Niagara River Lions and Scarborough Shooting Stars seek spot in Final in Championship Weekend Opener
The Niagara River Lions and Scarborough Shooting Stars tip-off Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) Championship Weekend at TD Place Arena with a semifinal matchup at 4 p.m. ET on cbcsports.ca, CBC Gem and CEBL+. It is the first of two semifinals on Friday night, with the first-place Hamilton Honey Badgers facing the host Ottawa BlackJacks at 7 p.m ET.
Led by recently announced Most Valuable Player Khalil Ahmad, the River Lions enter the game as the two-seed while the Shooting Stars enter as the three-seed. Both teams earned byes to the quarterfinals last weekend and emerged victorious. Scarborough defeated the Saskatchewan Rattlers 108-96 while Niagara knocked off the Guelph Nighthawks 99-78.
E.J. Onu’s 28 points, six rebounds and three blocks powered the River Lions past the Nighthawks in last Sunday’s semifinal. Ahmad was largely kept in check by the Nighthawks’ defence, scoring 14 points on 4-10 shooting to go along with two assists and two turnovers.
The supporting cast balled out for Niagara in the win. Daniel Walden-Mullings added a 14 point, 11 rebound double-double, Elijah Mitrou-Long scored 11 points off the bench and Jaylen Babb-Harrison netted 11 points, including the Elam game-winner. The River Lions controlled the paint, outrebounding the Nighthawks 42-31 and winning the points in the paint battle 40-26.
Meanwhile, the Shooting Stars set a playoff record for points in their 108-96 victory over the Saskatchewan Rattlers last weekend. Despite an outstanding triple-double performance from Saskatchewan’s MVP runner-up Tony Carr, Scarborough pulled through thanks to 24-point outings from Kassius Robertson and Jalen Harris.
The Shooting Stars beat the Rattlers at their own game, hitting 16 threes on 44 per cent shooting, including six made long bombs from Robertson. Saskatchewan shot just 27 per cent from beyond the arc. Teddy Allen added 18 points and seven rebounds in the winning effort. Scarborough forwards Kameron Chatman contributed 16 and Kalif Young scored 11.
The two teams split their regular season matchups as neither were able to defend home court during the regular season. The River Lions blew out the Shooting Stars 93-70 at Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre on July 17 and Scarborough avenged the loss less than a week later on July 22 with an 86-75 win at the Meridian Centre. Ahmad and Mitrou-Long each scored 20 points for the River Lions in their win, while Isiaha Mike and Chatman led the way for Scarborough with Jalen Harris injured. With Harris out in the next matchup as well, Mike scored a game-high 20 points for the Shooting Stars and their defence held Ahmad to just eight points on 2-9 shooting in the Scarborough victory.
Harris will face the River Lions for the first time on Friday night. His presence will garner the bulk of the attention from Niagara’s perimeter defence. He leads the way in scoring for the Shooting Stars with 20.3 points per game on 42 per cent shooting from the field and 32 per cent from three. Niagara will also have to matchup with Kassius Robertson for the first time this season. In just three games with Scarborough, Robertson has proved himself as another scoring threat, averaging 17.7 points per game. Additionally, Teddy Allen and Kyle Alexander have produced in limited time with the squad.
Allen averaged 13.8 points in five appearances and Alexander averaging 12.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in six contests. Meanwhile, Mike and Chatman have been consistent forces in the Scarborough lineup, averaging 13.9 points each.
However, the Shooting Stars will have matchup troubles of their own. Niagara received plenty of recognition at the CEBL Awards on Wednesday night. Ahmad took home both league MVP and Clutch Player of the Year honours. Ahmad finished the season as the CEBL’s leading scorer and enters Friday’s contest averaging 20.7 points, four rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.9 steals per game.
Onu was named Defensive Player of the Year after leading the league with 3.3 blocks per game. Beyond Ahmad and Onu, the River Lions feature a balanced offensive attack. Antonio Davis Jr., Mitrou-Long, Jaylen Babb-Harrison, and Philip Scrubb each average over 11 points per game for Niagara. Walden-Mullings rounds out a solid Niagara attack, averaging just shy of double-figures at 9.1 points per game.
The Shooting Stars come into the semifinal as one of the hottest teams in the league—winners of five of their past six games. The River Lions arrive in the nations’s capital as winners of two straight after splitting a pair of close games against the first-place Honey Badgers to close out the regular season and winning their quarterfinal versus Guelph.
Niagara finished the regular season with a 4-2 overall record against the fellow three qualifying Championship Weekend teams, good for best among the final four. Scarborough finished at 3-4.
The River Lions’ high-powered offence led the league in points and field goal percentage in the regular season at 88.7 points per game on 46.4 per cent shooting. However, the River Lions finished ninth in three-point percentage and in the bottom half in threes made. Niagara was also solid defensively, allowing 82.1 points per game, leading the league in blocks and finishing second in steals. Meanwhile, the Shooting Stars’ defence was not far behind the River Lions, averaging 82.8 points per game allowed, while finishing fourth offensively at 86.9 points per game.
Fans can live stream all playoff games on the CEBL’s OTT streaming service CEBL+, the CEBL Mobile app for iOS and Android devices, cbcsports.ca, the free CBC Gem streaming service, the CBC Sports App for iOS and Android devices and on NXT Level Sports in the U.S. For the complete broadcast and streaming schedule, click here. All times are subject to change.
The CEBL’s fourth season began May 25 and ended August 1. A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL is the largest pro sports league in the country with 10 teams located in six provinces. It has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with 71 percent of its current rosters being Canadians. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. The only First Division Professional League Partner of Canada Basketball, the CEBL season runs from May through August. Head to CEBL.ca for more information or follow us (@cebleague) on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.