River Lions back on track with win over Guelph

When the Niagara River Lions are firing on all cylinders, the team is a thing of beauty.

They share the ball. They move. They invariably get open shots and have the skill across the roster to knock them down. It's worth the price of admission.

A case in point was the first quarter on Friday at the Meridian Centre against the Guelph Knighthawks.

Still stinging from a 107-95 loss to the Hamilton Honey Badgers Wednesday night, the River Lions took out their frustrations out on Guelph, opening a 22-3 lead. At one point, Guelph coach Tarry Upshaw threw his hands in the air and looked skyward, wondering if Niagara would ever miss a shot.

In the end, the River Lions ended up holding on for a 112-109 win as Guelph began chipping away at the deficit in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, foul trouble claimed Niagara's big men. First, six-foot-11 Sam Muldrow re-entered the game with four fouls at the 9:26 mark. Seven seconds later, he was gone with his fifth foul. When fellow big-man Youhanny Dalembert fouled out with 4:26 remaining, Guelph's big men went to work. Seven-footer Ezekiel Marshall and six-foot-nine Chadrack Lufile dominated in the paint as the Knighthawks kept shrinking the margin.

In the end, the closest Guelph could get was the final margin of three points, and that was with two seconds left.

"We need to put 40 minutes together," Niagara coach Victor Raso said. "We talked a lot after the loss Wednesday about our identity and not losing the joy of playing together.

"Against Hamilton, we got all the same looks we had tonight, but we had our worst shooting night of the year. We shot 29-for-70.

"In the first half tonight we made 22 field goals and had 18 assists.

"We know we will put up points. The big thing for us is defending. That's what we did in the first half. We gave up 22 points in the first quarter and 19 in the second.

"If we defend like that all the time, we get the opportunity to get out and go. For us, the offence will take care of itself."

Kassius Robertson led the River Lions with 20 points, including four-for-six on three-point field goals. Nem Mitrovic added 19 points, 15 of which came from beyond the three-point arc.

Trae Bell-Haynes had 18 points, Ryan Anderson 14, Alex Johnson 13 and Dorian Pinson 11.

Dalembert hauled down nine rebounds. Pinson had eight.

Marcus Lewis led the Knighthawks with 26 points. Clu Famutimi and Myck Kabongo added 15 each. Kabongo also led Guelph in rebounding with 11 for a double-double.

Niagara improved to a league-leading 7-2. Guelph fell to 2-6.

Niagara is back in action Friday when the Saskatchewan Rattles visit the Meridian Centre. Tip-off is 7 p.m.

William.Sawchuk@niagaradailies.com

905-225-1630 | @bill_standard

Bill Sawchuk | June 14, 2019 | The St. Catharines Standard