Brock Badgers’ Tyler Brown makes pro debut in River Lions’ home opener

The intern finally got his turn in the Niagara River Lions lineup.

Tyler Brown, the Canadian Elite Basketball League team's designated U Sports player, logged six minutes and 14 seconds of playing time, shot 1-for-2 from the free-throw line and was credited with three steals as the River Lions defeated the visiting Edmonton Stingers 108-86 in their home opener.

Brown, who in the fall will be returning to the Brock Badgers for a fifth and final season, also came down with two defensive rebounds and collected two assists for Niagara, now 2-1 in league play.

Thursday night's game at Meridian Centre in St. Catharines was the third of Brown's pro career in the fledgling spring-summer league, but it was the first in which he didn't spend the entire time learning from the bench.

Not seeing any action in road games against the Saskatchewan Rattlers and Edmonton didn't bother the Hamilton native.

"I know my role. I'm here to get better," he said. "I still have one more year at university, so I'm trying to learn as much as I can from them.

"So if I don't get into some games, then it is what it is. I still have fun out there, though."

Once he got the go-ahead from head coach Victor Raso to go into the game, the community recreation major made a point of not trying to "do everything at once."

"When I got in there, I just tried to keep things simple," he said. "Our team played well, so they allowed me to get into the game."

"It felt really good to be out there."

Brown found the pace of play in the CEBL a "little bit faster" than the tempo he was used to playing at the university level.

"It was kind of fast, like fast-paced. Running up and down the court," he said. "I'm usually playing the 1, but out there I was playing a little bit of the 2.

"I had to sprint down to the corners a lot instead of just being able to dribble up the ball."

Brown said the experience in the CEBL will improve his game.

"For sure, over the last two, three weeks, even not playing in a game, I have learned a lot from a lot of these guys," he said. "I've learned a lot so far that I can back to the Brock Badgers."

Raso was happy for Brown.

"Tyler's a great kid. He's been practising incredibly hard," the coach said.

Reserving one of 10 roster spots for a Canadian player who is going back for another season in university is one of the ways the CEBL hopes to help grow the sport in this country.

"I honestly don't think there could be a better situation for a guy going into his fifth year of school than being in our practices every day," Raso said of Brown. "He's not just playing pro basketball. He's playing with high-level pros who know the game, who are veteran guys.

"He's learning how to play at that level."

Raso said he would have envied U Sports designated players had the initiative been around during his hoops heyday at Carleton University.

"I was never good enough. I wouldn't have been one of these guys on the team," he said with a chuckle. "But, man, you're not only in school, but you also get to earn scholarship money in the summer, and you get to train with professionals.

"That is a dream situation. He gets to play pro basketball, and he's not even pro yet.

"It's the ultimate intern. You get an internship with a pro team where you get to play."

Niagara's first home game in the new league was also the team's first rematch. In their last game, the River Lions dropped a 118-105 decision to the Stingers in overtime.

"Last game, it was rushed. We were coming off a high of winning a close game," Raso said. "We had to fly and travel. We couldn't be as prepared as we wanted to be."

Niagara wasn't caught off-guard in the rematch.

"Our game plan was solid, but it was more our guys and their hunger to right a wrong.," the first-year coach said. "It felt like we didn't play very well last week.

"We left too many boards. We were bad on the defensive boards, bad on the defensive transition. We really wanted to turn it around, and I'm glad we did."

That the impressive turnaround happened in the home opener was a bonus.

"At the end of the day, when we look at it at the end of the year, it's the same win as anywhere else," Raso said, "But it's our home opener, and these fans have been waiting more than a year for professional basketball here.

"It was really important for us to put on a performance like we did tonight."

Raso was most impressed with his team's commitment to rebounding in Thursday night's game.

"The last couple of games we got beat on the boards, and it was pure effort," he said. "These guys watched it, they took the criticism, and they were crazy on the boards.

"They were so much better than we were the last two games."

Niagara, which jumped out to a 33-18 lead after one-quarter of play and was up 58-36 at halftime, was paced in points by Ryan Anderson, with 21; Trae Bell-Hayes, 16; Nem Mitrovic, 15; Dorian Pinson, 14; and Yohanny Dalembert, 13.

Guillaume Payen-Boucard and Dalembert, with eight apiece; Samuel Muldrow and Pinson, seven each; topped the River Lions in rebounds.

Edmonton's Xavier Moon topped all scorers with 26 points. Jordan Baker had a game-high 14 rebounds for the Stingers.

Edmonton lost its second in a row to fall to 1-2.

Niagara visits the Saskatchewan Rattlers in Saskatoon next Friday and hosts the Fraser Valley Bandits from Abbotsford, B.C., Friday, May 31.

Lions lines: Chorus Niagara Children's Choir performed the national anthem at centre court.

Bernd.Franke@niagaradailies.com

905-225-1624 | @TribSportsDesk

Franke Bernd | May 17, 2019 | The St. Catharines Standard