River Lions Use Strong Second Quarter to Pull Past Nighthawks 99-78 in Quarterfinals
The Niagara River Lions defeated the Guelph Nighthawks 99-78 in the CEBL quarterfinals in Guelph. The River Lions advance to the CEBL semi-finals. The River Lions took a big lead in the second quarter and held the lead for the rest of the game.
EJ Onu and Olu Ashaolu both scored inside to start the game. Ahmed Hill then hit back-to-back threes for Guelph to go up 8-5. Niagara fought back with a 7-0 run.
The teams traded baskets as Tidjan Keita dunked the ball to give Niagara a slim edge. Meanwhile, Hill continued to make threes. Guelph also attacked the rim but while they scored at times, they were also denied as well. The Nighthawks took a 22-17 lead into the second quarter.
River Lions guard Munis Tutu opened the second quarter by making a turnaround jumper through contact. He scored off a drive before Antonio Davis Jr. scored to give Niagara the lead again.
Onu showed his range with consecutive three-pointers as the River Lions stretched their lead to eight. They continued with a balanced inside and out attack with multiple players scoring and making plays, increasing their lead to almost 20 points. Elijah Mitrou-Long scored through contact.
The Nighthawks responded by picking up their offence. Maurice Calloo finished a layup while Stefan Smith knocked down a three. However, they trailed 53-34 at halftime.
Guelph went to Giorgi Bezhanishvili, who scored four quick points early in the third quarter. Calloo nailed a corner three to cut the lead down to 14. They continued to make defensive stops and score but Niagara responded with baskets as well.
The Nighthawks got numerous offensive rebounds and got to the free throw line multiple times late in the third quarter to trim the lead to single digits. However, Onu made some timely baskets, including a top of the key three to end the quarter.
Bezhanishvili and Barber hit threes to keep Guelph close. The River Lions made some defensive stops to keep the lead around double digits. They were up 88-76 going into Elam time.
Daniel Walden-Mullings scored a layup and hit the ensuing free throw while Sean Miller-Moore threw down a dunk. Niagara then scored eight straight points to end the game, including with the game-winner from Jaylen Babb-Harrison.
The River Lions were led by Onu (28 points, six rebounds). Daniel Walden-Mullings and Khalil Ahmad each scored 14 points. Niagara shot 64 per cent from the field and 45.8 per cent from three.
“Our defence was amazing,” Onu said of the second quarter run. “It opened up our transition and we moved the ball really well on offence. Got a lot of open threes and just attacked the basket too.”
Onu said the guards trusted him in the offence. He said the week of practice before the game helped. “It helped our chemistry,” he added. “We really grew well as a team. We worked on new details of our offence, our defence.”
The Nighthawks were led by Hill (17 points) and Barber (15 points, six rebounds). They lost the rebounding battle 42-31. “Hats off to Niagara. Good luck to them. They played well,” Guelph head coach Charles Kissi noted. “They responded to everything, every run.”
Kissi said the team fought hard and gave everything they had. He said the team’s grown tremendously since the start of the season. “We had a good group,” he added. “We had the right team…I thought we had a lot of growth and we played really well overall for the most part. Gave ourselves a chance and that’s one thing we’ve done is given ourselves a chance.”
The River Lions face the winner of the Scarborough Shooting Stars versus Saskatchewan Rattlers quarterfinals game in the CEBL semifinals on Aug. 12.
Fans will be able to live stream all games including the playoffs on the CEBL’s OTT streaming service CEBL+, the CEBL’s official app, CEBL Mobile 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. As part of its playoff coverage, CBC Sports will broadcast the quarterfinal games Sunday, August 7, semifinal games Friday, August 12, and the Championship game on Sunday, August 14. For the complete broadcast and streaming schedule, click here. All times are subject to change.
The CEBL’s fourth regular 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.
