Game Day Recap: August 1st

Thursday night did not go the River Lions’ way.

After going 8-1 at home leading up to their final home game of the season, the River Lions lost 101-90 against the Guelph Nighthawks at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharine’s.

They fall to 13-5 on the season and sit firmly in second place of the CEBL standings. The Nighthawks improve to 5-12 and get their first win of the season against Niagara.

“They shot the ball better from the field, they took better care of the ball, and those guys played with their backs against the wall,” said head coach Victor Raso. “They (the Nighthawks) couldn’t (afford to) lose tonight, and I don’t think our guys played with a sense of urgency against a group of guys that couldn’t (afford to) lose.”

Raso was right on the money about the Nighthawks’ performance: they shot 44% compared to the River Lions’ 39%, they were 56% from inside the arc compared to the River Lions’ 42%, and while Niagara shot a better percentage from behind the three-point line (33% to 30%), the Nighthawks made one more on the game.

The Nighthawks were also very aggressive on offense, getting to the line 35 times and converting on 82% of them. The River Lions only went to the charity stripe 25 times on the night.

The Nighthawks also won the turnover battle, coughing it up 17 times compared to the River Lions’ 20.

“Take it for what it is, I don’t think we’ve got any massive problems, I just don’t think we were as mentally prepared,” Raso said. “The thing about our group of guys is every time… we’ve always responded when the times are big… it’s a good learning experience, make some corrections from it.”

Raso is also correct about the River Lions’ track record following a loss: they’re yet to lose consecutive games this season and some of their signature wins this season have been after a loss.

The game wasn’t completely lost for the River Lions, as they came out of the gate strong. They led 30-22 after one and closed the final 2:58 of the first quarter on a 13-0 run.

The second quarter also opened in the River Lions’ favor: they led 45-31 with 5:51 left in the half before Charles Kissi called timeout for Guelph. From that point on Guelph outscored Niagara 24-7 to take a 55-52 lead heading into half.

The Nighthawks’ kept the River Lions at arms-length the rest of the game, with the Nighthawks’ lead never getting over 12. The closest the game was after halftime was two points with 6:47 left in the third quarter.

The River Lions were led in scoring by Ryan Anderson who tallied 22 points on six of 17 shooting. Guillaume Boucard chipped in with 16 as well.

The Nighthawks were led by Kimball Mackenzie who scored 25 points while Connor Wood hit four threes en route to 17 points for the night.

“When we go to Saskatoon (for Championship Weekend) I know our guys will be super locked in from the start,” Raso said. “We keep learning stuff about ourselves as we keep going forward which only gives us a better chance to put everything out there and have the best weekend we can at the final four.”

By Nicolas Bueno