Bandits Bounce Back against Stingers

MEGAN SWAIN/GATG

The Vancouver Bandits came out swinging in their home opener in a game that saw a drastic defensive turnaround compared to last weekend’s matchup against the Edmonton Stingers. The home team found their groove by the second quarter, before erupting in the third and fourth to secure the 111-88 win over their Western Conference competitors.

The previous matchup displayed defensive woes including a fair amount of turnovers, as well as a struggle to capitalize on their own opportunities generated from steals and turnovers in their favour. 

It seems as though the Bandits walked away with some valuable lessons, as they effectively cut their turnovers in half and almost quadrupled points generated from turnovers in their favour.

Emerging stars like Miller Kopp and Jaelen House dominated the court throughout the latter, with the latter setting a new franchise record of single game assists. House stayed humble when asked about the record, though he did give thanks to his teammates and Head Coach for their trust in him.

“Just having somebody believe in you that much to where you have the ball in your hands the whole game and you’re making decisions for everyone. I appreciate Kyle [Julius] for that.”

House also walked away with a whopping 32 points that contributed to the team’s win, though it was hardly a quiet night for Kopp and returning vet and CEBL Canadian PLayer of the year Tyrese Samuel

On the other side of the court, the Stingers struggled to maintain the offense that led them to their win over the Bandits last week. The first quarter in particular included several fouls being handed to Edmonton, making it difficult to maintain any kind of game flow.

“You know, they had a little bit better ball pressure, they were shooting gaps, and we were a little bit loose with our execution, but we’ve been together for three weeks, so that's a, that's something that's going to be important for us to clean up.”

Of course, it wouldn’t be a proper home game at the Langley Events Centre without a crowd roaring like it’s a playoff game. From the jump, fans made their support known which did not go unnoticed by one of the team’s new faces, Miller Kopp.

“Like, I caught myself a few times during the game. And I was like…this is pretty dang loud, and this is…awesome. This reminds me of some big time environments in college, and it was really cool.”

The Bandits will play in front of their incredible fans again this weekend when they host Conference Rivals, the Calgary Surge, on Sunday May 24. The last time these two teams faced each other, Calgary took the Western Conference Semi Finals in an upset win over Vancouver after a tumultuous battle and a total of four video reviews during target time.

The Bandits currently have a 2-1 record on the season, while The Surge are 0-2 so far.