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Green's game-winning dagger lifts BlackJacks to epic comeback victory over Shooting Stars

The Ottawa BlackJacks defeated the Scarborough Shooting Stars 91-90 on Monday in Scarborough, Ont. (@CEBLeague/Twitter - image credit)
The Ottawa BlackJacks defeated the Scarborough Shooting Stars 91-90 on Monday in Scarborough, Ont. (@CEBLeague/Twitter - image credit)

Tyrell Green put together a homecoming for the ages as his game-winning three-pointer capped off a 91-90 Ottawa BlackJacks comeback win over the Scarborough Shooting Stars on Monday.

The 26-year-old Toronto native struggled through most of the game, only scoring four points prior to the Elam Ending portion of the game.

With Scarborough (5-5) up 90-78 and only needing one point to win, Green entered the game and scored 11 of the BlackJacks' (3-7) final 13 points, including two consecutive step-back threes to stun the Scarborough crowd and seal a 23-8 run in the Elam Ending.

"I was hot," Green said post-game. "I was missing all game, but after I made my first two, I settled in a little bit. Once I saw we brought the lead down, [I thought] let me just keep shooting.

"We struggled to start the year off but one thing I'll say about our group is we always fight. We always stay together, we're always in the game, we're all confident in each other. Me personally, it's been a rollercoaster season for me to start, so to have this game back home, my dad was from here... it's a surreal, surreal moment for me."

In the opening frame, neither side was able to put it together as the score remained 0-0 until the 7:38 mark when Scarborough's Jalen Harris hit a three.

The flood gates opened from there, as the Shooting Stars jumped to a 15-0 lead before Ottawa's Cody John scored his side's first points.

With a 22-6 lead heading into the second, Scarborough had taken full control with no threat of it in sight.

Although the BlackJacks were able to get it together, the issue became cutting the deficit under double digits, as the Shooting Stars were able to go into the half up 40-28.

In the third, that trend continued for the most part. Down 57-40 at the 4:38 mark, Ottawa went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to nine, the lowest it had been since they were down 9-0 in the first.

That effort quickly went down the drain as Scarborough answered back and outscored the BlackJacks 13-7 the rest of the way to go up 70-55 heading into the final frame.

The trend continued through much of the fourth, as Scarborough was able to head into the Elam Ending up 82-68.

In what felt like a quarters length of an Elam Ending, the Shooting Stars seemed well on their way to winning, being up 12 and needing one point to win, as they continued to score every time Ottawa tried to claw its way back.

Then, the team just continued to settle for jumpers, missing on five consecutive possessions — something Ottawa had probably hoped for the entire way before then.

For every miss, the BlackJacks continued to make them pay — specifically Green who hit the final shot over Kalif Young to seal it.

Ottawa was led by Walt Lemon Jr. and Deng Adel's 20-point scoring efforts, to along with Green's 15 off the bench.

Harris' 21 points led the way for Scarborough, with Isiaha Mike adding 15, and Kameron Chatman scoring 14.

The Shooting Stars will look to avoid returning to having a losing record when they face the league-leading Fraser Valley Bandits on Friday at 10:30 p.m. ET. Ottawa on the other hand, will hope to build on the victory against second-place Hamilton Honey Badgers on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.

Both games can be streamed live on CBCSports.ca, CBC Sports App, and CBC Gem.