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It took it’s time, but pro basketball is not only back in Edmonton, it’s alive and well.

The Edmonton Stingers were sure to kick open the door for it, in dramatic fashion, too, leading comfortably for the first three quarters of their Canadian Elite Basketball League debut, only to find themselves having to force overtime.

But in the end, they finished how they started, with the pedal to the medal to get the franchise off on the right foot in a 118-105 win over the Niagara River Lions on Friday.

“We want to play fast. We want to be scoring over 100 points a game, which is not the easiest thing to do in FIBA basketball,” said Stingers head coach and general manager Barnaby Craddock. “We want to get up and down, play with pace, play with tempo.

“It’s exciting for the fans.”

To say the least.

The 1,500 or so in the stands at the Edmonton Expo Centre on opening day were treated to the first professional basketball game in the city since the now-defunct Edmonton Energy last took to the floor in the summer of 2012, with what was the International Basketball League.