Honey Badgers, River Lions Meet for Final Time to Decide Second Place

The Niagara River Lions (8-4) will look to wrap up the second seed heading into the playoffs when they take on the Hamilton Honey Badgers (9-4) on the road Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT in the second half of a two-game mini-series.  

 

Following a hard-fought Tuesday night contest which featured multiple lead changes throughout the first half, the third-place River Lions now lead the season series (2-1) after earning a convincing 100-77 win. Emotions and pressure will undoubtedly be high in the FirstOntario Centre as Hamilton prepares to play their final game of the regular season. 

Both the River Lions and Honey Badgers came out with strong starts to begin the first quarter, pushing the pace and trading shots – many of which were scored fast and in transition – to keep the score relatively close through three quarters of play. 

 

However, as has been the case with both teams in previous matchups this season, it was evidently a late second-half swing by Niagara which allowed the River Lions to go into the Elam Ending with a 20-point lead. 

Niagara will be leaning on the brother duo of Phil and Tommy Scrubb again to provide an early offensive spark tonight. Lloyd Pandi could be another name the River Lions rely on; the former Carleton Raven was remarkable in the opening quarter coming off the bench with 10 points on a perfect 4-4 shooting. For Hamilton, they’ll look for their plethora of talented scorers to catch warm early and ride the momentum of Lindell Wigginton. The Dartmouth, Nova Scotia native led all players with a game-high 25 points on 35 per cent shooting after opening the last game with two missed three-pointers.

 

While the River Lions were once again without the CEBL’s leader in boards per game (11.3) in Javin DeLaurier, who remained sidelined from Tuesday’s game, the league’s second-best rebounding team continued to prevail on the glass – outrebounding their opponents 48-32. 

It was a solid all-around defensive effort by a River Lions squad which found success in boxing out Hamilton’s players from establishing position inside the paint and making sure they had multiple bodies converging around the rim for defensive boards. Another pivotal reason for Niagara winning the rebound battle had to do with lapses in the mid-range and outside the perimeter by Hamilton. 

Despite superb shooting performances by Toronto, Ontario guard Alex Johnson and Queens, New York native Trevon Duval, the Honey Badgers finished with 46 missed field goals, including 9 of 35 from three-point range. Hamilton will also need a bounce back performance from key contributors such as hometown forward Jean-Victor Mukama. The former Ryerson Ram standout registered three rebounds without recording a point in the loss. 

The best Hamilton or Niagara can finish the season is in second place after the Edmonton Stingers (12-1) locked up first overall – and the number one playoff seed – following Hamilton’s loss on August 3rd. However, with one-game separating both Ontario-based organizations, the fight for second best now wagers on what happens in these next four quarters. 

 

It’s simple: win, and you earn a bye past the quarterfinals, straight to Championship Weekend

All CEBL games will be available for live streaming on the CEBL’s new OTT streaming service CEBL+, cbcsports.ca, the free CBC Gem streaming service, the CBC Sports App for iOS and android devices, and on Twitch.

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