The Saskatchewan Rattlers (11-8) are currently the hottest team in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) with one game remaining in the inaugural regular season.
Saskatchewan is riding a five-game winning streak heading into Thursday’s contest against the Guelph Nighthawks (5-14) at SaskTel Centre.
The streak is largely due to the play at their own end of the floor. Only once has the opposition scored more than 80 points — and it was 81 — in their last five wins.
“I think we got a good group of guys and everybody trusts the person beside them and that goes a long way in terms of playing defence and knowing that if you get beat, a guy’s going to be there,” Rattlers forward Ryan Ejim said on Tuesday.
“You play a little bit tougher on your guy because you know you got help and so everybody feels that way and makes just for better team defence.”
The Rattlers are hosting the 2019 CEBL championship weekend from Aug. 22 to 25 and have a guaranteed spot in the final four.
Any team would want to enter the post-season on a high note, but in this case Saskatchewan could win it all if their win streak extends to eight games.
“We’ll play well for the rest of the year. I don’t know what that’ll mean, somebody may beat us but we’re in a good place and we’ll continue to play well and play together,” Rattlers head coach Greg Jockims said.
“The guys started to buy in, started listening to the coaches, following the game plans and just playing selfless basketball … the energy’s contagious and that’s just what we try to do, the effort plays,” Rattlers forward Shane Osayande said.
Tip-off for Thursday’s game in Saskatoon is 7 p.m. CT.
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