River Lions starting to roll

The Niagara River Lions followed up a dominating performance at home Thursday night with an even better one Saturday night in front of 2,705 extremely loud fans.

After thumping the Calgary Surge 109-89, the River Lions pummelled the Ottawa BlackJacks 110-86 in Canadian Elite Basketball League play.

“It really helps playing in front of the home crowd and we practise on these rims. That gives us home-court advantage,” said Niagara’s TJ Lall, who had 15 points in the win. “We didn’t start very well in today’s game but we remembered how we played against Calgary and we tried to do that and improve our defensive intensity. The main thing is energy and that is what we had tonight.”

Lall is excited about the potential of the team.

“We are not there yet. We already are one of the best teams in the league but we are trying to win the whole thing.”

Niagara improved its Eastern Conference-leading record to 9-5 while Ottawa fell to 4-9.

The River Lions trailed 24-22 after the first quarter but lead 59-46 at the half and 91-65 after three quarters. Niagara led by as much as 28 in the final quarter.

“It was really good. We are starting to play some pretty good basketball. Having Omari (Moore) look like that with the group was really encouraging and that was what I had hoped the complete roster would look like,” Niagara head coach/GM Victor Raso said. “We started a little sticky, making some mistakes defensively and getting beat back door a bunch of times and then we just flipped a switch.”

He described that development as excellent.

“I have seen our team do the up and down thing. I was worried about that start because it kind of reminded me how we started against them the last time. But our pace completely changed and our defensive intensity was great.”

Raso knows you can’t take anyone lightly in the league, especially Ottawa who has beaten the top two teams in the East, Scarborough and Niagara, this season.

“They are not at a great standing in the league but they have beat some good teams and the CEBL is tough. We have to play them twice more before the end of the season.”

After Saturday’s game, Moore leaves the River Lions to join the Toronto Raptors’ summer league team. The summer league regular season ends July 19 with the playoffs are on July 20 and 21.

“If they don’t make the playoffs, hopefully we will have him back for our game on the 20th. If they make the playoffs, he will be back for the final game of the year and there’s always a chance that he signs an NBA contract,” Raso said. “If he were to do that, we wouldn’t have him back.”

But for one night, the River Lions got to see what the team would look like with Moore and Khalil Ahmad hitting on all cylinders.

“Both of those guys are incredible athletes, both can impact the game in multiple ways and they are decision makers. Those are two talented point guards,” he said. “Omari is downhill and can really pass and Khalil is a three-level scorer and he can really pass it too. And with the way Omari defends, it’s a good combo when it is all clicking.”

STATS PACK

River Lions 110 BlackJacks 86

BPSN Player of the Game: Javhon Blair with 24 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steels.

For the Niagara River Lions: Blair 24; Khalil Ahmad 17; TJ Lall 15; Omari Moore 12; Aaryn Rai 10; Nathan Cayo 10; Louden Love 10; Elijah Lufile 10.

For the Ottawa BlackJacks: Lloyd Pandi 16; Tyrrel Tate 13; Shamar Givance 12; Isaih Moore 12.

Game stats: Field goal percentage: Niagara 50, Ottawa 49.3. Free throws: Niagara 10-17, Ottawa 11-16. Rebounds: Niagara 41, Ottawa 40. Turnovers: Niagara 7, Ottawa 18.

Up next: Niagara is at Scarborough Tuesday before hosting Montreal Thursday at 7 p.m.

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