River Lions, BlackJacks look to end regular seasons on a high note

The Niagara River Lions (9-4) and Ottawa BlackJacks (4-9) may both know what lies ahead for them in the CEBL playoffs, but the two Ontario teams will have one last regular season game to play on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. ET at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines.

For the BlackJacks, Sunday’s game represents a chance to snap out of a two-game losing streak delivered to them earlier this week by the Guelph Nighthawks. Due to those losses, Ottawa dropped a spot in the league standings, from fifth place to sixth.

Meanwhile, Niagara is riding high, coming off three straight victories. While the River Lions don’t need to gain momentum, they won’t be competing in game action for another 13 days after Sunday’s game against Ottawa and will use the contest to prepare for their single-elimination semifinal matchup at Final Four weekend. 

Sunday’s game will mark the third time Niagara and Ottawa have squared off this season. While the River Lions have come out on top both times, the games played out in very different ways. 

The first matchup was played way back on the CEBL’s opening night, June 24th. After an early Ottawa lead, Niagara took control for the final three quarters of action and ran away to a 103-77 victory behind Jaylen Babb-Harrison’s 30 points off the bench.

The second game between these two Ontario clubs came exactly one month later, on July 24th. In one of the closest games of the entire season, Niagara’s Guillaume Payen-Boucard took a feed from Phil Scrubb to finish a layup and defeat the BlackJacks 94-92 with the Elam Ending score set at 93.

With both a blowout and a thriller in the books already, it’s anyone’s guess how Sunday’s tilt will play out.

Everywhere you look in Canadian basketball, you’re sure to find a connection to the dominant Carleton Ravens basketball program. Surprisingly though, in this matchup most Carleton representation doesn’t come from the hometown Ottawa squad, but rather Niagara’s group.

Brothers Phil and Thomas Scrubb, Lloyd Pandi, Guillaume Payen-Boucard, and Grant Shephard are all either current or former Ravens, along with head coach Vic Raso. On top of that, Dave Smart, mastermind of the Carleton dynasty, is an executive coach and regional scout for the River Lions.

While Ottawa doesn’t have the same connection to the university located in the nation’s capital, it does roster Alain Louis, a current Raven who’s played a large role on the BlackJacks this season.

With the CEBL’s quarterfinal matchups set, both teams can start to look ahead beyond Sunday’s game. 

Ottawa will be travelling across the province of Ontario to take on the Hamilton Honey Badgers on August 14th in the three-versus-six quarterfinal matchup. 

Meanwhile, by virtue of having the number two seed locked up, Niagara will await the highest seed remaining after the quarterfinal round. Should the Honey Badgers take care of the BlackJacks, the River Lions will meet up with their southern Ontario rivals.

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.

A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with 75 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 typically runs from May through August. Head to CEBL.ca for more information or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube