Game Day Recap: June 8th

Another game, another River Lions win.

Saturday night, 1,805 viewers at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharine’s saw the River Lions win their fifth game in a row. The River Lions beat the Hamilton Honey Badgers 107-96 in their first meeting of the year, improving to 6-1 on the season and 3-0 at home.

It wouldn’t be a River Lions game without a wild swing of runs, and the River Lions faithful were not disappointed when the ball tipped off.

After being on the wrong end of a 13-4 run in the first three minutes, the River Lions responded by going on a whopping 29-3 run until 0:15 left in the third quarter.

Oh, then Kassius Robertson hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to put Niagara up 36-18 at the end of one.

A pleasant surprise for the River Lions was the emergence of guard Kassius Robertson enjoyed his break-out performance against Hamilton, scoring 17 points off the bench while shooting five of eight from behind the three-point line. He was also an impressive +17 in just under 24 minutes of action. Robertson has come off the bench in every game so far this season and has provided an added punch to an already-stacked point guard rotation.

“This season really isn’t about minutes for me,” Robertson said. “Instead I’m just focused on getting better as a player and a teammate and contributing any way I can to the team… I’m naturally a shooting guard but I’m trying to get better at the point guard position.”

The River Lions were also treated to another stellar performance by Guillaume Boucard, who tallied 23 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and shot eight of 13 from the field. He was also an incredible +22 in 32 minutes and led the team in scoring, rebounding and assisting.

After that whirlwind first quarter, the Honey Badgers outscored the River Lions 16-7 in the first five minutes of the second quarter, threatening to make a comeback. The River Lions quickly turned things around behind a Boucard lay-up and answered a Hamilton three-pointer with back-to-back triples from Nem Mitrovic and Robertson.

A Justin Edwards bank-shot at the buzzer cut the Niagara lead back down to 13 for a 54-41 lead.

The second half saw the Honey Badgers get the deficit to as close as ten, and the River Lions stretch it back out to as large as 22.

That was the most impressive feat of the game for Niagara. Every time the Honey Badgers had an opportunity to get some momentum and eat into the River Lions’ lead, they answered with a big play of their own.

The River Lions defense has been fantastic all season long, and tonight was no different. The Honey Badgers were limited to only 43% shooting from the field and 29% from behind the arc.

“(We’re) not worried about peaking just focused on improving,” captain Ryan Anderson said when asked if the team’s early win-streak can breed complacency. “When you focus on improving wins take care of themselves. (We) definitely can continue this pace, (and) actually believe there’s more of a ceiling (for the team).

By Nicolas Bueno