The Saskatchewan Rattlers stayED perfect at home after defeating the Fraser Valley Bandits 86-77. The Bandits were the only undefeated team left in the league before coming into the Wednesday night contest. With the win, the Rattlers improve to 2-1 in 2022 and now have more wins this season than they did all of the 2021 season.
Wednesday’s game was a back and fourth battle right from tip-off. The Rattlers got out to an eight point lead after the first quarter, but saw the lead slip away when the Bandits got the game tied up going into half-time.
Coach Demopoulos on the start, “Our team wasn’t in the game early mentally or physically for what ever reasons, but we got back into it gradually. Guys who had bad starts ended up having really good finishes, so that’s a positive.”
(Tony Carr out battles a defender to make an impressive shot)
The third quarter was a back and fourth battle that saw the teams tie it up at 63 going into the fourth. The Rattlers came out hard in the fourth quarter, got out to a lead and just never gave it back.
The Rattlers big performances came from their top players. Leading the way was Tony Carr who was definitely the best player on the court tonight. He played a game high 36:16, he also had game highs of 25 points, 4 assists and 3 steals. Devonte Bandoo had a great game tonight as well, putting up 14 points, with a team high four three-pointers followed with eight rebounds. On the defensive side of the ball Jordy Tshimanga was spectacular again with a game high 13 rebounds to go alongside his 14 point night.
Postgame, Devonte Bandoo talks about what the Rattlers are trying to build this season, “We’ve got to play off each, we have to be great off one another. You know the great teams, they play with one another. For example you see the Warriors and how great they are because any guy on that team can go off any night and that’s what makes them so special. I think we kind of have something like this here, you know we have so many guys that can cause so much trouble that you just don’t know which guy can go off that night.”
(Jordy Tshimanga blocks a shot from Bandits, Murphy Burnatowski)
The Saskatchewan Rattlers, now off on a three game road trip, will not play at home again at SaskTel Centre until June 15th. The first game will get under way Saturday with a rematch against the Bandits at 2:00pm. The Rattlers will look for their third victory of the season and the first on the road.
