Growlers Seek First Win on Road Against River Lions
The Newfoundland Growlers travel to St. Catharines, ON to take on the Niagara River Lions on June 10 at 7 pm ET. The Growlers are still searching for the first franchise win after starting with three losses. The River Lions are third in the CEBL standings having won three games and lost two.
After losing a close game to the Ottawa BlackJacks, the Growlers fell behind early in their next game against the Scarborough Shooting Stars. Guard Shaquille Keith (36 points, four steals) and Brandon Sampson (18 points) had big performances but no other Growlers player scored in double figures.
Newfoundland was out-rebounded by Scarborough 48-35 and shot 39 per cent from the field and 25 per cent from three. Sampson leads the league averaging 26.7 points while Keith leads all players averaging 3.7 steals. Their teammate Allan Griffith is second in the CEBL averaging 2.7 steals.
The Growlers’ defence and fast break offence was one of their strengths versus the BlackJacks. They had 20 steals and scored 35 fast break points. Against Scarborough, they had 10 steals and 18 fast break points. Their ability to cause turnovers and score in transition will be a key for this game. The Growlers added former Cape Breton Caper Meshack Lufile to their roster earlier this week.
Newfoundland is going up against a Niagara team coming off a 79-77 loss to the Edmonton Stingers. In a rematch of the 2021 championship game, Edmonton outscored Niagara in the second half to win while Niagara assistant coach Danielle Boiago was the head coach for the game.
Niagara’s strength comes from their guard play. Khalil Ahmad and Phil Scrubb are their two leading scorers. Scrubb notched a team-high 21 points off the bench against Edmonton. Ahmad leads the CEBL averaging 6.4 assists. Guards Jalen Babb-Harrison and Munis Tutu have also had solid seasons so far as well as forwards Alonzo Walker and EJ Onu. Onu averages a league-high 3.6 blocks.
Both teams have done well in certain areas. Niagara leads the league averaging 86.8 points and 5.4 blocks. They are also second with a 46.4 field goal percentage. Newfoundland leads all teams averaging 12.7 steals and is third averaging 18 assists. Three-point shooting is an area for improvement as the Growlers are last at 28.8 per cent.
A matchup to watch for is whether Scrubb and Ahmad can run the offence effectively and take care of the ball against two quality perimeter defenders in Keith and Griffin.
This marks the a stretch of seven of eight games away from home for Newfoundland. With a win, the Growlers can move out of last place in the standings. Meanwhile, it is the third game of a four-game homestand for the River Lions, who are one win behind the Stingers and Hamilton Honey Badgers for first place.
All games will be streamed live internationally on the CEBL’s OTT platform, CEBL+ and on CEBL Mobile the official app of the CEBL for iOS and Android devices. Games are also 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.