Honey Badgers Face River Lions in Final Home Game

The Hamilton Honey Badgers host the Niagara River Lions in their final regular season game on July 31 at 2 pm ET in a nationally televised game on CBC Television in Ottawa. 

The Honey Badgers (14-5) had just clinched the top seed in the CEBL standings in their previous game – a 76-73 road victory over the River Lions (12-7) on July 29. Hamilton also snapped a two-game losing streak and get a bye to the CEBL Championship Weekend semi-finals on Aug. 12. 

The River Lions are playing for playoff seeding. If they beat Hamilton, they would finish as the number two seed and earn a bye to the quarter-finals. They are also looking to end a three-game losing streak. 

Their previous game against Hamilton was close until the end. Niagara took an 23-16 lead after one quarter before Hamilton won the second and third quarters to lead 53-46 going into the fourth.

The teams traded baskets in Elam time before guard Aaron Best sank three free throws for the victory. Hamilton had more rebounds (42-33), assists (19-15) and steals (13-8). They also had more bench points (26-18).

Hamilton’s depth will be important for them in the rematch. With leading scorer Christian Vital not playing, Best lead the team in scoring in his season debut with 22 points. 

Guards Nikola Djogo (40 per cent) and Koby McEwen (41) are strong three-point shooters. Meanwhile, Caleb Agada plays a big role in running the offence as he leads the team in average assists (5.3) and steals (2.2). 

The Honey Badgers lead the league in average steals (9.4) with Agada and Vital leading the league. Niagara is second with 9.3 steals as Daniel Walden-Mullings and Khalil Ahmad are also among the league leaders. A key factor to this game will be the team that wins the turnover battle. 

Niagara leads the league in average points (88.4) and field goal percentage (46.3 per cent) but are eighth in three-point percentage (34.6). Attacking the paint is a focal point for them. In the previous game, they shot 49 per cent from the field, 62 per cent from two-point range and 30 per cent from three. 

Another key factor is how well Hamilton can guard the paint against Niagara’s guards who like to drive (Ahmad, Walden-Mullings, Elijah Mitrou-Long) and forwards (EJ Onu, Antonio Davis Jr.). Davis Jr. had a team-high 21 points last time. 

On the other end, the matchup between Jeremiah Tilmon Jr. – who leads the CEBL in field goal percentage (63.8) – Onu (leading shot blocker with 3.5 on average) will be an important one. 

Having clinched the bye to semi-finals, the Honey Badgers will have nearly two weeks between this game and their next one on Aug. 12. If the River Lions can clinch a bye to the quarterfinals, their next game won’t be until 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.