Niagara River Lions head to the nation’s capital on Saturday to take on the Ottawa BlackJacks
By Zulfi Sheikh
The Niagara River Lions (+123) will look to knock off the top team in the Eastern Conference as they visit the Ottawa BlackJacks (-167) at TD Place on Saturday at 7:30 pm ET.
The game will be available for streaming live on TSN+, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, and on the CEBL Mobile app available on iOS and Android devices.
It will be the first or four matchups between the two squads this regular season, and they’ll also face-off for their second contest in exactly one week. This game marks the first time these teams will compete against one another since June of last year. Niagara and Ottawa went head-to-head twice in June 2022, and it was the River Lions who swept the season series 2-0.
Heading into this matchup the River Lions hold a 3-4 record, giving them lone possession of third place in the East, while the BlackJacks currently lead the conference with a 4-2 record respectively.
Niagara enters this contest coming off a hard-fought 100-93 win against the Montréal Alliance last Tuesday. It was Jahvon Henry-Blair who led the team that night via his 26 points, four rebounds, and three assists. What was most impressive about his night was the eight triples he knocked down on a scorching 66 per cent shooting from distance.
His hot night from beyond the arch tied the record for second-most threes ever made in a CEBL game and was part of the River Lions best three-point shooting night this season. The team made 17 triples and did so while shooting an efficient 47 per cent.
A performance like that should come as no surprise as Niagara are the second-best team from distance this season, averaging 35.8 per cent per game on 10.4 makes. However, their opponents tonight in the BlackJacks are the league’s best three-point shooting team at 41 per cent on 10.7 makes. The River Lions will have to keep pace with Ottawa to ensure they don’t fall behind in the scoring battle.
Not only will the River Lions need to match their opponent’s output, they’ll also need to be efficient about it. In each of their three wins this season, Niagara has shot over 40 per cent on long-balls, going on an averaging of 46.3 per cent per game. In their four losses, that number has dropped down drastically, to as low as 23 per cent per game.
Another part of their success was their ability to hound the offensive glass. The team collected 11 offensive boards and finished the night a +6, earning themselves the edge on second chance points as well. Despite being the second-worst offensive rebounding team in the league and being the smaller squad, Niagara showed intense effort on that side of the ball and were able to come out with a win as a result.
They’re going to need to replicate that effort as they take on two of the league’s top ten rebounders in Ottawa’s Deng Adel and Zena Edosomwan.
Speaking of the BlackJacks, they enter this game coming off a win of their own, getting a narrow 91-85 victory over the Edmonton Stingers. After struggling in his first game back by scoring just three points, Adel recovered massively in the team’s win last Saturday. The forward led the game in points (20), rebounds (9), and assists (8), all while shooting 50 per cent from the field and distance. He was joined by Kadre Gray who notched an equally efficient 15 points and three rebounds, and who now sits at sixth place in terms or scoring leaders in the CEBL.
The team’s shooting is what helped them squeak out that win against Edmonton. The BlackJacks outshot the Stingers from the field, the three, and the charity stripe. If it weren’t for such a strong shooting performance, they were likely to lose as they got outrebounded, committed more turnovers, gave up more baskets inside, and got less bench production.
Fans of Ottawa will hope the week-long rest will help them return to form as an effort like that won’t cut it against the River Lions who are the second-highest scoring team in the league so far at 91.1 points per game.
All games will also be streamed live internationally on the CEBL’s OTT platform, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, and on the CEBL Mobile app for iOS and Android devices. Full list of betting props available on BetVictor.
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.