Game Day Preview: May 10th

The River Lions are back in action tonight.

After defeating the Saskatchewan Rattlers Thursday night 99-97, the Niagara River Lions are closing their two-game road trip tonight in Edmonton.

The Edmonton Stingers have yet to play a game in the CEBL, and it will be interesting to see how well the River Lions match up with them. Adding to the situation at hand is the team dealing with their first ever back-to-back. How does Niagara prepare for a situation like this?

“We’ll prepare for Edmonton the same way we prepared for this team (Saskatchewan),” head coach Victor Raso said following Thursday’s win. “Know their individual (matchups), that’s all we can do to this point. I think what we take from last night’s game is that it took us so long to break through and finally play like the team we know we are.”

The River Lions got their first lead midway through the third quarter, trailing as much as 11 at one point. They rallied to lead by 10 with 2:30 left in the game and staved off another Rattlers push to hold on for the two-point win.

“I like the momentum it gives us and hopefully we play our style of game in the first half tomorrow, instead of just the second,” Raso said of his team’s result Thursday.

The River Lions were led by Canadians Guillaume Boucard and Trae Bell- Haynes, who had 19 and 18 points respectively.

“Basketball’s a long game, we can’t let trailing effect our effort,” Bell-Haynes said when asked about getting into an 11-point hole early in the second half. “I think as a team we did a really good job of sticking to what we know, and to come out on top feels great.”

The biggest impact the River Lions made to turn the game around in the fourth was turning up their defensive intensity. Five steals in the final frame led to extra possessions the River Lions capitalized on.

“Coach made us an excellent defensive scheme and as soon as we started executing it, we fed off it, gained confidence from it and it helped our offense greatly”, Boucard said.

On the Edmonton side of things, they are another team that possesses great size, with only three players under 6’3”. Raso turned to his small-ball unit late against the Rattlers to spur Niagara on to victory, so it will be interesting to see what Raso does again tonight with his lineups.

The Stingers have well-decorated players on their roster, like U-Sports All Canadian Brody Clarke and 2016 Portuguese League MVP Jared Ogungbemi-Jackson.

The River Lions get six days of rest after tonight’s game, playing their next game Thursday, May 16. After a busy first two games the team will be happy for an opportunity to recharge.

The next game is their home opener, and they host the Edmonton Stingers.