The Vancouver Bandits host the Montréal Alliance as both squads look to snap two-game skids on Sunday at 5:00 pm local/8:00 pm ET from the Langley Events Centre.

This will be the one and only regular season matchup between the cross-conference opponents in 2023 and is their first head-to-head since their series split from last year’s campaign.

Fans shouldn’t expect too much carryover from those contests as the two squads feature a lot of new names this time around. The dominant big man duo for Vancouver in Giorgi Benzhanishvili and Nick Ward weren’t there a year ago, and neither was Montréal’s guard-forward pairing of Ahmed Hill and Treveon Graham.

However, there will be a few returning faces from both sides to keep an eye on. There’s Alex Campbell and Malcolm Duvivier for the Bandits, both of whom averaged double figure scoring throughout the two games last year. Campbell specifically found success against the Alliance as he averaged 14 points and 4.5 rebounds in the matchup.

Meanwhile, Alain Louis and Nathan Cayo will be returning for Montréal as well. Cayo had his best game of the 2022 season against Vancouver when he put up a season-high 25 points on 10-13 shooting to go with six rebounds. He found similar success in both matchups as the forward averaged 20.5 points on a stellar 76.5 per cent shooting through their two games.

Fast forward to now, and this will be the final contest of a three-game home stand where the Bandits are still looking for their first win. They’re currently riding a two-game losing streak at Langley Events Centre and have been struggling as of late, losing four of their last five in general.

Their latest defeat of 96-91 came at the hands of the defending champion Brampton Honey Badgers this past Friday. Vancouver found themselves down as many as 20 points in that game before making a late rally that ultimately fell short of a victory. It was their poor shooting throughout the night that eventually caught up to them as the Bandits shot just 39 per cent from the field and 25 per cent from distance.

However, despite the loss, the team had some bright spots they can look to build upon. The aforementioned Duvivier put up a season-high 20 points and eight rebounds, which made it four games in a row crossing double figures.

That game also saw the league’s best rebounding team (44.3 RPG) continue their dominance on the glass as Vancouver grabbed 50 boards on the night, also going +8 on offensive rebounds.

Fans of the Bandits hoping to get back in the win column should keep an eye on the squad’s work on the glass as it might just be their way to victory. They’ll be taking on an Alliance team that ranks second-last in the league for total (36.9 RPG) and offensive rebounds (9.3 ORPG), and with the duo of Benzhanishvili and Ward both ranking in the top-10, averaging a collective 17 boards a game, the recipe might be there.

On the other side the Alliance enter the game with their own two-game losing streak, most recently losing to the Western Conference leading Winnipeg Sea Bears in a 96-88 score. In that matchup, said rebounding struggles for Montréal hurt them all night as they were a -6 on the glass, subsequently giving up 14 offensive boards and a +9 edge on second chance points.

Another area Alliance fans should like to see the team bounce back from is their weak bench production. The squad’s second unit got thoroughly outworked against the Sea Bears as only two players scored a basket off the pine for Montréal, with the bench getting outscored 29-4.

Even in the loss, the Alliance’s starting lineup – even without backup – looked impressive as four of five starters scored over double-digits. Cayo returned to his strong form to lead the way, tying his season-high of 28 points, after struggling in their previous outing with just seven. The forward’s now scored 28 points in three of his team’s last five games as the he’s been averaging 21.6 points on 58 per cent shooting during that span.

Meanwhile, Hill added in 26 points on over 40 per cent shooting from the field and beyond the arch, continuing his own hot play as of late. The team’s top-scorer is now tied for fourth in the league, averaging 20.1 points per game, and has been on a tear as the guard’s scored over 25 points in four of the team’s last six games and has been putting up 24.7 points a night during that span.

Keep an eye on the pairing as they look to use their individual success and translate that into a team victory.

With Vancouver already having secured a spot at Championship Weekend as the host city, this game won’t help their odds of getting in, but can help in terms of seeding. They are just one game back of the third place Edmonton Stingers, and if they can rattle off some wins, they could find themselves back in the mix out West.

Montréal after their back-to-back losses is now tied with Brampton at the bottom of the East. So, a win would be crucial in creating half a game of separation as the teams battle for a playoff spot in the final days of the 2023 regular season.