# 2023 CEBL season

The 2023 CEBL season was the fifth season of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). It began on May 24, 2023, and the regular season ended on July 30, 2023. It was the inaugural season for the Calgary Surge and the Winnipeg Sea Bears. The Calgary Surge relocated from Guelph while Winnipeg was added as an expansion franchise.
This year was the first season where the league was divided in two conferences. The top four teams in each conference qualified for the playoffs; had the Vancouver Bandits finished in fifth place in the Western Conference, the fourth-place team would have been eliminated instead; as hosts, the Bandits automatically qualify for the semi-finals as a de facto first-place team, along with the first-place team from the Eastern Conference. The playoffs commence with the third- and fourth-placed teams in play-in matches, with the winners facing their own conference's second-place teams in the quarterfinals. The quarterfinal winners will then face their respective division semi-final opponent.
On March 16, 2023, CEBL announced a television deal with TSN: TSN will televise weekly games and broadcast the rest of the games online, and they will also televise the championship weekend.

## Teams

2023 Canadian Elite Basketball League :
| Eastern Conference |||||
| Team | City | Arena | Capacity |
| Brampton Honey Badgers | Brampton, Ontario | CAA Centre | 5,000 |
| Montreal Alliance | Montreal, Quebec | Verdun Auditorium | 4,100 |
| Niagara River Lions | St. Catharines, Ontario | Meridian Centre | 4,030 |
| Ottawa Blackjacks | Ottawa, Ontario | TD Place Arena | 9,500 |
| Scarborough Shooting Stars | Toronto, Ontario | Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre | 2,000 |
| Western Conference |||||
| Calgary Surge | Calgary, Alberta | WinSport Event Centre | 4,000 |
| Edmonton Stingers | Edmonton, Alberta | Edmonton Expo Centre | 4,000 |
| Saskatchewan Rattlers | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | SaskTel Centre | 15,100 |
| Vancouver Bandits | Langley, British Columbia | Langley Events Centre | 5,276 |
| Winnipeg Sea Bears | Winnipeg, Manitoba | Canada Life Centre | 15,321 |

### Map of teams
## Regular season
### Standings
#### Western Conference

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification |
| 1 | Calgary Surge | 20 | 12 | 8 | 1648 | 1631 | +17 | .600 | Advance to quarter-finals |
| 2 | Winnipeg Sea Bears | 20 | 12 | 8 | 1812 | 1802 | +10 | .600 | Advance to play in games |
| 3 | Edmonton Stingers | 20 | 9 | 11 | 1737 | 1661 | +76 | .450 | Advance to play in games |
| 4 | Vancouver Bandits (H) | 20 | 8 | 12 | 1707 | 1792 | −85 | .400 | Advance to championship weekend |
| 5 | Saskatchewan Rattlers | 20 | 8 | 12 | 1688 | 1745 | −57 | .400 | |
* ↑ Automatically qualified for championship weekend as the host team.

#### Eastern Conference

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification |
| 1 | Niagara River Lions | 20 | 13 | 7 | 1833 | 1714 | +119 | .650 | Advance to championship weekend |
| 2 | Ottawa BlackJacks | 20 | 12 | 8 | 1767 | 1719 | +48 | .600 | Advance to quarter-finals |
| 3 | Scarborough Shooting Stars (C) | 20 | 11 | 9 | 1731 | 1726 | +5 | .550 | Advance to play in games |
| 4 | Brampton Honey Badgers | 20 | 8 | 12 | 1698 | 1719 | −21 | .400 | Advance to play in games |
| 5 | Montreal Alliance | 20 | 7 | 13 | 1640 | 1752 | −112 | .350 | |

### Results

| Teams | BHB | CGY | EDM | MON | NIA | OTT | SSK | SSS | VAN | WPG | BHB | CGY | EDM | MON | NIA | OTT | SSK | SSS | VAN | WPG |
| Brampton Honey Badgers | — | 93–80 | 77–103 | 89–65 | 84–101 | 82–88 | | 78–80 | 98–74 | 75–71 | — | | | | 72–82 | | | 103–86 | | |
| Calgary Surge | | — | 74–70 | 75–83 | 85–82 | 86–79 | 79–64 | 65–79 | 77–82 | 97–81 | | — | 85–67 | | | | | | | 96–82 |
| Edmonton Stingers | | 81–82 | — | 92–68 | 99–94 | 85–91 | 79–74 | 89–91 | 92–78 | 95–99 | | 91–83 | — | | | | 85–86 | | | |
| Montreal Alliance | 82–94 | 74–77 | 93–88 | — | 84–69 | 97–76 | 79–88 | 72–104 | | 89–85 | 69–89 | | | — | | | | 80–83 | | |
| Niagara River Lions | 87–79 | 99–86 | | 100–93 | — | 87–101 | 116–74 | 99–81 | 87–78 | | | | | 98–91 | — | 99–82 | | 98–89 | | |
| Ottawa Blackjacks | 95–93 | | | 89–75 | 82–93 | — | 97–86 | 93–82 | 89–90 | 99–86 | 79–60 | | | 83–86 | 87–89 | — | | | | |
| Saskatchewan Rattlers | 86–84 | 63–80 | 70–89 | | 75–90 | 88–89 | — | 79–65 | 109–85 | 93–96 | | 89–92 | | | | | — | | 103–82 | |
| Scarborough Shooting Stars | 93–73 | | 88–83 | 103–93 | 90–84 | 85–83 | 84–96 | — | 79–82 | 93–98 | 97–90 | | | | | 79–88 | | — | | |
| Vancouver Bandits | 91–96 | 84–81 | 90–80 | 74–79 | | 93–97 | 92–89 | | — | 103–106 | | 88–93 | 84–74 | | | | | | — | 79–90 |
| Winnipeg Sea Bears | 110–89 | 100–75 | 68–97 | 96–88 | 93–90 | | 86–78 | | 90–85 | — | | | 86–98 | | | | 96–99 | | 93–84 | — |

### Attendance

    As of August 1, 2023
| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Winnipeg Sea Bears | 54,846 | 8,230 | 3,504 | 5,484 | n/a$^†$ |
| 2 | Edmonton Stingers | 34,736 | 3,996 | 3,500 | 3,859 | +100.8%$^†$ |
| 3 | Niagara River Lions | 31,063 | 3,971 | 2,448 | 3,106 | +36.6%$^†$ |
| 4 | Calgary Surge | 29,797 | 4,116 | 2,324 | 2,979 | +101.0% |
| 5 | Montreal Alliance | 28,795 | 3,500 | 2,307 | 2,879 | −1.7%$^†$ |
| 6 | Saskatchewan Rattlers | 1,958 | 1,958 | | 1,958 | n/a$^†$ |
| 7 | Ottawa Blackjacks | 19,240 | 2,553 | 1,366 | 1,924 | +5.9%$^†$ |
| 8 | Vancouver Bandits | 8,566 | 4,566 | 1,000 | 1,713 | n/a$^†$ |
| 9 | Brampton Honey Badgers | 15,736 | 3,451 | 618 | 1,573 | −13.1% |
| 10 | Scarborough Shooting Stars | 15,157 | 1,665 | 1,025 | 1,515 | −7.1%$^†$ |
| | League total | 238,869 | 8,230 | 618 | 2,843 | +55.9%$^†$ |
Source:
* ↑ The following teams did not report attendances: Edmonton on May 28 Saskatchewan for all games except May 31 Vancouver on June 6, June 17, June 25, July 1, July 9
* ↑ Attendance for June 23 was recorded incorrectly.
* ↑ As the Guelph Nighthawks.
* ↑ Attendance for July 14 was recorded incorrectly.
* ↑ As the Hamilton Honey Badgers.

## Playoffs
### Bracket

| Play-in round August 4 | Play-in round August 4 | Play-in round August 4 | Quarterfinals August 6 | Quarterfinals August 6 | Quarterfinals August 6 | Semifinals August 11 | Semifinals August 11 | Semifinals August 11 | Championship August 13 | Championship August 13 | Championship August 13 |
| | | | | | | E1 | Niagara | 71 | | | |
| | | | E2 | Ottawa | 72 | E3 | Scarborough | 74 | | | |
| E3 | Scarborough | 98 | E3 | Scarborough | 77 | | | | E3 | Scarborough | 82 |
| E4 | Brampton | 74 | | | | | | | W1 | Calgary | 70 |
| | | | | | | W1 | Calgary | 77 | | | |
| | | | W1 | Calgary | 84 | W4 | Vancouver | 75 | | | |
| W2 | Winnipeg | 81 | W3 | Edmonton | 68 | | | | | | |
| W3 | Edmonton | 87 | | | | | | | | | |

### Play-in games

    Note: all times are local
* TSN5
* August 4 7:00pm
* recap
Scarborough Shooting Stars 98, Brampton Honey Badgers 74 :
| Scoring by quarter: 18–19, 27–17, 25–22, 28–16 |||
| Pts: Cat Barber 32 Rebs: Isiaha Mike 9 Asts: Kalif Young 10 | Pts: Callum Baker, Shamiel Stevens 16 Rebs: Zane Waterman 10 Asts: Callum Baker 4 |
* Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, Scarborough, Ontario Attendance: 1654 Referees: Tony Turnbull, Chris Bucella, Farhan Baig
* TSN5
* August 4 8:00pm
* recap
Winnipeg Sea Bears 81, Edmonton Stingers 87 :
| Scoring by quarter: 23–23, 18–22, 24–21, 16–21 |||
| Pts: Teddy Allen 35 Rebs: Simon Hildebrandt 11 Asts: Teddy Allen 5 | Pts: Isiah Osborne 24 Rebs: Nick Hornsby 14 Asts: Brody Clarke 6 |
* Canada Life Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba Attendance: 10580 Referees: Michael Weiland, Ryley Kerrison, Frank Rizzuti

### Quarterfinals

* TSN4
* August 6 7:00pm
* recap
Ottawa Blackjacks 72, Scarborough Shooting Stars 77 :
| Scoring by quarter: 14–15, 23–15, 25–20, 10–27 |||
| Pts: Jakeenan Gant 21 Rebs: Zena Edosomwan 8 Asts: Matthew Coleman III, Kadre Gray 5 | Pts: Isiaha Mike 24 Rebs: Isiaha Mike 13 Asts: Myck Kabongo, Kassius Robertson 4 |
* TD Place Arena, Ottawa, Ontario Attendance: 2519 Referees: Max Audette, David Maxin, Greg Spagnoli
* TSN4
* August 6 7:00pm
* recap
Calgary Surge 84, Edmonton Stingers 68 :
| Scoring by quarter: 21–13, 27–16, 12–21, 24–18 |||
| Pts: Stefan Smith 21 Rebs: Sean Miller-Moore 12 Asts: Stefan Smith 7 | Pts: Brody Clarke 19 Rebs: Brody Clarke 10 Asts: Munis Tutu 5 |
* Winsport Arena, Calgary, Alberta Attendance: 3089 Referees: Reed Scott, Neil Donnelly, Mitch Strom

## Championship Weekend
### Semifinals

* TSN4
* August 11 5:00pm
* recap
Niagara River Lions 71, Scarborough Shooting Stars 74 :
| Scoring by quarter: 20–14, 12–21, 15–18, 24–21 |||
| Pts: Jahvon Henry-Blair 20 Rebs: TJ Lall 8 Asts: Khalil Ahmad 5 | Pts: Cat Barber 15 Rebs: Kalif Young 11 Asts: Kyree Walker 7 |
* Langley Events Centre, Langley, B.C. Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Michael Weiland, Reed Scott, Ryley Kerrison
* TSN4
* August 11 7:30pm
* recap
Calgary Surge 77, Vancouver Bandits 75 :
| Scoring by quarter: 22–15, 16–18, 13–20, 26–22 |||
| Pts: Stefan Smith 25 Rebs: Jordy Tshimanga 10 Asts: Sean Miller-Moore 4 | Pts: Nick Ward 21 Rebs: Giorgi Bezhanishvili 8 Asts: Doug Herring Jr. 8 |
* Langley Events Centre, Langley, B.C. Attendance: 5,000 Referees: Tony Turnbull, Jayson Stiell, Max Audette

### Championship

* TSN3
* August 13 4:00pm
Calgary Surge 70, Scarborough Shooting Stars 82 :
| Scoring by quarter: 19–16, 13–25, 19-19, 19–22 |||
| Pts: Jordy Tshimanga 15 Rebs: Jordy Tshimanga 15 Asts: Stefan Smith 5 | Pts: Cat Barber 23 Rebs: Isiaha Mike 9 Asts: Isiaha Mike 7 |
* Langley Events Centre, Langley, B.C. Attendance: 5,000 Referees: Tony Turnbull, Michael Weiland, Max Audette

### Awards

Source:
* Most Valuable Player: Teddy Allen, Winnipeg Sea Bears
* Canadian Player of the Year: Kadre Gray, Ottawa BlackJacks
* U SPORTS Player of the Year: Simon Hildebrandt, Winnipeg Sea Bears
* Defensive Player of the Year: Khalil Ahmad, Niagara River Lions
* Clutch Player of the Year: Khalil Ahmad, Niagara River Lions
* Coach of the Year: Mike Taylor, Winnipeg Sea Bears
* Sixth Man of the Year: Jelani Watson-Gayle, Winnipeg Sea Bears
* CEBL Finals MVP: Isiaha Mike, Scarborough Shooting Stars

#### All-CEBL teams

| First Team | First Team | Pos. | Pos. | Second Team | Second Team |
| Player | Team | Pos. | Pos. | Player | Team |
| Simisola Shittu | Calgary Surge | F | F | Deng Adel | Ottawa BlackJacks |
| Teddy Allen | Winnipeg Sea Bears | G | G | Kadre Gray | Ottawa BlackJacks |
| Justin Wright-Foreman | Saskatchewan Rattlers | G | G | Christian Vital | Brampton Honey Badgers |
| Cat Barber | Scarborough Shooting Stars | G | G | Ahmed Hill | Montreal Alliance |
| Khalil Ahmad | Niagara River Lions | G | F | E. J. Anosike | Winnipeg Sea Bears |

#### All-Canadian team

| Pos. | Player | Team |
| F | Simisola Shittu | Calgary Surge |
| F | Thomas Kennedy | Scarborough Shooting Stars |
| F | Jackson Rowe | Ottawa BlackJacks |
| G | Kadre Gray | Ottawa BlackJacks |
| G | Sean Miller-Moore | Calgary Surge |

### Individual statistic leaders

| Category | Player | Team(s) | Statistic |
| Points per game | Justin Wright-Foreman | Saskatchewan Rattlers | 29.2 |
| Rebounds per game | Simisola Shittu | Calgary Surge | 10.6 |
| Assists per game | Kadre Gray | Ottawa BlackJacks | 6.3 |
| Steals per game | Khalil Ahmad | Niagara River Lions | 2.4 |
| Blocks per game | EJ Onu | Niagara River Lions | 2.0 |
| FG% | Nick Ward | Vancouver Bandits | 61.9% |
| 3P% | Jelani Watson-Gayle | Winnipeg Sea Bears | 49.0% |

## CEBL Clash

The first CEBL Clash is a "showcase game featuring 20 players from around the league", scheduled to be played on August 26, 2023 at Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Quebec. Head coaches were announced on August 15, followed by rosters on August 18. Each team is represented by at least one player, with the nearby Montreal Alliance having a Clash-leading four players on Team East. Team West ended winning the Clash 107-102.
Team West :
| No | Player | Team |
| 0 | Sean Miller-Moore | Calgary Surge |
| 4 | Cody John | Brampton Honey Badgers |
| 6 | Alex Campbell | Vancouver Bandits |
| 11 | Terry Henderson Jr. | Calgary Surge |
| 13 | Marlon Johnson Jr. | Vancouver Bandits |
| 15 | Malik Benlevi | Saskatchewan Rattlers |
| 16 | Meshack Lufile | Edmonton Stingers |
| 21 | Chad Posthumus | Winnipeg Sea Bears |
| 30 | AJ Hess | Winnipeg Sea Bears |
| 32 | Jordy Tshimanga | Calgary Surge |
| Head coach: Nelson Terroba (Calgary Surge) |||
Team East :
| No | Player | Team |
| 0 | Jahvon Blair | Niagara River Lions |
| 8 | Nathan Cayo | Montreal Alliance |
| 9 | Ahmed Hill | Montreal Alliance |
| 14 | Maxime Boursiquot | Ottawa BlackJacks |
| 16 | Kyree Walker | Scarborough Shooting Stars |
| 21 | Elijah Ifejeh | Montreal Alliance |
| 23 | Alain Louis | Montreal Alliance |
| 30 | Jackson Rowe | Ottawa BlackJacks |
| 32 | Elijah Lufile | Scarborough Shooting Stars |
| 54 | Prince Oduro | Brampton Honey Badgers |
| Head coach: Chris Exilus (Scarborough Shooting Stars) |||