Bandits, River Lions set to clash in high-powered CEBL Finals
A first-time CEBL champion will be crowned on Sunday.
In a battle of the regular season’s top teams, the Niagara River Lions (14-6) and Vancouver Bandits (14-6) will square off in the 2024 CEBL Championship Final at 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT at Verdun Auditorium in Montreal. Broadcast coverage of the game is available on TSN, RDS and Next Level Sports & Entertainment, while you can live stream the contest on CEBL+, TSN+, Courtside 1891, RDS.ca and the RDS app.
The River Lions and Bandits, who were then known as Fraser Valley, are two of the league’s original six teams from the inaugural 2019 campaign.
But neither has climbed the championship mountain.
Niagara’s come agonizingly close, reaching the playoffs every year and making a Finals appearance in 2021. Similarly, Vancouver has only missed the post-season once, in its first season, and also made one Finals run in 2020.
The parallels don’t end there. Both teams lost their lone Finals games to Xavier Moon-led Edmonton Stingers squads.
And both survived intense semifinals battles just to get to their second.
The River Lions, despite drawing an easy matchup in the 6-14 Montreal Alliance on paper, were forced to deal with a raucous crowd and a feisty defence, which led to 27 missed three-pointers and 11 bricked free throws.
But like he has so many times in the past, two-time Clutch Player of the Year Khalil Ahmad scored Niagara’s final six points to snatch a 78-75 victory from the jaws of defeat.
The West final was more offensively minded as the Bandits and Calgary Surge traded blows for 36 minutes.
But scoring dried up during Target Score Time, and both teams had multiple chances to win it before a Zach Copeland triple finally ended the proceedings with an 89-87 Bandits victory.
River Lions head coach Victor Raso said he likes how it all shook out for his side.
“Vancouver survived a game because a guy missed an open layup. We had to survive the worst shooting performance of the year, and we just survived an incredible Ottawa team [in the East semifinal]. I like where we’re at,” Raso said.
Despite the River Lions’ shooting woes, the Finals present a fascinating offensive battle between the league’s top-two regular-season scoring teams.
The Bandits just barely outscored the River Lions 94.7 to 94.1 points per game, and the West side also held a slight shooting edge at 46.3 per cent to 46.1 per cent.
Niagara, though, will be without starting guard Jahvon Blair, its second-leading scorer who returned to his professional team in France.
On the other side, the Bandits seemed re-energized by the late-season arrival of Australian big man Mitch Creek, who scored 25.8 points per game in six regular-season contests and added a franchise playoff record 27 points against the Surge.
The teams’ lone matchup of the season came on Canada Day, when a Tazé Moore triple-double powered a 10-83 blowout victory for the Bandits.
Moore went on to win MVP, while head coach Kyle Julius took top coaching honours and Koby McEwen was named Canadian Player of the Year.
The River Lions earned just one individual accolade, a Sixth Man of the Year nod for forward Aaryn Rai.
But none of that matters now, as one team will spend Sunday night celebrating with the championship trophy.
Milestone watch
· Niagara’s Kimbal Mackenzie is four points away from 500 for his career, including playoffs
· Niagara’s Ahmad is 18 points away from 300 this season
· Niagara’s Nathan Cayo is 13 points away from 300 this season
· Vancouver’s Duane Notice is one steal away from 50 for his career, including playoffs
· Vancouver’s Nick Ward is six points away from 350 this season
- CEBL -
About the CEBL
A league created by Canadians for Canadians with a mission to develop Canadian players, coaches, sports executives, and referees, the CEBL boasts the highest percentage of Canadian players of any pro league in the country with 75% of its rosters being Canadian and a record 10 players with NBA experience in 2024. Players also bring experience from the NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, NCAA programs, as well as U SPORTS and CCAA. Fourteen players have signed NBA contracts following a CEBL season, and numerous CEBL players attend NBA G League training camps every year. The CEBL season runs from May through August with games broadcast live on CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, TSN, TSN+, RDS, Game+, Next Level Sports & Entertainment and Courtside1891. More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.