The Guelph Nighthawks won their fourth consecutive game and picked up their first road win in a 83-73 victory over the Ottawa BlackJacks in the nation’s capital on Thursday. Guelph improved their record to 5-3 while Ottawa drops to 1-5 on the season.
AJ Lawson’s 23 points powered the Nighthawks to victory, scoring in a variety of ways and showed off his elite athleticism. He went 9-19 from the field and 4-12 from three to go along with 2 blocks.
“We’re playing well right now,” Lawson said. “We’re knocking down shots and defending as a unit. We’re on a four game win streak and we’re gonna have plenty more.”
Ahmed Hill had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Guelph, while TJ Lall added 13 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal and 3 blocks.
With Deng Adel out with a shoulder injury, Walt Lemon Jr carried the BlackJacks’ offence on Thursday night. Ottawa squeezed everything they could out of Lemon Jr., putting up a game-high 25 points on 11-17 shooting to go along with 4 assists and 3 steals. Jackson Rowe had 12 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in Adel’s absence with Zena Edosomwan contributing 9 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.
The first quarter saw the Guelph Nighthawks hot from three early on. Ahmed Hill opened the scoring with a deep three followed by back to back threes from AJ Lawson. Ottawa had a solid start to the game and carried a 17-16 lead into the second.
The BlackJacks went cold to start the second quarter, going the first three and a half minutes of the quarter without a basket. The Nighthawks went on a 12-0 run to force a timeout. Walt Lemon Jr. kept Ottawa close in the first half with 11 points while the team shot 28 per cent from the field. Lawson balled out in the first half for Guelph, dropping 10 points that included a high-flying alley-pop jam off an inbounds pass that showed off his high vertical. Guelph went into the locker room with a 35-30 lead.
In the third, the Nighthawks continued to hold off the BlackJacks through every run. Ottawa was able to cut the lead to two but some big free throws and a bucket from TJ Lall helped the Nighthawks to a 58-51 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
It was more of the same in the fourth quarter with Ottawa getting close but Guelph holding on to their lead. Lall hit a clutch three to head into the Elam ending up 74-65 with a target score of 83. AJ Lawson scored the final 5 points for the Nighthawks and hit a game-winning step back three to win the game.
The Nighthawks will look to extend their winning streak to five against the Hamilton Honey Badgers at home at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday while the BlackJacks will visit Niagara on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET.
The games will stream on CEBL+ live internationally and in Canada at cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app for iOS
and Android devices and the free CBC Gem streaming service. Games are also available on the CEBL’s official app, CEBL Mobile, available on iOS and Android devices.
Guelph Nighthawks season tickets are available at https://www.thenighthawks.ca/tickets while Ottawa BlackJacks season tickets are available at https://www.theblackjacks.ca/tickets .
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