River Lions use offensive outburst to defeat BlackJacks

Jaylen Babb-Harrison dropped 30 points off the bench as the Niagara River Lions beat the Ottawa BlackJacks 103-78 in Thursday evening’s CEBL season opener at the TD Place arena in Ottawa.  

Babb-Harrison was on fire from three-point range in the win, drilling eight shots from long distance. His energy and shooting prowess gave Niagara’s second unit a major boost, and the squad used his performance as a sparkplug for the rest of the game. 

“I tell (Jaylen) to be himself, take ownership with this situation. He comes in and he’s just himself,” said Niagara head coach Victor Raso, “This was not a surprise to us. He had multiple days in training camp where he hit seven, eight, nine threes. So, what he did tonight, I think he can do this again.” 

“When I’m on the bench I’m just watching the game, looking to see where I can pick my spots and score,” Babb-Harrison said after the game, “Once I hit a couple, (my teammates) know to look for me, and I just made shots.” 

The River Lions as a unit were blistering from the field all night, shooting 47% and dropping 14 threes as a team. 

Meanwhile, a lengthy second-half scoring drought was the nail in the BlackJacks’ coffin. Ottawa went over five minutes of game action to start the third quarter without a point. The team’s starters struggled as a whole, getting outscored 59-33 by Niagara’s starting five. 

“It’s only one game, so you don’t really know what’s true and what’s not. It’s tonight’s story,” said BlackJacks head coach Charles Dubé-Brais, “I’m sure they’ll bounce back and be able to provide us with a lot more.” 

Kadre Gray led the way for the BlackJacks with 25 points in his first career professional outing. The 6-2 guard was an elite scorer at the U SPORTS level at Laurentian before making the jump to the CEBL after graduating. 

The BlackJacks move on to host the Guelph Nighthawks on Monday night. The contest will be Guelph’s first game of the 2021 CEBL season, the last squad to get a start on the new campaign. 

Meanwhile, the River Lions are next in action on Tuesday, travelling to Abbotsford, British Columbia to take on the Fraser Valley Bandits. 

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. 

   

Ansh Sanyal 

Director, Brand & Marketing