THURSDAY SPORTS PAGE: STINGERS, BANDITS PREVAIL IN CEBL

The Edmonton Stingers (3-3) held off a late rally from the Saskatchewan Rattlers (2-4) to earn their second consecutive win and jump to third in the CEBL Western Conference. The Stingers closed out a tight game in target time at Edmonton Expo Centre on Wednesday night to secure a 79-74 victory over the Rattlers in a playoff rematch from last season.

Meanwhile Giorgi Benzhanishvili’s 27-point double-double helped the Vancouver Bandits (3-4) hold off a 20-point comeback from the Calgary Surge (5-2) in what ended up being an 82-77 win on Wednesday night at Winsport. After scoring eight points in the first half, Benzhanishvili took over down the stretch, scoring 21 the rest of the way while shooting 50 per cent from both the field and distance. He also dominated the glass, as the league’s top rebounder (11.8 RPG) grabbed 13 boards on route to his team’s second win in a row.

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Jose Berrios had five strikeouts and took a no-hitter into the seventh inning as the Toronto Blue Jays topped the Baltimore Orioles 3-1. Adley Rutschman ended Berrios’ bid to be the second Blue Jay to throw a no-hitter after Dave Stieb in 1990. Berrios also gave up one walk and three hits in seven and two-thirds innings.

New York Mets pitcher Drew Smith was suspended for 10 games by Major League Baseball yesterday, the fifth pitcher and second on his team penalized for using banned sticky stuff. The penalty was announced one day after Smith entered in the seventh inning of a Subway Series game against the Yankees at Citi Field and was ejected without throwing a pitch.

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The Ottawa Redblacks host the Calgary Stampeders at TD Place Stadium Thursday night in a matchup between two teams looking to get their first win. Ottawa dropped its season opener on the road to the Montreal Alouettes 19-12. Calgary, meanwhile, fell to the B-C Lions at home 25-15 last week.

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B-C Lions offensive lineman Phil Norman was taken to hospital and kept overnight “as a precaution” after collapsing on the field prior to the start of yesterday’s practice. The team described it as a “significant medical episode” during its pre-practice walk-through and added that Norman is conscious, alert and receiving medical attention. As a result, practice and team activities were cancelled.

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Canada is set to take on Panama tonight in CONCACAF Nations League semifinal action. But coach John Herdman sounded another warning yesterday that help is needed off the field for his team to continue to flourish on it. Herdman noted that Panama had been in camp for 10 days and already played a game, while his squad had four days to prepare. The issue of support for Canada’s national soccer teams has been front and centre in recent months in ongoing labour talks.

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The Pittsburgh Penguins named Jason Spezza as assistant general manager yesterday, reuniting him with hockey operations president Kyle Dubas. Spezza resigned from his role as special assistant to the G-M with the Toronto Maple Leafs on May 19th, shortly after the team fired Dubas following five years as general manager.

(CEBL Comms, Canadian Press)