Vancouver Bandits bounce back in win against the Ottawa Blackjacks

MEGAN SWAIN/ GATG

The Vancouver Bandits hosted the Ottawa Blackjacks on June 6, 2025, after a tough loss to the Calgary Surge which ended their five game win streak. The Blackjacks entered the matchup with a mid-roadtrip win against the Winnipeg Sea Bears. Their record is 2-2 so far in the season.

The game got off to a slightly better start for the home team, with the Bandits getting on the board first with a free throw from Captain Mitch Creek.

Not long after, Kyle Mangas passed from the half court line to Tyrese Samuel who went in and got the field goal. 

Izaiah Brockington made a great layup after sprinting from the basket in the Bandits defensive zone. That basket was the result of a Blackjacks fumble, after the ball slipped straight through the fingertips of Justin Jackson after a pass from a teammate.

The Bandits capitalized on the Blackjacks’ early struggles, with several of the Blackjacks shots bouncing off the rim or the backboard and ending up back in the hands of a Bandit.

While the Bandits did maintain possession fairly often throughout the game, at times they often held onto the ball a little too long. On a few occasions, the Bandits would continually pass to each other trying to set up a play, only for the shot clock to run out before or just as they attempted a shot.

Kyle Mangas continued that trend, almost toying with a couple of the Blackjack players as he continued to stand and dribble, before finally going in for a layup that would beat the buzzer at the end of the first quarter.

As the second quarter rolled around though, the Blackjacks started to catch up and show a little more cohesion despite the occasional hints of frustration. 

The Bandits lead began to shrink as the Blackjacks made quick work of rebounds and defensive weaknesses, going on a 17-12 point run for the visitors.

This led to Coach Kyle Julius calling a Bandits timeout with 3 minutes and 21 seconds left on the clock.

By the end of the first half, the Bandits were only up 38-35, whereas, at the end of the first quarter, they held a 21-12 lead.

The third quarter started much the same as the first, though the physicality got taken up a notch. Shamar Givance took out Christian Rohler while trying to smack the ball out of his hands. The ball ended up flying into the crowd, while both players ended up falling to the ground.

The Blackjacks continued to keep the Bandits on their toes, with the home team only ahead by 2 points. With the scoreboard showing 59-57, Coach Julius called another time out with 2 minutes and 3 seconds left in quarter 3.

“Those weren’t wise time outs. Those were angry timeouts a lot of those to be honest”

The sentiment behind that move was reminiscent of a Paul Maurice moment during the Stanley Cup Playoffs last year.

“I thought we made some pretty egregious mistakes in that third quarter that we required a few, you know, resets. Some time outs are just my time [my] turn to yell I guess maybe, but they were just kinda resets. I will say that from what I remembered we executed really well outside of those timeouts today”

Executing is exactly what they did when play resumed, with a great play involving passes between Mitch Creek, Isaiah Brockington, and Curtis Hollis before the ball was passed back to Brockington for the 3 point basket.

Quarter 4 started with a score of 65-64, but the Bandits stayed steady in their pursuit of the win while the Blackjacks started to show some jitters as they entered the final frame.

Shakur Daniel got tangled up with Tyrese Samuel despite neither of them having possession of the ball, and both ended up falling to the ground. 

Shortly after, Deng Adel knocked Givance down mid layup, gaining possession of the ball but failing to capitalize on the opportunity as the ball swirled around the rim before bouncing out as the whistle blew.

By that point in the game, Blackjacks Coach Dave DeAverio felt that his team started to lose momentum as the Bandits started to take off again.

“I think they wore us out…they’re really smart…they’re physical with you, they defend and they make it really difficult for you to go out there and do the things that you like to do offensively…I thought we played really well for maybe 30 minutes tonight, and then the last 6 minutes in the fourth quarter got away from us.”

He credited the Bandits ability to wear down their opponent to their game IQ as well as Coach Julius’ leadership.

“They space the floor, they understand how to play. As soon as you come over and help, they make that extra pass. They’re just well coached and they do a great job right now with their team.”

Target Score time was where that basketball IQ really started to shine, though not before a few defensive blunders from both teams. 

Right out of the gate, Tyrese Samuel was left unchecked, and went straight in for the dunk. Not long after that, the Bandits practically handed Matt Coleman III a layup. 

The Bandits put the pressure back on after that, at times even barreling their opponents over as a teammate would make a basket. 

The final nail in the coffin for the Blackjacks though was letting a second Bandit waltz right up to the basket. This time, Curtis Hollis was left unchecked allowing him to make a breezy dunk to finish the game 95-81 for the home team.

After the game, Coach Julius praised his team’s efforts and ability to stay focused when things got close.

“I thought it was one of our best target times to be honest. We didn’t go into it with a huge lead like we did some of them in previous games, and I thought the guys like really took executing seriously and did it at a really high level to be honest.”

After this performance and a 101-76 win against the Saskatchewan Rattlers on the road, the Vancouver Bandits look to continue this momentum as they face the Montreal Alliance on Saturday June 14 for Girls & Women in Sports Night.