River Lions rout BlackJacks to inch closer to playoff spot

The Niagara River Lions are one game closer to securing a playoff spot.

Jahvon Blair scored a game-high 24 points as the River Lions bounced the Ottawa BlackJacks 110-86 on Saturday at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines, Ont.

Niagara increased its lead atop the Eastern Conference, moving to 9-5 as it attempts to top the table for the second consecutive season.

Ottawa, meanwhile, fell to 4-9 and remains fourth in the conference, now 1.5 games behind the Brampton Honey Badgers for the final playoff spot. Montreal currently sits last but will automatically head to the semifinals as host of Championship Weekend.

On a Saturday that was billed as country night in Niagara, the River Lions lassoed the BlackJacks with a 13-4 run in the second quarter to build a double-digit lead. That’s when head coach Victor Raso said the game changed.

“We really turned up the intensity, we turned up the pace of the game, we turned up our intensity on the defensive end. I was quite happy with the way we played,” Raso said.

From there, the East leaders held Ottawa at arm’s length through the remainder of the game. The River Lions’point total matched the second largest of the season leaguewide. Vancouver and Calgary scored 112 and 110 points, respectively, in wins over Winnipeg last month.

Niagara took a 101-79 lead into Target Score Time, during which it scored on nearly every possession en route to a quick victory. Canadian Nathan Cayo wound up as the hero, making a free throw after being fouled under the basket.

Eight different River Lions, including all five starters, scored double-digit points.

“It’s how we are designed to play,” Raso said. “Guys don’t usually play 30 minutes on our team. We pick on [whichever] matchup we want to … and guys trust each other. They trust that we have multiple different guys that will make the right decision.”

The River Lions remained perfect at home, now having won all six their games at the Meridian Centre.

The key differentiator in the game was efficiency from beyond the arc. As the River Lions drained 50 per cent of their three-points attempts, the BlackJacks were held to just 25 per cent. Blair made six on his own – just one less than Ottawa’s team total.

In addition to Blair’s hot shooting, he added four rebounds, four assists and four steals.

“It feels good,” Blair told sideline reporter Esfandiar Baraheni after the game. “My teammates make it a lot easier, my coaches makes it a lot easier. I just gotta hit my shots. And we’re winning, so everything’s good right now.”

The River Lions’ lead swelled as large as 28 points early in the fourth quarter. Everything seemed to fall for Niagara on this night as even big man Loudon Love showed some touch with a buzzer-beating floater to end the third.

Khalil Ahmad, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, finished the first 20 minutes with 12 points and four assists, including a layup on the final play of the half.

He ended the game with 17 points on six-for-11 shooting to go with six assists.

“Our team performed great on defence and on offence,” Ahmad said. “The ball was moving, whipping around.

We were helping each other on defence and the three-point shots, they go down when you get good looks. So that was perfect.”

Ahmad echoed Raso’s sentiment that trust was key to the offence clicking as it did.

“Any given night, any guy can go off for 20, 30, whatever,” he said. “It’s just a matter of us staying unselfish and moving the ball like we’ve been doing because we have a great group of guys who trust and love each other.”

Cayo, a Montreal native, surpassed 100 career regular-season assists with four dimes in his 106 th CEBL contest.

Ottawa, meanwhile, now heads into a crucial matchup on Wednesday with the Honey Badgers – one that could ultimately determine its playoff fate as the teams don’t meet again until the final game of the season.

Despite the wide deficit, the BlackJacks competed through the final buzzer, with multiple players hitting the floor throughout the fourth quarter.

Ultimately, though, it wasn’t enough.

And as Niagara can begin to think about playoff matchups, the urgency is ratcheting up in Ottawa just to get there.

What’s next?

Niagara visits Scarborough on Tuesday, while Ottawa heads to Brampton to face the Honey Badgers on Wednesday.

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.