River Lions Come Back Late to Shock Honey Badgers

A game between the two teams on opposite ends of the conference standings came down to the last shot, but it was the East-leading Niagara River Lions that were able to emerge victorious in their seventh straight game.

Trailing by as many as 23 points in the second quarter, Niagara leaned on the CEBL’s all-time leading scorer in Ahmed Hill to get them back into the game and lead them to the 86-84 win over the Brampton Honey Badgers.

Hill posted a team-high 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting for the River Lions, while Khalil Ahmad had 22 points. Eddie Ekiyor had 10 points and eight rebounds, and Nathan Cayo scored nine points to go with eight rebounds and five assists in the win.

“Once he started going, we made sure we were getting him the looks,” River Lions head coach Victor Raso said of his star player. “That’s Ahmed Hill. That’s the all-time leading scorer in the CEBL and we have him coming off our bench. He’s a phenomenal teammate and we knew there was a Med game coming, because there hasn’t been a Med game yet, and that was it today.”

Niagara became just the fourth team to string together seven consecutive wins, the third longest streak in the history of the CEBL. Today’s victory also secured the River Lions a top-2 seed in the conference, ensuring – at worst – they’ll play host in the semifinal as they continue to vie for the conference’s automatic spot at Championship Weekend.

“You have to approach every game the same, whether we clinch it in our next win or it gets clinched in the next loss before that, it doesn’t matter,” Raso added. “There’s a long time before championship weekend, and our task is a very difficult one: becoming the most improved team from now until championship weekend.”

Brampton got off to a hot start, scoring the game’s first five points as part of a 20-9 run to start the game. Weatherspoon made his mark early, scoring nine points in the opening frame. But the biggest difference was made on the defensive end, with the home squad holding the opposition to 33-percent shooting and owning a 16-6 rebounding edge in the quarter.

An 18-7 run to start the second quarter made it look like the game would soon be completely out of hand, but a timeout by the River Lions sparked a 16-5 run of their own, with Ahmad and Cayo combining to score 12 of those points and evening things up in the quarter to cut the lead back down to 12.

With Brampton up 61-48 late in the third quarter, it was an 11-4 Niagara run – with every River Lion point being scored by Hill – that brought them back into the game.

“I just wanted to be aggressive, my teammates wanted me to be aggressive, so I just wanted to find my shot. I hit two in a row, so I shot another one to get a good look,” Hill said of the stretch.

“We love each other, we have fun playing with each other, but we also got on each other,” he said of his team’s recent success. “When you’re playing like ---, we tell each other and when we’re playing great, we tell each other – it’s the accountability.”

The Honey Badgers led 77-76 heading into Target Time, but unfortunately for the home crowd, Hill saw it as an opportunity to take over again. He scored eight of his team’s 10 points in the decisive period, including the game-winning three-point shot.

One of the determining factors in the game was Quinndary Weatherspoon’s foul trouble. The team’s leading scorer coming into the game, he had 19 points in the first half before being limited to the bench for the majority of the second half. He ended up with a game-high 28 points, while Ali Sow filled in admirably in his role to contribute 12 points off the bench. Bryson Williams had eight points and 11 rebounds, and Prince Oduro had six points and 12 boards.

“I thought we had that one and we let it slip,” Oduro said. “There were some unfortunate events: (Weatherspoon)’s foul troubles, me getting hurt. Stuff like that is really out of our control, but we can do a better job of focusing on what we can control.”

The loss was Brampton’s eighth in their last nine games after they snapped a seven-game losing streak last time out. With their positioning in the standings, they have to win out their remaining three games and hope for some help from the teams above them in order to make the playoffs.

Box Score

https://www.cebl.ca/game?id=2600655

Up next for both teams

The Brampton Honey Badgers start a three-game road trip to finish out their season against the Montreal Alliance on August 1. The Niagara River Lions will play their final home game of the season against the Ottawa BlackJacks on July 31.

Next CEBL action

The Scarborough Shooting Stars take on the Ottawa BlackJacks on July 29 in a game pivotal to both teams playoffs hopes, streaming live on CEBL+ and TSN+. For the full 2025 CEBL schedule and up-to-date results, please visit cebl.ca/games.

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