River Lions roar back to win first-ever CEBL game
Canada's newest professional basketball league came in like a Lion.
A Niagara River Lion, to be exact.
Six players, including four starters, scored in double digits as the St. Catharines-based team overcame a six-point halftime deficit to edge the Saskatchewan Rattlers 99-97 Thursday night in Saskatoon in the Canadian Elite Basketball League's first game.
"It was a heck of a game. It took us a long time to figure ourselves out," said general manager-head coach Victor Raso, who was pleased the Lions were able to finish strong.
The River Lions won despite playing less than a half.
"I thought we only played a quarter and a half of basketball," the first-year head coach said. "It just kind of felt we weren't playing as well as we should be. It got to a point in the mid-third-quarter where we all just had the feeling, 'We're going to get this.'"
In the fourth quarter, Niagara went on a run outscoring the Rattlers 28-25 to clinch the win.
"We're knocking on the door the entire time, and because we got the win now, it gives us that momentum and a good feeling going forward.
"We can build off of this. We can put a little run together."
For the River Lions, the first opportunity to take step two in that run was Friday night when they visited the Edmonton Stingers.
But Raso cautioned returning home with a sweep would be easier said than done.
"This is a very tough trip," he said Thursday in a telephone interview from Saskatoon. "We have to sleep here tonight, fly there tomorrow morning, get there in the afternoon, drive into town and then play a game against a team that hasn't played yet.
"And against a team who has scouted us, but we're not going to be able to scout them."
Still, Raso liked Niagara's chances going into the second of back-to-back road games.
"If we take the momentum from this win and start from the beginning of the game, I think we're a really good basketball team," Raso said. "We just need to put it all together."
Guillaume Bouchard, who played with the River Lions in their last season in the National Basketball League of Canada, paced Niagara in points with 19. His six rebounds were also tops on the team.
Fellow starters Trae Bell-Hayes with 18; Sam Muldrow 15; and Dorian Pinson 14; also scored in double digits for the River Lions.
Ryan Anderson and Yohanny Dalembert netted 11 and 10 points, respectively, off the bench.
Led by Muldrow, 3-for-4, and Anderson, 3-for-8, Niagara shot 10-for-19 from beyond the three-point arc.
Saskatchewan's Tavrion Dawson led all players with 29 points and seven rebounds.
Friday night's game in Edmonton opened a home-and-home in the east-west rivalry, with the Stingers visiting the Lions for a 7 p.m. tipoff next Thursday at Meridian Centre.
The Guelph Nighthawks and the host Fraser Valley Bandits, facing each other at Abbotsford, B.C., also made their Canadian Elite Basketball League debuts Thursday night, but it was the River Lions who made hoops history.
Since Pacific Standard Time is one hour behind the prairies, Niagara has the distinction of winning the first game in the fledgling spring-summer league.
Guelph, one of three Ontario teams in the six-team league, defeated the Bandits 106-103.
The East's other team, the Hamilton Honey Badgers, make their debut hosting Edmonton at FirstOntario Centre.
An announced crowd of 3,399 attended the first pro basketball game played in Saskatoon since 1992, when the Saskatchewan Storm and the World Basketball League both folded.
About 3,000 people attended the Guelph-Fraser Valley game in Abbotsford, which is southeast of Vancouver on the Canada-U.S. border.
Bernd.Franke@niagaradailies.com
905-225-1624 | @TribSportsDesk
Bernd.Franke@niagaradailies.com
905-225-1624 | @TribSportsDesk