While the season may not have gone how the Saskatchewan Rattlers hoped, there’s no denying they were happy with how Jaden Bediako looked on Saturday afternoon.
The Brampton native had a CEBL career high 23 points and tied the league rebound record with 20 to help lift the Rattlers over the Ottawa BlackJacks, 97-96.
The team got strong performances across the board, with Devonte Bandoo posting a game-high 24 points and Tevian Jones adding 21 points and six rebounds, including nailing the game-winning free throws. Nate Pierrel-Louis finished with nine points and 11 assists just shy of a double-double.
“We’ve talked about it from the start of the season: this whole season isn’t the end of the road for anybody here,” said Rattlers head coach Eric Magdanz, whose team entered the game mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. “We’re building to become better basketball players, to become better professionals, to set ourselves up for the next opportunity and to set a standard and a culture for our program. A big reason why I was brought on is to give some of that culture setting. I’ve preached that all year and the guys have bought in. We got a good group of professionals.”
Despite his obvious dominance on the court, both player and coach were unaware that Bediako was approaching—and eventually meeting—the CEBL rebounding record until after the game.
“I didn’t even know that, but now I’m mad. I should have got 21,” Bediako joked after learning of his record.
“That’s my game. It’s been my game since I was at Seton Hall in the Big East,” he continued. “I led the Big East in (offensive rebounds), and then my first year (in the CEBL), for the last six games, I averaged four a game. It’s been a part of my game’s repertoire even overseas. It’s a mental thing.”
“We’ve been working with Jaden all year,” Magdanz added. “There have been times where we haven’t utilized him properly, and I think there have been times when we’ve asked Jaden to grow into a bigger role. Throughout the season, we’ve challenged him. In the last month, he’s really stepped up to that challenge and changed his style of play and his force on the court.”
Things got off to a back-and-forth start early in the first quarter, with the BlackJacks looking to punch their ticket to the postseason and the Rattlers determined to ensure that didn’t come at their expense. A 14-2 Ottawa run erased a 15-9 Saskatchewan lead, before the away team rattled off seven straight to take a 24-23 lead into the break.
The points kept coming in the second quarter, with both teams piling up 28. A 12-4 run by the BlackJacks would put them up by as much as seven, but the Rattlers would storm back to retake the lead at halftime. Jones led the way for the Rattlers with 17 points in the half, while Moore had 15 for the BlackJacks and finished one rebound shy of the early double-double.
Things remained close until Saskatchewan's 8-2 run gave them a 71-62 advantage, which was answered by an Ottawa run to make the game 74-70 going into the final period.
The teams traded blows all the way through the final quarter to eventually set up a next basket-win scenario. With the game on the line, Jones drove the ball in from the three-point line and was fouled on his way to the net, setting up the game-winning shot.
The BlackJacks entered the game at the bottom of the league in rebounding. The Rattlers joined a long list of teams to take advantage of that against Ottawa, and BlackJacks head coach Dave DeAveiro admitted that it needed to be addressed.
“Our toughness is being challenged day in and day out. This is a toughness category,” he said of his team’s rebounding metrics. “This is not skill, this is toughness. You want the ball. These are one-on-one battles that we are not winning. This is who we are. Until we address this, we’re going to have situations where we’re playing really good defense and then we give up an offensive rebound, then we’re playing defense again – then another offensive rebound… I’m proud of my team. We fight and we fight and we fight. But there has to be more. We have to pay attention to detail. Detail wins games. We’re not great at detail.”
Javonte Smart and Isaih Moore tied for the team lead with 22 points, with the latter adding 13 rebounds. Deng Adel had 16 points, six rebounds and eight assists, becoming the fifth CEBL player to surpass the 300-assist mark, as well as tying the team record for all-time steals. Keevan Veinot and Tyrell Tate both chipped in with 11 points.
The loss prevented the BlackJacks from clinching a playoff berth, which they will do with their next win or Brampton’s next loss. The win snapped a three-game skid for the Rattlers, with their previous victory on July 5 also coming at the BlackJacks’ expense.
Up next:
The Saskatchewan Rattlers continue their four-game road trip in Winnipeg when they face the Sea Bears on August 1.
