Game Day Writeup: May 10th

The River Lions were so close to another come from behind win Friday night. Friday night at the Edmonton EXPO Centre saw the first overtime game in CEBL history. The Edmonton Stingers ended up coming away with the 118-105 victory after they almost blew a double digit lead in regulation.

The River Lions trailed by as many as 14 in the third quarter, and never led or tied until a Guillaume Boucard three gave them an 87-86 lead with 6:07 left in the fourth.

“I felt like we lacked energy to start, that could be one of the reasons,” Boucard said of the River Lions’ poor start. “We also got to find ways to prevent this and we need to feed off each other.”

The River Lions started slowly in both halves: The Stingers led 16-5 before Victor Raso took the first timeout of the game. The second half opened up with a 10-3 run in favor of Edmonton as well.

Boucard was great again last night, scoring 24 points and three rebounds. Most importantly to his offensive game, he canned four triples.

The River Lions felt like this game was a missed opportunity to improve to 2-0 on the season. If there are any trends in this young league so far, the River Lions have a knack for making comebacks.

“I’m happy with out fight but we need to be better to start halves,” said coach Victor Raso. “Our urgency at the beginning of halves wasn’t good on this trip but we were able to turn it around and overcome it.”

“We’re a resilient group so when we got down early, it was just a matter of staying together and fighting our way back into it,” said Nemanja Mitrovic. He finished with 12 points and three made triples on the night. “We should have done a better job at the start of the game and not put ourselves in that position.”

The River Lions played the night before in Saskatoon, opening the season with a back-to-back on the road.

“We will give the guys a couple days rest and get right back to it Monday with our usual routine of skill development in the morning and practice in the evening,” Raso said of having the next six days off. “We will be able to prepare for Edmonton properly now that we’ve had a chance to play them and we’ll get to see them again on Sunday against Hamilton.”

The Edmonton Stingers were led by Xavier Moon, who went off for 36 points and six rebounds. The Stingers were also treated to a 27-point, eight rebound performance from Mamadou Gueye.

It was the Stingers first game in the CEBL, and they were met with a raucous crowd.

The second quarter was a strong point for the River Lions, only allowing 18 points. Ryan Anderson hit two three-pointers in the quarter, and the score was 48-42 for Edmonton at halftime.

Unfortunately, the four-point lead the River Lions fought for late in the fourth wasn’t enough to hold off the Stingers. Ryan Anderson missed the game-winner at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime.

The Stingers were too much in overtime, relentlessly attacking the basket for layups and offensive rebounds.

The next River Lions game is Thursday, May 16 at the Meridian Centre for their first home game of the year.