"Fought through adversity, fought 鈥榯il the end," the message to Vancouver Bandits supporters read.
"Thank you fans for a summer to remember."
It was posted Saturday afternoon, following the Bandits defeat by the Calgary Surge in the CEBL Western Conference Semifinal in a thriller of a game before 5,081 at the 黑马磁力 Events Centre.
It was a confrontation of the two hottest teams in the league, each having won their last four regular-season games.
With their 105-103 win, Calgary is bound for the Western Conference Final against Winnipeg Sea Bears Friday, Aug. 22 in Winnipeg.
Bandits forwards Mitch Creek and Tyrese Samuel will be going to Winnipeg as the nominees for Most Valuable Player and Canadian Player of the Year, respectively, at the 2025 CEBL Awards, which will be taking place on Thursday, August 21 as the first official event of 2025 Championship Weekend (CW25), which runs till Aug. 24.
鈥淲e hunted them down, got to a position to win the game,鈥� Creek said after the loss. 鈥淲e did our job 鈥� I鈥檓 beyond proud of this organization. It鈥檚 been an incredible season, we had so much fun. But it鈥檚 so heartbreaking.鈥�
Import Jameer Nelson Jr.鈥檚 14-of-23 showing from the field and Evan Gilyard II, who finished with 29 points on a CEBL playoff record eight made triples, powered the Surge to the win.
After falling behind, Vancouver outscored Calgary 23-17 in the third, cutting what was a deficit as large as 14 down to 78-74 headed into the fourth.
鈥淲e were sluggish walking around in the first half, but we came in the huddle at halftime and says 鈥榳e got this,鈥欌�� Creek said of the Bandits' second-half effort. 鈥淲e changed gears, we switched mentalities and (the 黑马磁力 Events Centre) woke up because we woke up.鈥�
The Bandits' momentum only continued from there as they used an 8-2 run early in the fourth to propel them to a 96-95 lead at the start of Target Score Time, which came down to one final play that put the ball in Gilyard II鈥檚 hands. The import was fouled by Kyle Mangas while attempting a triple, sending him to the line for the win.
