Niagara Defeats the Guelph Nighthawks to Improve to 2-1

GUELPH, ON – The River Lions defeated the Guelph Nighthawks 95-84 on Tuesday night to improve to 2-1 while the Nighthawks fell to 1-1.

The pace of the game was set early between the two teams.  The guards scored early and often in transition, Guelph scoring 14 of their 23 first quarter points in the paint, Niagara scoring 12 of 22.  Both benches got action early in the game and they got themselves on the board with 12 bench points for Guelph and 13 for Niagara.  Leading the scoring at the end of the first quarter was Daniel Walden-Mullings with seven points.  At the end of the first the Guelph Nighthawks held a 23-22 lead over the River Lions.

The fast pace continued into the second quarter and opportunities came regularly for both sides.  Guards got the ball inside the paint and used their movement to get defences out of position.  Halfway through the second quarter Niagara held a six offensive rebound advantage which gave them eight second chance points while the Nighthawks were held with zero.  Munis Tutu hit a three at the buzzer to give the River Lions a 46-41 lead at halftime.  The matchup of Khalil Ahmad and Cat Barber produced 12 points for each side at half, Khalil shooting 57% and Cat 50% from the field.



Fast paced offence led to turnovers and transition basketball.  Niagara created 12 steals, which on the other end of the floor led to 27 points off of turnovers while the Nighthawks six steals led to 11 points off turnovers.  The turnover differential between the two teams was only 17-15 in favour of Niagara but the extra possessions were capitalized on by the River Lions and they went into the fourth quarter with a 71-58 lead.  Cat Barber led the Nighthawks going into the fourth with 19 points and four assists.  Khalil Ahmad had 20 points after three quarters, to go with four rebounds, five assists and a steal.  Helping Khalil, Alonzo Walker scored 13 in three quarters, grabbed nine rebounds, assisted on two baskets and recorded two steals.

Guelph started the fourth quarter by forcing three straight River Lions turnovers, which led to points every trip down the floor and the 13-point Niagara lead was cut to five, 71-66 with 8 minutes remaining.  A Jaylen Babb-Harrison three stopped the Nighthawks run and kept the River Lions at an eight-point lead where they worked from until Elam time where Niagara held a 86-78 lead.  The target score was set at 95 as both teams came out of the timeout before Elam time.

Cat Barber scored the first basket of Elam time to cut the Nighthawks deficit to six but it was answered by a Munis Tutu three pointer and a Jaylen Babb-Harrison layup to make it a 11-point game, 91-80.  Niagara got to the free throw line to bring them within one of victory and a Khalil Ahmad shot off of an inbound pass gave the River Lions the 95-84 victory. 

Khalil Ahmad and Cat Barber led both teams in scoring once the final buzzer sounded.  Cat led the Nighthawks with 29 points, one rebound and four assists.  Khalil Ahmad scored 33 for the River Lions while adding four rebounds, six assists and a steal.

The River Lions outrebounded the Nighthawks 44-27, and head coach Victor Raso had this to say of his teams’ effort on the glass, “we did talk about punishing them inside because we thought we were bigger, I honestly don't think we did a good job of that but we did do a good job of going to the boards especially Alonzo Walker, and Tidjan (Keita) is such a freak of nature, he tries so hard all the time that so long as he’s on the court for 15 minutes he’s going to get 10 rebounds, but I was happy with the numbers.”