River Lions Comeback Against Honey Badgers 83-79 in Regular Season Finale
The Niagara River Lions made an Elam time comeback to defeat the Hamilton Honey Badgers 83-79 on the road to finish the regular season.
The River Lions (13-7) clinch the second seed in the CEBL standings while the Honey Badgers (14-6) finish first. They avenged a home loss against Hamilton from July 29.
The Honey Badgers had guard Christian Vital back in the lineup after he didn’t play in their previous game against Niagara.
Caleb Agada started off the scoring with a layup before Jaylen Babb-Harrison answered with a basket for Niagara. Hamilton’s Aaron Best hit a three as the score stayed close throughout the first quarter. Niagara went inside as Onu flushed down a dunk.
Khalil Ahmad and Vital both scored down low as Niagara took a slim lead. Ahmad hit a driving floater at the buzzer as Niagara led 21-16 after one quarter.
The game was also physical from the start with players from both teams crashing the glass, fighting for loose balls and getting to the free throw line. Hamilton’s Martin Krampelj hit four free throws to cut the lead to one.
Niagara responded by getting to the foul line several times and continuing to attack the paint. Hamilton went on a 5-0 late in the second quarter to tie it before Nikola Djogo nailed a three and a layup to give them a 38-35 lead at halftime.
The River Lions made their own run early in the third quarter with Tidjan Keita scoring six straight points.
Vital’s scoring picked up with a dunk and a three-pointer as Hamilton took a 48-41 advantage midway through the third quarter. Koby McEwen also scored five straight points to extend Hamilton’s lead into double digits.
Ahmad scored off driving to the rim to chip into the lead as they trailed 62-53 after three quarters. His teammate Antonio Davis Jr. opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back jumpers.
The home team kept the lead around 10 points with timely baskets. They led 74-66 going into the Elam Ending.
Niagara scored seven of the first ten points in Elam time with baskets by Ahmad and Davis Jr. to cut the deficit to three points. The visitors kept scoring as Ahmad sank a fadeaway jumper to give them the lead.
A few minutes later, he drove to the basket for a layup. Jaylen Babb-Harrison was fouled on an offensive rebound and hit the free throw for the win.
Niagara was led by Davis Jr. (22 points, seven rebounds, two steals) and Ahmad (21 rebounds, seven rebounds, nine assists). Elijah Mitrou-Long added 13 points added 13 points and five assists off the bench.
The River Lions finished with more rebounds (42-38) and assists (19-16) than the Honey Badgers.
“It was a fight. It was a great game. This is one and two right here,” Davis Jr. noted. “We respect those guys a lot. I think that’s why it gets so chippy…that’s what you play for.”
Davis Jr. said the team did well against Hamilton’s physicality. “As we settled down and stopped worrying about the refs and how physical it was and just playing basketball, I think we played better at the end.”
The Honey Badgers were led Vital (20 points, eight assists), Agada (12 points, four rebounds) and McEwen (13 points, three assists). They shot 41 per cent from the field and 26 per cent from three while Niagara shot 39 per cent from the field and 18 per cent from three.
“Hats off to Niagara. They’re a good team. They really wanted this one and we didn’t execute down the stretch,” Best said. “We didn’t get stops when we needed them. We didn’t finish plays and rebounds and stuff like that. We just gave them life.”
The Honey Badgers will play in the CEBL Championship Weekend semi-finals on Aug. 12. The River Lions will play in the CEBL playoff quarter-finals on Aug. 7.
Fans will be able to live stream all games including the playoffs on the CEBL’s OTT streaming service CEBL+, the CEBL’s official app, CEBL Mobile for iOS and Android devices, cbcsports.ca, the free CBC Gem streaming service, the CBC Sports App for iOS and Android devices and on NXT Level Sports in the U.S. As part of its playoff coverage, CBC Sports will broadcast the quarterfinal games Sunday, August 7, semifinal games Friday, August 12, and the Championship game on Sunday, August 14. For the complete broadcast and streaming schedule, click here. All times are subject to change.
The CEBL’s fourth regular season began May 25 and ends August 1. A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL is the largest pro sports league in the country with 10 teams located in six provinces. It 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.