‘Whatever it takes’ — Young stars make a statement at Calgary Surge regular season wrap-up at the Saddledome
By Maggie Hsu, August 11 2025—
It was a big final Sunday for the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) as all 10 teams wrapped up their regular-season schedules. In Calgary, the Surge made sure to end the regular season with a statement in a potential preview of the Championship Final scheduled for Aug. 24. The Surge picked up a commanding 94-76 victory over the defending CEBL Champions, Niagara River Lions, on Sunday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Playoff spots were already secured for both sides, but neither was in the mood for a friendly, low-stakes scrimmage. Instead of coasting toward the postseason, both teams came out firing. Calgary leaned on younger talent, while Niagara, riding a four-game losing skid, fought to regain momentum before Championship Weekend in Winnipeg.
“We’ve been playoff ready since our first team meeting,” said Surge head coach Kaleb Canales. “This game speaks to our culture and the character of our players. We’re ready.”
Youth and hometown talent takes center stage
Calgarian Olumide Adelodun set the tone early, opening the scoring and finishing with 17 points, eight rebounds and one assist in 29 minutes — a performance that showed exactly why his return to his hometown has been such a welcome storyline.
Adelodun wasn’t the only product of Calgary on the court Sunday night. Earlier in the day, Benjamin Kamba, alumni of Bishop McNally High School and member of the University of Regina’s men’s basketball team, signed his first pro contract with the team to make his debut at the Dome. Additionally, 2025 CEBL Draftee, Will Tong, saw his first game with significant minutes.
“When we were all on the court at the same time, that was really special,” Adelodun said. “I played up when I was younger so I played with Ben and it was nice being together [again]. When I passed to him and he hit the three — that was a cool moment for sure.”
“Moments like this are ones we’ll never forget,” President of the Surge, Jason Ribeiro added. “Seeing guys who played NBA minutes cheering these Calgary kids on speaks to our culture.”
Experiences they will all bring back to their university squads as mirrored by DJ Jackson who posted 15 points, a 50 per cent field goal percentage and 100 per cent 3-point percentage in 26 minutes of play. Jackson, who still has two years of eligibility in U SPORTS, will return to St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia and is excited to bring everything he’s learned to his team.
“Playing with pros — this is going to make me better,” Jackson spoke on his experience in the CEBL. “Being around a winning environment, that ‘whatever it takes’ mindset — I’m taking that to next year.”
A first-half test
Both teams came in looking to run away with the game early as points were traded back and forth. The River Lions came into the game as the first team to clinch a playoff spot back in July but have found themselves on a less than ideal losing streak over the tail-end of the season. The visiting team went an early lead with a 16-2 run between the end of the first quarter and start of the second, capping things off at half-time with a 47-39 lead over the home team.
But the Surge would do what they do best and come back in the second half to outscore Niagara 31-17 in the third quarter before going on to keep the River Lions’ offense at just 12 points during the final frame.
By the start of Target Score Time, the Surge had widened the lead to 12 points. The Surge would quickly seal the deal with Jackson and Evan Gilyard II dropping back-to-back triples to end the game at 94 points over Niagara’s 76.
A tough road for the defending champs
The loss leaves the defending champions limping into Championship Weekend. With less than a week and a half to regroup and reevaluate before the final test of the season, Niagara head coach Victor Raso didn’t mince words after the game, calling out his team’s lack of urgency.
“We need things to matter, because these last five games it hasn’t mattered,” Raso said. “Today we convinced ourselves it did for the first half, and we played good basketball — and then as soon as they brought their bench guys out to start the third quarter, it just didn’t matter anymore, and our guys didn’t try. That’s a bad quality, something you can’t really turn on and off.”
What’s next
The Surge will host the Edmonton Stingers in the Western Conference Play-in game on Thursday, Aug. 14. The winner will advance to face the Vancouver Bandits in the semifinals in Langley, BC on Aug. 16, with Championship Weekend set for Aug. 22–24 in Winnipeg. Calgary has yet to miss Championship Weekend since relocating from Guelph in 2023.
Off the court, several Surge players are making awards-season noise. Sean “Rugzy” Miller-Moore is a strong contender for Canadian Player of the Year — he’s been named to the CEBL All-Canadian Team every season since the franchise’s move to Calgary — while Greg Brown III is making his case for Most Valuable Player in his first year after joining from the NBA G League. Brown and Miller-Moore find themselves in the top five in league scoring as well, making strong arguments for why they’re deserving of these league honours.
If Sunday’s performance is any indication, the Surge’s playoff run might just belong to the young guns.