Calgary Surge outlasted the Vancouver Bandits 97-94 on Thursday July 11 at WinSport Arena.
Calgary refused to give up throughout the game, blowing a 17-point second-quarter lead and seeing a seven-point edge at Target Score Time evaporate quickly.
But the Surge, as they have all week, bounced back.
Vancouver missed a chance to clinch a playoff spot with the loss, falling to 10-5 and out of first place in the West. Calgary moved back above .500 at 8-7 with the victory.
.@TheTrueOne1_ with big buckets 🪣#LikeABandit pic.twitter.com/vPSsYlIyrf
— Vancouver Bandits (@vancitybandits) July 12, 2024
Bandits head coach Kyle Julius was succinct when asked to assess his team’s performance on the night.
“Not good.”
While Koby McEwen led the Bandits with 26 points to go with his eight rebounds, Australian big man Mitch Creek – who only signed with the team on Sunday – provided 24 points and seven boards off the bench.
Creek said he drew on his experience playing across the world from Puerto Rico to China and Australia.
“It’s basketball. I didn’t come here and play ice hockey. If I did, I would’ve been really, really bad,” Creek said. “I’m not trying to over-dribble and do something crazy. I’m just trying to make sure I set good screens and help any way I can [by] motivating from the bench, doing the little things and playing the game of basketball and respecting it the way it deserves to be respected.”
Mitch Creek is in the zone. 🔥 #LikeABandit pic.twitter.com/2yzhS70JJi
— Vancouver Bandits (@vancitybandits) July 12, 2024
The 32-year-old, who played five NBA games in the 2018-19 season, said he hopes to use his experience to keep the Bandits at a steady level moving forward even when calls go against them.
“I think even tonight’s performance we can kinda take a lot from each other and how we behaved, and it wasn’t to a high level,” Creek said.
Bandits guard Tazé Moore, an MVP frontrunner, was held relatively silent with 15 points and nine assists while committing seven turnovers. The American now sits three dimes away from tying Tony Carr’s single-season mark of 110 set in 2022.
Moore suffered an injury scare in the third quarter when his right leg – on which he’s already had five surgeries – was caught awkwardly underneath the Surge’s James.
Moore was down on the court for a few minutes before limping to the bench. He returned to play in the fourth.
Next, Bandits continue their road trip with a visit to the Winnipeg Sea Bears on Saturday
Vancouver’s next home game at Langley Events Centre will be on July 18 as they complete the home-and-home series with Winnipeg. It is also the final regular season home contest for the Bandits and will be a fan appreciation game with a 7 p.m. tip-off.
READ ALSO: VIDEO: Bandits stumble against Stingers
READ ALSO: VIDEO: McEwan leads Vancouver Bandits scoring against Rattlers
