Ahmad Shines Late as River Lions Knock Off Shooting Stars to Reach CEBL Finals

(Eastern Conference Final)

Khalil Ahmad played hero. The Niagara River Lions won a close game. And Championship Weekend picked up right where it left off.

The River Lions eked past the Scarborough Shooting Stars 93-91 in the East Final on Friday at Winnipeg’s Canada Life Centre, moving one win away from repeating as league champion.

Niagara’s formula looked awfully familiar as head coach Victor Raso’s troops battled in a back-and-forth high-stakes game.

And when winning time came around, it was Ahmad — who scored all three playoff winners for his team last year —stepping up yet again to seal the deal.

“My God, that guy has something inside of him that is just built for Target Time,” Raso said.

When the clocks stopped, the River Lions led 84-83. And buoying their chances even further was the presence of Ahmad in their white-and-green jerseys.

Shooting Stars forward Donovan Williams started the proceedings with a driving layup, but Ahmad answered with a pair of free throws.

After Williams added two more points to put Scarborough back in front, another trip to the charity stripe for Ahmad handed Niagara the lead once again.

Michael Foster Jr., then tipped home a putback for the Shooting Stars before Elijah Lufile knocked down two more free throws for Niagara. When Foster Jr. hit another layup, both teams were within a bucket of the victory.

And after both teams missed their first opportunities to advance, Mr. Clutch stepped up yet again.

Ahmad raced up the court, stopped on a dime above the three-point arc, and splashed home a winner under pressure from behind.

Amid all the chaos, Ahmad was as cool as ever.

“There wasn’t a lot of thoughts going through my head. … We needed a three, so why not take it?” Ahmad said. “Stepped into it with confidence and knocked it down.”

Shooting Stars head coach Mike De Giorgio said the plan was for his team to foul in the backcourt to prevent the exact way it ended up losing.

Still, he said he was proud of his team’s performance in a “high-level” game.

“We handled the adversity we wanted to handle. We had chances to win the game. It just didn’t go for us and then Khalil made a big shot. That’s what he’s shown that he can do and he’s done it for years now,” De Giorgio said. 

Niagara will meet the winner of the West final between the Winnipeg Sea Bears and Calgary Surge in Sunday’s final.

Ahmad, the 28-year-old from Corona, Calif., now has four career Target Score Winners in the playoffs — the most in league history.

He also surpassed 1,500 career points (including playoffs) in style with his game-winner, sitting at 1,502 entering the Finals.

For the night, he put up a game-high 29 points to go with six rebounds. He also knocked down all 10 of his free throws — notable after he missed some clutch ones last year which he said nagged at him throughout the off-season.

“We were just being where our feet are and trying to be locked into the moment, take every possession for what it was. Because, look, we won by two, so it was a close game. Every possession mattered and we took care of the little things,” Ahmad said.

Raso called him a “mental monster.”

“He has the physical tools, the physical skills and the mental confidence to be able to want it in those moments. Because those are shots that all of these guys are capable of making, but not all of those guys are capable of taking them,” he said.

Helping Ahmad was big man Elijah Lufile, who came off the bench to put up eight points and a whopping 15 rebounds. Montreal native Nathan Cayo also neared a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds.

The game marked the latest chapter in the Scarborough-Niagara rivalry that’s quickly growing into one of the league’s fiercest.

Each of the last two championships were won by the Ontario squads, and they even split the season series, making their playoff duel a tiebreaker of sorts.

Prior to Friday, however, the Shooting Stars were 2-0 in post-season contests against the River Lions.

Now, Niagara has a notch on its playoff record.

A major disparity between the teams came at the free-throw line, where the River Lions were a perfect 21-for-21 while the Shooting Stars went just 11-for-18.

The River Lions also dominated the glass, hauling in 56 rebounds (20 offensive) to the Shooting Stars’ 40 (seven offensive).

“When we sat in the press conference the other day, De Giorgio pretty much said we need some defensive rebounds so we can run. And all I’m thinking is we need to take quality shots so that they don’t have the opportunities to run. So they got us in spurts, but down the stretch there wasn’t much transition,” Raso said.

Donovan Williams led the way for the Shooting Stars, matching Ahmad’s 29 points while adding 11 rebounds. Backcourt mate Terquavion Smith had a 16-point, 10-assist double-double, but missed the potential game-winner before Ahmad’s dagger.

Foster Jr. added 11 points and 10 rebounds.

“It was a hell of a shot to end it off, but really just ready to move forward. It’s a loss,” Foster Jr. said.

Niagara entered the contest on a five-game losing streak and with 12 days of rest taking the top seed in the East.

Perhaps battling some rust after that layoff, it fell behind 9-2 early but battled back to tie things at 18. However, a Williams buzzer-beater put the Shooting Stars up 26-25 after the first quarter.

The back-and-forth continued in the second quarter as the teams exchanged leads. Scarborough took a narrow 50-49 edge into halftime.

In the third quarter, Niagara built its biggest lead of the game at nine points. It took a 74-68 advantage into the fourth after Kobe Elvis hit the Shooting Stars’ second buzzer-beating triple of the game.

Scarborough changed things quickly in the fourth quarter, erasing its deficit and regaining the lead early in the final frame after a 13-3 run.

Then, another classic Championship Weekend Target Score Time ensued.

And yet again, it was the Lion King who roared. Now, the River Lions are one win away from going back-to-back.

“If we get it done,” Ahmad said, “you’ll see what it means.”

Box Score

https://www.cebl.ca/game?id=2700727

Up Next

The River Lions will meet the winner of the West final in Sunday’s championship game at 6 p.m. CDT / 7 p.m. ET in Winnipeg.

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