The Canadian Elite Basketball League has reverted to a one-game championship format following the cancellation of the best-of-three final series between the Winnipeg Sea Bears and the Brampton Honey Badgers due to unsafe playing conditions caused by court condensation. The decision was made swiftly after the game was halted with Brampton leading 6-0 and Winnipeg equalizing, and play was stopped when Sea Bears’ Xavier Moon slipped on the court. The one-game final is now scheduled to take place in Winnipeg on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET, marking a return to the previous championship format used from 2019 to 2025.
Brampton, who won the first two encounters against Winnipeg this season, will face the Sea Bears in the final. The Honey Badgers, previously CEBL champions in 2022 when they were located in Hamilton, are now on the verge of their first championship in their current iteration. The Sea Bears made an impressive playoff run, starting with a home victory against the Saskatoon Mamba and later shocking the Vancouver Bandits in the Western Conference final.
On the Eastern Conference side, Brampton secured their spot in the final by defeating the Niagara River Lions after earlier eliminating the Ottawa BlackJacks. The championship matchup also features an intriguing off-court narrative, with both teams owned by siblings – David Asper overseeing the Sea Bears and Leonard Asper leading the Honey Badgers. The final game promises an exciting clash between the two teams vying for the CEBL title.