bandits hosted an all-girls basketball camp led by local coach Elle Kerfoot.
Rising interest in women’s basketball is being reflected by increased demand, which has seen the number of campers rise from 30 in the first year, to 60, and now, 80.
Vancouver now prepares for a road tilt against Saskatchewan on Thursday, May 30.
Then, the Bandits welcome the Calgary Surge to LEC for a big rematch of last year’s Western Conference Finals as part of its South Asian Heritage Game on Saturday, June 1, at 7:30 p.m. at Langley Events Centre.
READ ALSO: VIDEO: Vancouver Bandits begin training camp in Langley
