Montréal Alliance look to snap losing-skid as they visit Niagara River Lions
By Zulfi Sheikh
The Montréal Alliance (-240) look to end their four-game losing streak as they hit the road to take on the Niagara River Lions (+163) from the Meridian Centre on June 13 at 7:00pm ET.
The game will be nationally televised live on TSN 1/5 as TSN’s CEBL game of the week and will also be available for streaming on TSN+, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor and on the CEBL Mobile app available on iOS and Android devices.
This will be the second of three matchups between Montréal and Niagara, as both teams first faced-off in late May to begin their 2023 CEBL campaigns. In that first contest, the Alliance took a convincing 84-69 win at home to start off their season with a victory.
Lead guard Blake Francis put up his current season-high of 30 points, while forwards Nathan Cayo and Treveon Graham each registered double-doubles. The team outshot and outrebounded the River Lions on route to their first of back-to-back wins.
Unfortunately, that’s where the good times stopped as Montréal went on to lose four straight, punctuated by a 104-72 loss to the Scarborough Shooting Stars this past Sunday. A common struggle for the Alliance through their rough patch has been their carelessness with the ball. Over their first two wins, the team averaged 10 turnovers a game, and that number has bumped up to 14 during their losing streak. In said 32-point loss to Scarborough the team gave up a season-high 18 turnovers in the process.
Another part of the Alliance’s struggles has been their lack of scoring, as the team averages a league-low 79.2 points per game. However, there are hopes of that changing as they take on the River Lions. Ahmed Hill, the team’s second-best scorer, missed a game-and-a-half with an ankle injury but made his return in their most recent loss. Despite struggling on the night, shooting 2-10, the guard did have success his last time out against Niagara. Look for him to regain his early-season form as he hopes to replicate a 17-point performance from when these teams last faced-off.
Graham will be another name to watch out for as he’s coming off his fourth double-double of the season where he also notched his season-high of 22 points. His offensive production will be welcomed in this game, but he’ll mostly be relied upon for his elite rebounding. The forward’s 11 boards a game will definitely play a role against the second-lowest rebounding team in the league.
On the other side Niagara are coming off a loss of their own, snapping a two-game win streak with an 87-78 defeat to the Vancouver Bandits. It was also the River Lions’ first loss since the return of 2022 CEBL MVP Khalil Ahmad. Likely not a coincidence that it was also his worst shooting night so far, scoring just 12 points on a lowly 27 per cent shooting. Look for him to bounce back and be a difference-maker Niagara didn’t have the last time these teams went at it.
Outside of the guard’s rough offensive night, another part of their loss to the Bandits was their lack of rebounding. The team was a -17 on the glass, with none of their players grabbing more than four boards on the night. They faced those same struggles in their previous loss to the Alliance as they were a -4 that night and gave up 15 second-chance points as a result. No one on the team is currently averaging more than five rebounds a game, so it’ll be a total team effort to keep the likes of Cayo and Graham off the glass for Montréal.
A bright spot for the River Lions despite their loss was the continued success of Edward Ekiyor who put up 15 points and two blocks off the bench. A major factor in the forward’s early success has been his efficient scoring, currently tenth in the league in terms of field goal percentage.
Not counting a rough first game, Ekiyor is averaging 16 points per game on 64.5 per cent shooting. His contributions as part of Niagara’s second unit will be pivotal against a Montréal side that has been giving up an average of 22.5 bench points a game while only scoring 11.5 themselves.
Full broadcast schedule of CEBL Games of the Week on TSN can be found here. All games will also be streamed live internationally on the CEBL’s OTT platform, CEBL+, 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.