Scarborough Hosts Second Seeded River Lions
The Scarborough Shooting Stars host the Niagara River Lions at 7 p.m. ET in a battle for playoff seeding. The River Lions come in at 11-4 with the Shooting Stars 8-6.
The River Lions come in off of a momentous win against the Newfoundland Growlers. Down 16 going into the fourth quarter, Niagara went on a 28-4 run to send them into Elam time with an eight-point lead. Niagara defeated the Growlers 95-87 to extend their win streak to four games.
Khalil Ahmad, the league’s leading scorer at 22.5 points per game, scored 33 points in the win and he led the River Lions offence that gained momentum as time went on and used their defence to contain the Growlers offence that started hot. Ahmad and Daniel Waldin-Mullings were the two leading guards on the scoreboard while Antonio Davis Jr. scored 19 points at the forward position.
The River Lions rank first in points per game and field goal percentage, and Ahmad and Waldin-Mullings have been the prime reasons for the flowing offence Niagara has shown.
The Shooting Stars went into Hamilton on a three game winning streak then lost 84-70 to the Honey Badgers on July 14. David Muenkat scored 18 points and Jean-Victor Mukama scored 12 with Kameron Chatman and Isiaha Mike both adding 10 points. Scarborough found their scoring inside the paint and tightly lost the rebounds 44-40 against the Honey Badgers team rebounding.
In Scarborough’s 94-89 win over Guelph on July 7, Jalen Harris led the scoring with 24 points and Chatman scored 18 with Kalif Young and Isiaha Mike scoring 13 each. Harris is Scarborough’s primary weapon on offence. His ability to attack off the dribble and knock down shots often gives Scarborough a tool they can go to when they need a score. Harris ranks fifth in the CEBL in points per game with 19.9 and over the Shooting Stars three game winning streak he averaged 22.3. Harris allows the Shooting Stars other scorers to get in a flow with the attention Harris gets from defences, and his ability to facilitate when the defence moves towards him will be key to the success of the other perimeter players.
The matchup of Tidjan Keita, Davis and Chatman and Mike will be the premier battle between these two teams. Davis found his scoring off of the pick and roll against the Newfoundland defence and Keita worked alongside him cleaning up second chances and the rebounds. Chatman and Mike can make their impact from the three-point line, Mike ranked second in three-point percentage with 45.6, but their play around the rim capitalizing on put-backs will be key against the River Lions who play solid defensively. 
All games will be streamed live internationally on the CEBL’s OTT platform, CEBL+, and on the CEBL Mobile app for iOS and Android devices. Games will also be available to stream live in Canada via cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices, and the free CBC Gem streaming service.
A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with 71 percent of its current rosters being Canadians. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. The only First Division Professional League Partner of Canada Basketball. The CEBL season runs from May through August. Head to CEBL.ca for more information or follow us (@cebleague) on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.