River Lions perfect at home

The Niagara River Lions are a perfect 10.

With a 109-97 victory over the visiting Ottawa BlackJacks Saturday night, the Canadian Elite Basketball League squad finished the regular season with a perfect 10-0 home record.

It is the first time in team history the club has gone unbeaten at home during the regular season.

“It is nice but I don’t let myself enjoy moments like this,” said Niagara head coach/GM Victor Raso, while wearing the remnants of a celebratory cream pie on his face. “One day I will look back on it and enjoy it. This group had the second best regular season we have ever had in the best version of the CEBL that there is, clinched the conference with two games remaining and was 10-0 at home. That is some pretty cool stuff but right now I am focused on the next game.”

Raso likes where his team is at heading into the playoffs.

“I think we have got our guys and these last two games were difficult to play. As much as you want to create the urgency, they (River Lions) are grown men, they are in a summer league and they realize what it is,” he said. “I commended them for their effort but now failure is fatal and we have to prepare this week to win a basketball game against a very hungry team. It could be these guys again — they are kind of our nemesis and never seem to miss shots against us — or it could be Scarborough.”

Ottawa coach James Derouin knew his team was up against it Saturday night.

“Niagara is phenomenal at home. We were short-handed tonight and with the game not having any standings meaning to the game obviously it gave a weird flow to it,” he said. “I thought that kind of impacted both teams and once they turned up the heat a little bit they are really tough to beat. They got it going when they needed to.”

Niagara welcomed Omari Moore back into the lineup after his stint in NBA Summer League with the Toronto Raptors. Moore was solid with 10 points, nine assists, three steals and a game-best plus-18 rating.

“He was excellent. Omari is a very good basketball player and he is truly a fringe NBA player. He moves the ball, he defends, he understands the plan and he is just good,” Raso said.

Moore felt Ottawa came out strong in the game.

“In the first half, they were shooting 75 per cent from three and we could not slow them down at all. The second half we tried to pick up the pace, disrupt some things on defence and I think we did a lot better in the second half. We were able to extend the lead a little bit,” he said. “We got a lot from everybody: the bench and from all five starters, and it was a pretty good team effort going into playoffs.”

It was important for Moore to return to the River Lions once his Summer League stint had completed.

“After the first half of the season that I spent with the team, I enjoyed my time here and I really felt connected with the rest of the guys and the coaching staff. I just wanted to finish what we started and I think we have a really good chance to win it all. We just have to take it game by game. I am happy to be back, I am happy to be here and we will see what happens with playoffs.”

Moore kept tabs on the River Lions during his absence.

“I am not a subscriber so I couldn’t watch the games but I was following the box scores and still talking in the group chat and all that.”

STATS PACK

River Lions 109 BlackJacks 97

BPSN Player of the Game: Niagara’s Elijah Lufile with 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots.

For the Niagara River Lions: Jahvon Blair 23; Khalil Ahmad 22; Nathan Cayo 17; Lufile 16; Omari Moore 10.

For the Ottawa BlackJacks: Tyrrel Tate 22; Shamar Givance 20; Keevan Veinot 20.

Game stats: Field goal percentage: Niagara 51.9, Ottawa 49.3. Free throws: Niagara 14-22, Ottawa 10-14. Rebounds: Niagara 43, Ottawa 38. Turnovers: Niagara 9, Ottawa 16.

Up next: Niagara hosts either the Ottawa BlackJacks or Scarborough Shooting Stars in semifinal action Sunday, Aug. 4 at 5:30 p.m.

Visit www.riverlions.ca/tickets for more information.