A massive fourth quarter powered the Edmonton Stingers past the Vancouver Bandits on Friday, July 5 to regain first place in the Western Conference.
Stingers’ guard Michael Nuga came off the bench to drop 24 points and earn the 99-82 victory, including eight in Target Score Time and 17 in the fourth quarter overall.
He did it all in front of his parents, who were on his mind during a clutch three in Target Score Time.
“I know that they would have been mad if I missed it, so I just had to make sure that I went in…good reaction from them, so it was cool,” Nuga said.
With James Karnik on injured reserve due to an appendectomy, Bandits’ league-best offence was limited to just 12 points in the fourth quarter after keeping up with its usual pace in the opening 30 minutes.
Vancouver starters Tazé Moore, Zach Copeland, Koby McEwen and Ward were each held under 20 points in the loss despite reaching double figures. Copeland finished with a team-best 17 points and six assists, while Moore still snagged nine rebounds to go along with 13 points.
Edmonton’s bench outscored Vancouver’s by 31 for the second consecutive game. Stingers were ultra-efficient offensively, shooting 59 per cent from the field and 55 per cent from three.
Vancouver tallied 19 turnovers in Friday’s outing and lost both the rebounding and points in the paint battles.
Edmonton shot 65 per cent from the field in the opening 20 minutes, while Vancouver shot 55 per cent with eight threes on each side. Each team gave up the ball at a high rate with a near-equal number of turnovers, but the Stingers capitalized with nine more points off the mistakes.
Both teams return to action Sunday as the Stingers stay home for a matchup with the Brampton Honey Badgers while the Bandits return to Vancouver to face the Saskatchewan Rattlers at 4 p.m. PT.
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