River Lions survive late surger to secure second seed

The Niagara River Lions (9-4) survived a late game surge by the Hamilton Honey Badgers (9-5) to clinch second place in the CEBL regular season standings with an 84-81 win at the FirstOntario Centre on Thursday night. 

With the victory, the River Lions also clinch the second playoff seed and will receive a bye into the semi-finals that will be hosted at 2021 Championship Weekend in Edmonton. 

After leading for nearly 32 minutes of the game, the River Lions received a late scare by the Honey Badgers in the fourth quarter as their lead dwindled down to six-points going into Elam Time. Lindell Wigginton saved his best basketball for last by hitting two three-pointers and drawing a charge to tie the game after the former Iowa State Cyclone struggled in the first half, going 2 of 7 from the field with three turnovers.

With the Rivers Lions leading 82-81 after a big lay-up by Hamilton’s own Jean-Victor Mukama, it was Jaylen Babb-Harrison who turned hero for Niagara after grabbing the offensive board off a missed three-pointer by Phil Scrubb for the game-winning lay-up to silence the electrifying Honey-Badgers home crowd. The Ajax, Ontario native finished with 17 points and seven rebounds in what will surely go down as one of the more electrifying finishes of this season. 

“It’s a relief,” River Lions head coach Victor Raso said. “We had a tough schedule, tough start. Lost guys, brought new guys in . . . I’m very relieved and very proud of the group.”

Tommy Scrubb was phenomenal on the floor with a game-high 24 points on 9 of 17 shooting, while playing 36 minutes – the most of any player tonight. The Richmond, B.C. native also added seven rebounds, three assists, and a steal for a River Lions team that finished up 43-31 at halftime against a Honey Badgers squad which struggled 12 of 37 from the field in the first half. 

While Niagara found success throughout the opening quarters and beyond by applying a full-court pressure to force Hamilton into making mistakes, Thomas Kennedy was the steady presence the Honey Badgers needed to stay in the contest. The Windsor, Ontario native scored 13 points with seven rebounds after missing Tuesday’s game and was excellent both ways from his hustle inside the paint to his tireless work ethic defending Niagara’s scorers. 

“I thought both of them did a very good job,” Honey Badgers head coach Ryan Schmidt said on Kennedy and Nino Johnson, who finished with 12 points to go with a tidy 5 of 6 from the field. 

“We missed (Kennedy’s) size and the toughness that he brings inside, that was something I thought we needed to do a better job after the Tuesday game.”

With the loss, Hamilton’s regular season comes to an end and will serve as hosts for one of the quarterfinal games next week against an opponent that is still yet to be determined. 

Meanwhile, Niagara will look to ride their new three-game winning streak as they travel back home to the Meridian Centre for their regular season-finale against the Ottawa Blackjacks (4-8). 

All CEBL games will be available for live streaming on the CEBL’s new OTT streaming service CEBL+, cbcsports.ca, the free CBC Gem streaming service, the CBC Sports App for iOS and android devices, and on Twitch.

A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with 75 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 typically runs from May through August. Head to CEBL.ca for more information or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube