Big Fourth Quarter Leads Montréal Alliance Past Niagara River Lions 84-69

The Montréal Alliance outscored the Niagara River Lions 30-17 in the fourth quarter to earn an 84-69 win on home court Friday night (May 26) at Verdun Auditorium. 

Blake Francis netted a game-high 32 points and grabbed 7 rebounds as his jumpers fell throughout the game. He finished with 12-23 from the field and 5-11 from beyond the arc. 

“At one point we were going back and forth with them, bucket to bucket,” Francis said. “There were a couple of possessions where we got three stops in a row and that helped us [widen] the gap.” 

Ahmed Hill added 17 points including the game-winner for Montréal, while Nathan Cayo and Treveon Graham each posted double-doubles. After a slow start, Graham finished the game with 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Cayo tallied 10 of each in the win. 

“It’s early but I can tell you now we’re gonna compete,” Alliance head coach Derrick Alston Sr. said. “We might not win ‘em all but we’re going to compete because that’s the standard.” 

Patrick Whelan’s 13 points off the bench from four threes were both team-highs for Niagara, while Lloyd Pandi chipped in with 12 points in a losing effort. 

The River Lions stayed close in a back-and-forth game for three quarters but suffered from turnovers in the fourth. Niagara had 6 turnovers in the fourth quarter and 19 in the game—10 more than Montréal. In addition to giving the ball away, the River Lions lost the battle on the offensive glass, resulting in 20 fewer field goal attempts than the Alliance. 

Niagara went deep into their bench to open the season with 10 players getting minutes in the first quarter. The Alliance struggled from three to start the game and went 0-9 in the opening frame, trailing 15-12 after 10 minutes.

However, Hill heated up early in the second quarter and splashed back-to-back triples. Francis hit a three of his own and capped off an 11-0 run from Montréal to start the quarter. Hill and Francis continued to dictate the offence for the Alliance, but big buckets from Pandi and Whelan allowed the River Lions to climb back into the game. 

Pandi tied the game at 30 with a corner three late in the half but Francis answered with a stepback to give the Alliance a 33-30 lead heading into the locker room. Montreal hit six threes in the second quarter and shot 46 per cent from the field after 20 minutes. Francis led all scorers in the first half with 12 points, while Hill and Pandi each reached double figures with 10 points. 

The game remained tight in the third and stayed within one possession for the majority of the quarter. Montréal was dominant on the offensive glass, snagging 11 offensive rebounds and capitalizing with 10 points from putbacks in the frame.  A pair of free throws from Alain Louis gave the Alliance a 54-52 lead heading into the fourth. 

Montréal quickly went on a 13-2 run to start the fourth which included a four-point play from Francis and another putback. The Alliance extended the lead to as high as 14 points and took a 74-63 lead into target score time. 

The Alliance opened target time with back-to-back transition jams from Hill and Cayo. Francis put Montréal one bucket away from victory after a long stepback jumper and an open layup, before Hill closed it out with a contact finish.

Next up for Montréal is a home-and-home with the Ottawa BlackJacks. The first matchup is slated for 4 p.m. ET on Sunday (May 28) at Verdun Auditorium. 

Meanwhile, Niagara will look to bounce back on a trip to Alberta for meetings with the Calgary Surge and Edmonton Stingers. Their next game is Tuesday (May 30) at WinSport Event Centre in Calgary at 7 p.m. MT. 

The games will be available for streaming on TSN+, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor and on the CEBL Mobile app available on iOS and Android devices. 

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