RECENT NEWS
Canadian Basketball Ventures L.P. (CBV), the corporate entity that owns the Ottawa BlackJacks, announced today that the organization has mutually agreed to part ways with BlackJacks’ President, Mark Wacyk, effective immediately. In his lone season with the organization, the team finished in second place in the CEBL’s Eastern Conference, and hosted the conference semifinal. Mark also played a role in expanding the BlackJacks’ presence through community partnerships and connections within Ottawa’s basketball network. CBV thanks Mark for his contributions and wishes him well in his future endeavors.
In the end, the Scarborough Shooting Stars were just too much. During the early stages of Saturday’s Eastern Conference Semifinal, the short-handed Ottawa BlackJacks scratched and clawed and put a jolt into the favoured Shooting Stars, threatening an upset victory. But by the time the final buzzer sounded, Scarborough had safely punched its ticket to Championship Weekend in Winnipeg. The Shooting Stars wound up with a 114-81 win over the BlackJacks on Saturday at Centre Slush Puppie in Gatineau, Que., an Ottawa home game that was forced across the provincial border due to a scheduling conflict. Scarborough’s offensive output broke a CEBL playoff record, surpassing the mark of 108 it set in 2022. “When you’re going against a team that is missing some of their guys, oftentimes the overall sentiment is it’s going to be easy. Nothing is easy in basketball. You have to make it easy and I thought we really had that mindset in the second half,” Shooting Stars head coach Mike De Giorgio said. The Shooting Stars move on to face the top-seeded Niagara River Lions in the East final. The BlackJacks, meanwhile, will head home after a promising season was derailed by mass roster changes. Ottawa lost 70 points from its lineup with the absences of league-leading scorer Javonte Smart, Sixth Man of the Year candidate Zane Waterman, longtime BlackJack Deng Adel, big man Isaih Moore and Canadian Keevan Veinot. Instead, head coach Dave DeAveiro dressed an all-Canadian lineup for the first time in league history — and saw his troops start the game with a 9-0 run, only to fizzle out from there. DeAveiro said he was proud of his team for how it fought amid the turbulence. “Those guys played, left everything [on the court] and represented the organization as best as they possibly could,” he said. “My hat’s off to all the guys.” Still, the Shooting Stars — who were missing some players of their own — were able to take advantage of their undermanned opponent. Scarborough led by a playoff-record 26 points at 105-79 when the clocks stopped for Target Score Time. And it finished things off quickly, scoring on four straight possessions to end the game. Kobe Elvis punctuated the victory with a pair of game-winning free throws. “That’s kind of like the step-on-their-neck mentality that we wanted to have. And that’s something that we’ve been missing a lot this season. We get big leads, and [Target Score Time] they get back in, so today was really a test for us to get a lead … and hold it,” said Donovan Williams, who led the team with 27 points to go with five assists. With the Shooting Stars missing guard Cat Barber and forwards Kalif Young and Jaden Campbell, De Giorgio dressed practice player Samuel Wong and assistant coach Daniel Mullings. But, as it turned out, the extra depth wasn’t necessary as Scarborough shot a blistering 50 per cent from three-point range. Terquavion Smith, the hero of the play-in game, added 17 points, five rebounds and five helpers. Elvis came off the bench to pour in 19 points and seven dimes. And forward Khalil Miller broke a team record by hauling in 17 rebounds, completing a double-double with 19 points, too. Miller said “it feels great” to be moving on to Winnipeg. “Everyone said we just had to come together and take care of business and that’s what we did,” he told sideline reporter Heather Morrison in a post-game interview. On the other side, the BlackJacks’ season comes to an end despite a second-place finish in the East at 12-12. One positive that came from the loss, however, was the all-Canadian roster. “That’s what this league’s supposed to be. It’s supposed to be a breeding ground for young Canadians as they move forward in their professional careers and giving them opportunities,” DeAveiro said. David Walker, who played 14 games for the Shooting Stars earlier this season, paced the BlackJacks with 19 points off the bench while adding five rebounds. Ottawa captain Tyrrel Tate had 17 points, while big man Christian Rohlehr had 16 points and eight rebounds. Walker said it was fun going against his former squad. “There was a lot of extra motivation. Those guys were talking trash,” he said. He added that the pre-game mindset for Ottawa was simple. “It was just like we got guys in the locker room, we’re gonna go out with these guys, battle with these guys,” Walker said. While the BlackJacks started the game with that 9-0 run, the Shooting Stars settled in and led 26-25 through 10 minutes. Scarborough then poked ahead even further in the second quarter, taking a 54-42 advantage into halftime. Through three quarters, the Shooting Stars led 81-67, and they finished the job without much stress in the fourth. Now, their next challenge — in Winnipeg, against the defending champion River Lions — awaits. “To be the champ you gotta beat the champ,” said De Giorgio, “so we’ll be ready to go.” Box Score https://www.cebl.ca/game?id=2700442 Up Next The Shooting Stars will meet the River Lions in the Eastern Conference Final on Thursday at 5 p.m. ET at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg. Next CEBL Action Championship Weekend in Winnipeg begins with the Eastern and Western Conference finals on Thursday. For the full 2025 CEBL schedule and up-to-date results, please visit cebl.ca/games . Interact with us on social media: Instagram: ottawablackjacks X: Ott_BlackJacks Facebook: OttawaBlackJacks TikTok: ottawablackjacks
The Ottawa BlackJacks of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) face off against the Scarborough Shooting Stars in the league’s Eastern Conference Semifinal matchup this afternoon, at 1 p.m. The winner of this game will advance to the CEBL Championship Weekend 2025 in Winnipeg, where they’ll play the Niagara River Lions in the Eastern Conference Final. The game will take place at Centre Slush Puppie in Gatineau, Que.–the hosting BlackJacks’ regular home arena, The Arena at TD Place, is currently hosting the Masters Indigenous Games 2025, which prompted the team to move to the new spot for today’s game. “Gatineau is a good basketball community,” said BlackJacks Head Coach David DeAveiro when asked about the scenery change. “In my time in Ottawa, I’ve known Gatineau to be a great basketball community, so it [still] feels like being home for sure.” Ottawa finished their regular season with a record of 12-12, good for the second seed in the East. That placing guaranteed them a bye past the Conference Play-In round and home court honours in this afternoon’s game. The Shooting Stars, on the other hand, had to earn their way to this point by winning in the Play-In round against the Montreal Alliance. They finished as the third seed in the East with a record of 11-13. Scarborough’s battle against Montreal went down just two days ago on Aug. 14–the BlackJacks, on the other hand, have had a lot more time to rest since the end of their regular season on Aug. 10. That extra rest is sure to come in handy for the BlackJacks today, as they’ve packed a ton of play into the last few weeks–nine games in 21 days, averaging out at one every 54 hours. “Any time you can get rest after [that] stretch of games, it’s really important.” noted DeAveiro. The Shooting Stars had a similarly busy schedule in that same timeframe, playing seven games in the last 17 days. Because they had to play that extra game, the BlackJacks will have the advantage in energy this afternoon. Ottawa also holds a disadvantage, though. After their final regular season game, three key BlackJacks players transitioned to their next professional opportunities: Javonte Smart to Team USA in the 2025 FIBA Men’s AmeriCup along with Zane Waterman and Keevan Veinot to their respective overseas clubs. “[We’re] thanking those guys,” said DeAveiro, “they were a big part of our success, a big part in us getting here and having this opportunity. I wish them all the best with their teams this fall…they’re going to be missed.” The team will especially miss the offensive production that those players brought. Smart led the CEBL in scoring over the regular season, averaging 25.9 points per-game. Waterman was one of the top bench scorers in the league averaging 15.4 and Veinot chipped in with 8.3 of his own. Losing that much offensive firepower is a tough blow for the BlackJacks’ roster–the rest of the rotation will have to work extra hard to fill the gaps that those three players left. “We’ve got to figure it out,” concluded DeAveiro when asked how his team would adjust. “Not having really played a game without those guys, it’s a little tougher having to do it on the fly. But we’ve got a great [coaching] staff and we’ll figure it out.” They were able to figure it out against the Shooting Stars during their matchup on July 29, where Ottawa stole a seven-point win while undermanned. Despite missing guard Shakur Daniel and starting center Isaih Moore only playing eight minutes due to an ejection, the BlackJacks played team basketball and won as the underdogs. They knocked down 15 threes in the game, four more than their season average. That shooting ability is crucial in saving the BlackJacks in games where they don’t have a full roster. Ottawa also has held one of the best benches in the CEBL all season, and that depth will come in handy with this updated roster. Players that have held smaller roles in the past will likely play a bigger part in this afternoon’s game. “We’re going to rely less on individuals and rely more on a team effort.” said DeAveiro. A key part of that team effort will be guard Tyrrel Tate, who had settled into a bench role this season, averaging just 22.4 minutes per night. With Smart and Veinot’s departures leaving an offensive gap at the guard position, Tate’s ability to turn it up as a scorer will be vital. “It’s been the ‘next guy up’ mentality since the year started,” noted Tate. “Guys are in and out all the time, so you’ve just got to be ready when your number is called. Me and the whole team know that we’re going to have to step in and fill in some gaps, but we’re up for the task and we’re not going to lay down for anybody.” In addition to Tate’s likely increased role, the BlackJacks also made some new signings to bolster their guard depth: David Walker and Calvin Epistola, both former Shooting Stars from this season. Walker averaged 8.4 points and 1.2 steals per game during his 14-game stint with Scarborough this year, and will add a nice defensive presence to the court. Epistola played during Ottawa’s final regular season game against the Vancouver Bandits, and notched four assists. Those new additions, along with the team’s depth and next-up mentality, provide Ottawa with some offensive hope despite the unfortunate losses of Smart, Waterman, and Veinot. On the defensive end, the BlackJacks will continue to hang their hats. Before giving up 130 points in that game against the Bandits, Ottawa owned the second-best defense in the CEBL. They still have the league’s best defense against Eastern Conference opponents, giving up just 84.0 points per game. Against a team like the Shooting Stars, who boast the fourth-and-fifth-highest scorers in the CEBL in Terquavion Smith and Donovan Williams respectively, that defense will be more important than ever. “We have to be solid defensively to give us a chance to be successful.” affirmed DeAveiro. A player who will become extremely important in slowing down both Smith and Williams will be the BlackJacks’ primary defensive weapon in Daniel. He’s taken on the challenge of defending some of the most talented guards in the CEBL, and slowed them down quite a bit. This afternoon, he’ll need to do the same against the Shooting Stars in order for the BlackJacks to win. Daniel’s likely matchup will be Smith. Gatineau native Justin Ndjock-Tadjore, who’s been a solid secondary defender for Ottawa in spots this season, is a good option for the team to try against Williams. “Shakur probably has the toughest assignment,” noted DeAveiro. “But if you’re a basketball player, you want those challenges…that’s what makes you a winner.” Tate affirmed Daniel’s importance on defense, but also noted that the entire BlackJacks team will need to step up this afternoon if they want to advance to Winnipeg: “It becomes important for everybody as a whole, everybody’s defense to step up. We lost things on the offensive end, so we’ve got to come back on the defensive end and be able to fill those gaps.” Despite the change in both roster and arena, the BlackJacks enter this game with the right mindset–adjust on the fly, use the “next man up” mentality, and focus on their strong defensive skills to win this afternoon’s game. If all of that comes together, Ottawa will be taking a trip to Winnipeg. Interact with us on social media: Instagram: ottawablackjacks X: Ott_BlackJacks Facebook: OttawaBlackJacks TikTok: ottawablackjacks
