Niagara River Lions survive late rally by Brampton Honey Badgers in 87-79 win

The Niagara River Lions (8-6) swept a home-and-home set against the Brampton Honey Badgers – despite nearly blowing a 27-point lead – in an 87-79 victory, making it three straight wins for the squad on Friday night.

It was a total team effort for the River Lions to win their third consecutive game, as six players scored in double figures. It was Eddie Ekiyor that led the way with his 18 points on the night, going an efficient 6-11 from the field. The forward was inserted into the starting lineup three games ago and since the move by Niagara head coach Victor Raso, the team has yet to lose.

“All three games have been team wins,” Ekiyor said post-game. “I bring as much energy as I can, but in terms of the success we’ve had, that’s definitely coming from all of us following the fundamentals we’ve been ingraining all season.”

The forward’s description of tonight's victory being a team win was appropriate considering they had six players score in double figures. Lloyd Pandi and Khalil Ahmad were the team’s next highest scorers, putting up 14 points each. Meanwhile Jahvon Henry-Blair and Antonio Davis Jr. rounded out the starters, along with Patrick Whelan off the pine, all of whom chipped in with 10 points a piece.

On the other side it was Christian Vital once again taking charge for the Honey Badgers by way of his game-high 26 points, and six rebounds. The guard made ten shots from the field in the contest and was a catalyst in the comeback effort as a third of his points came in the fourth quarter. 

Despite the loss, with his 11 points and three assists, it was still a milestone night for Brampton’s Koby McEwen. He set two franchise records by passing Caleb Agada’s mark of 122 assists early in the game when he set up Prince Oduro for two of his 13 points on the night. He then followed that up by setting the franchise record for free throws made, passing Lindell Wigginton when he knocked down two shots from the line in Target Score Time.

Before the game tipped-off Niagara head coach Raso attributed much of his team’s recent success to their improvements rebounding the ball. The River Lions currently average a league-low 36.4 rebounds per game, but over their two-game win streak leading into tonight the squad has grabbed 44 and 40 respectively.

That success on the glass found its way into this contest as well as Niagara made their presence felt early on. The team grabbed 13 rebounds in the first quarter, three of which came on the offensive end, giving the squad a +6 edge on second chance points. 

The result of that work was five extra possessions from the field as they used those shots to spark an 8-2 run and finish the frame up 24-12 over the Honey Badgers.

Ball security was a point of emphasis for Brampton entering this contest as they had been committing around 18 a game throughout their three-game losing skid, well above their previous season average of 14 a night. However, despite their efforts to limit those mistakes, the Honey Badgers’ struggles holding onto the ball crept into this one throughout as they gave the ball away eight times in the second quarter, giving Niagara a 12-0 advantage on points off turnovers. 

Needless to say, the River Lions’ lead grew even larger as a result as the two teams went into the break, with Niagara doubling Brampton’s scoring output in the frame as they took a 43-20 lead into half-time. 

After being down as many as 27 points throughout the third quarter, the defending champion Honey Badgers eventually showed some of that hardware earning resiliency. The team used a 13-3, capped off by an Oduro free throw to get the lead down to 15 points with less than four minutes remaining to go in the period. 

The big man notched his double-double night before the game had even reached the fourth, tallying 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Despite his success till that point, that was as far as things got as Oduro did not add to those totals the rest of the way.

Unfortunately for Brampton fans that’s as close as their team got to cutting the lead down in the quarter as Niagara’s Whelan scored seven of his team’s final nine points in the quarter to keep his team up big as they went into the fourth with a 64-47 lead.

However, the Honey Badgers finally woke up offensively as the game’s final frame got under way. The squad went on a lights out 15-2 run, and it was the long ball that helped the defending champs make things interesting. They caught fire from distance, despite having struggled all night. 

The team was 0-10 from deep throughout the first 25 minutes of this contest but went an impressive 6-8 the next 15 minutes as the once 27-point lead was cut to as little as four points. Vital led the charge for the squad as he knocked down three triples in the fourth as part of his team’s scoring burst. 

With a stunned Meridian Centre watching, the River Lions made sure to punch back going into Target Time as Henry-Blair and Ekiyor splashed a pair of three-balls which helped the squad hold on to a seven-point lead going into Target Score Time.

That was when last year’s Clutch Player of the Year Ahmad, reminded folks why he won the award. He drilled a three to start things off and ended up scoring five of his team’s final nine points, capping things off at the charity stripe as he knocked down two free throws to seal the contest, 87-79 the final.

With the victory Niagara is now within inches of the Scarborough Shooting Stars for second place in the East, behind the team on win percentage by just one percent, but tied in terms of each team being just one game back of the Ottawa BlackJacks. They’ll have a chance to capture sole possession of second place and gain even more ground on Ottawa as the River Lions take on the Shooting Stars on Sunday.

“Everything we have,” said Raso post-game when asked what it’ll take to keep the win streak going. “It’s going to take a lot of preparation and mental focus for 40 minutes a night.”

Meanwhile the Honey Badgers get a couple days off before returning on July 12 where they’ll hope to snap what’s now a four-game losing skid as they take on the tough task of hosting the conference leading BlackJacks.

“The way we fought in the second half, that’s [the real] us,” said Associate head coach for Brampton Sheldon Cassimy as he continued to fill-in for Antoine Broxsie. “That’s what we have to tap in to more in the beginning of the game…we play like that, we put ourselves in a position to win.” 

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