Game Day Recap: June 26th

There’s no place like home.

Wednesday night at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharine’s, the Niagara River Lions dispatched the Hamilton Honey Badgers 108-96 to improve to 9-2 on the season and 6-0 at home. The River Lions also lead the season series 2-1 against the 7-4 Honey Badgers, with both wins coming in the comfort of the Meridian Centre.

After their first encounter with the Honey Badgers, it was clear games between these teams would be physical, with their second match-up featuring an ejection.

Wednesday night was no different. Justin Edwards of the Honey Badgers was ejected after receiving two technical fouls with 9:26 left in the third quarter. Edwards finished the night with only six points.

Moments later, Ryan Ejim of the Honey Badgers was also hit with a technical foul with 7:08 left in the third quarter.

“That speaks to the team dynamic,” Ryan Anderson said about the River Lions having a mental edge in physical games. “We are on a quest for a championship. Any given night anyone can get loose. That’s what is great about team sports.”

Anderson was fantastic for the River Lions, scoring a game-high 25 points in 21:58 off the bench. He broke out of his cold-streak in a huge way, shooting eight of 12 from the field and seven of 11 from behind the three-point line.

His consistency scoring the ball off the bench has been a key ingredient for the River Lions lethal offensive attack.

“I do many things but shooting is my strong suit,” Anderson said. “Off the bench I try to be as aggressive within the team as possible. I try to pick and choose my spots. Coming off the bench is a different rhythm than starting so I’m able to be a little more free to try and help the team offensively.”

Also stepping up to carry the scoring load was centre Sam Muldrow, who led the starters with 17 points. Muldrow added seven rebounds and hit three out of seven threes, a pleasant boost from his 6.5 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.

The game started out hot for the River Lions, who shot 61% from the field and 62% from behind the arc in the opening frame alone. The Honey Badgers shot 30% and 22% respectively and had the River Lions not turned it over seven times in the first quarter, their 31-21 lead might’ve been much bigger.

They entered the half up 57-44, led by Guillaume Boucard (16 points, eight rebounds) and outscored the Honey Badgers fifteen to four in fast break points as well.

After the flurry of technical fouls in the third quarter, the River Lions rained down three-pointers for a four-minute stretch. Nem Mitrovic hit one in the corner, Anderson went three for three and Kassius Robertson knocked down another open corner three for the River Lions to take a. 85-65 lead at the end of three.

A late Hamilton run was thwarted by a Yohanny Dalembert dunk and an Alex Johnson lay-up. Mitrovic iced the game with a three to put the River Lions up 108-92 with 50 seconds left.

The River Lions next game is Friday June 28 in Edmonton to play the Stingers.

By Nicolas Bueno