It’s a bit of a Highway 6 rivalry as the Guelph Nighthawks look to make it two wins in a row in the Canadian Elite Basketball League‘s 2020 Summer Series tournament.
After spoiling the Ottawa BlackJacks’ league debut on Saturday in an 89-71 win in their first game of the tournament, Guelph will meet the Hamilton Honey Badgers on Monday.
Tre’Darius McCallum finished with 16 points and Jonathan Arledge had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Nighthawks head coach Charles Kissi says there were a lot of things to like from Game 1 of the tournament that can be carried over into Game 2.
“We started really slow but we just kept fighting,” he said in an interview before Monday’s game. “Our defence really carried us in the second half.”
Guelph kept Ottawa to a just a .375 shooting percentage and outscored the expansion team 42-15 in the second half.
With Hamilton up next, it’ll be a pair of familiar faces on opposite benches as Kissi and new Honey Badgers head coach Ryan Schmidt are also assistant coaches for the Raptors 905.
“It’s going to be fun. Ryan is a great coach and a better human being,” Kissi said.
Protecting the paint and getting back in transition will be key for Guelph’s success against Hamilton, Kissi said.
“If they get going they can string a lot of points together quickly,” he said.
Hamilton is coming off 97-85 loss to the Niagara River Lions but swept the four-game season series against the Nighthawks last year with an average margin of victory of 10.5 points.
Tip-off on Monday is scheduled for 5 p.m. in a game that can be heard live on 1460 CJOY.
Nighthawks fans can listen to the broadcast by tuning the AM dial to 1460, using CJOY’s online live player or by downloading the Radioplayer Canada app.