River Lions earn ‘validation’ with 2024 CEBL championship

Getting over the hump can be one of the hardest things to do in professional sports. Because it typically means falling short somewhere along the way.

And no team in the CEBL knows that feeling quite like the Niagara River Lions. 

One of the original six franchises and the winningest team (72-38) in league history, the River Lions – up until Sunday’s title-clinching victory over the Vancouver Bandits – had built a reputation of falling short when it mattered most.

Niagara had ended three of the CEBL’s six regular seasons with the most wins and never finished lower than second in the standings outside of a COVID-shortened year (2020) yet had one Championship Final appearance (a loss to the Edmonton Stingers in 2021), three Conference Final losses and just four playoff wins to show for it.

Needless to say, following a 14-6 campaign in 2024 which was tied for the best record in the league yet again, the biggest question about Niagara was could this squad be different come the playoffs? 

And on Sunday when the River Lions withstood a Target Score Time comeback from the Bandits (who erased a 10-point deficit) to pick up a 97-95 win and claim their first CEBL title, that question was emphatically answered. It not only crowned Niagara as champions, but it also cemented its place as one of the league’s premier franchises.

“This organization has been elite in the CEBL, but we never had the validation of a championship,” head coach of the River Lions Victor Raso said after the victory. “We have the most wins in CEBL history, we have players who want to come back every year … we’re doing things right … we just needed this as an organization.”

Arguably no one understood just how much Niagara had craved a title more than Raso, who has been at the helm of the River Lions since the league’s inception back in 2019. 

There for all of the team’s successes, as the league’s all-time coaching wins leader, and all of its short comings. To the point the former Coach of the Year’s inner circle began referring to him as “August Vic” because of the River Lions early exits come playoff-time. 

Yet those failures are exactly what Raso and Niagara used to define the run that eventually crowned them champions.

“I’ve grown up in the CEBL,” Raso said. “I’ve made my mistakes here and I’ve gone through adversity here. I’ve realized what works, what doesn’t work.

“I wasn’t a good enough coach (before) … and I learned through failure. And especially after last year, I was like ‘I’m not losing again because of the ways I’ve lost in the past.’”

And what exactly did Raso learn after being bounced by the Scarborough Shooting Stars in the Eastern Conference Final in 2023, for a second consecutive season? 

He needed a squad that was going to be able to overcome adversity. When things got tough – like going through these playoffs without its second-leading scorer and CEBL All-Canadian Jahvon Blair – that the team would have the depth and wherewithal to overcome it.

As foundational as Raso’s coach-player pairing with former league MVP Khalil Ahmad was, it was just that…a foundation. The team would need more that a just a strong base come the post-season as to not be over-reliant on its star guard. Which is why Raso and the River Lions re-shaped the roster heading into 2024, notably bringing in immediate contributors Nathan Cayo and Omari Moore. Both of whom stepped up when it mattered most.

Cayo, a veteran of the CEBL, joined Niagara after playing for his hometown Montréal Alliance in 2023. Crediting the River Lions as a “great program” with big-time players. Meanwhile, Moore joined Niagara as a CEBL debutant, spending his time prior to the season in the NBA G League with the Raptors 905.

The pair were instrumental throughout the year but especially come Sunday when the River Lions were looking to cement their place in CEBL history. Cayo played arguably his best game of the season in front of his hometown crowd at Verdun Auditorium as he finished with a team-high 25 points to go with eight rebounds, four assists and a steal while going shot-for-shot with the Bandits’ Mitch Creek who finished with a game-high 26 points.

“Recognition,” Cayo said after the win when asked to describe what a championship meant to him in one word. “It’s rare to play at this level in your hometown and it’s extremely difficult to win. Each year the league gets better … I’m happy we came out with a championship … it’s special.”

Moore put 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists, one steal and two blocks, but for the import it was less about his offensive production and more about his impact on the other end. The first-year CEBL guard took on the task of defending league MVP Tazé Moore and limited him to just six points on 2-of-11 shooting.

“(Omari) is a very talented basketball player, borderline NBA player,” Raso said on the 23-year-old’s impact this year. “He’s an elite defender, elite competitor, elite thinker ... I hope I get the chance to coach Omari Moore again, but I shouldn’t … he should be an NBA player.”

Depth shining through for the River Lions as they clinched a championship was a testament to the learning and growth the team had gone through over the last six years. In Target Score Time, before Ahmad, a two-time Clutch Player of the Year, sealed the deal with a floater that he described as the “biggest bucket of my life”, it was Moore and Cayo scoring baskets. And then the make leading up to Ahmad’s heroics was a putback layup from Sixth Man of the Year Aaryn Rai who finished with 15 points on the night.

The squad was set up to succeed based on the sum of its parts, something the River Lions’ bench boss made sure was by design.

“It’s us, we’ve been doing it all year long,” Raso said. “We’ve been winning without Khalil having to be the guy all year long … the truth is Kimball McKenzie’s won a game, Nathan Cayo has, Aaryn Rai had won us as many games as Khalil.”

When the River Lions hoisted the CEBL trophy as confetti rained down onto the court, they earned the validation they had been after. Using six years of learning as a catalyst. The league’s winningest franchise now solidified in its standing, no longer just a model of consistency but one of championship-calibre.

And that’s the beauty of sports. For all the heartbreak and falling short of lofty expectations, history can be re-written within one season and with one victory. 

“There’s been a lot of ups and downs, a lot of adversity and it’s just a credit to the team because we did it together.” Ahmad said after winning Final MVP for his 23-point, three-steal performance. “Everyone is a family and that’s what won us the game. We stuck together through adversity and got it done … that was always our end goal, to get a championship.”

– CEBL –

About the CEBL

A league created by Canadians for Canadians with a mission to develop Canadian players, coaches, sports executives, and referees, the CEBL boasts the highest percentage of Canadian players of any pro league in the country with 75% of its rosters being Canadian and a record 10 players with NBA experience in 2024. Players also bring experience from the NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, NCAA programs, as well as U SPORTS and CCAA. Fourteen players have signed NBA contracts following a CEBL season, and numerous CEBL players attend NBA G League training camps every year. The CEBL season runs from May through August with games broadcast live on CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, TSN, TSN+, RDS, Game+, Next Level Sports & Entertainment and Courtside1891. More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.