Rattlers head coach, Chad Jacobson picked up his first career win as a professional coach. “It’s been a long layoff for the players, so they were ready to get in and play,” Jacobson said. “They brought the energy right from the get-go. These guys were excited, and it showed in the way they played today.” 

The River Lions jumped out to an early 13-5 lead in the first quarter off the back of two three-pointers by big man, Sam Muldrow. After a slow start, the Rattlers revved back up to tie it at 28 at the halfway point after three-consecutive three-pointers from Negus Webster-Chan and rookie Rashawn Browne. 

Webster-Chan lead the game in scoring, chipping in with 20 points, 18 of which came on three-pointers. The returning veteran player was clutch in his first professional game in nearly a year, shooting an even .500 from the field and .545 from three-point range. 

Playing his first professional game, Browne made the most of his minutes on the floor tallying 12 points, three rebounds and three assists in nearly 22 minutes. Browne leaned on the veteran leadership of the new-look Rattlers roster which only boosts three returning players from last year’s championship team. “As most first-time players would be, I had some butterflies and nervousness. Negus took me aside and said, ‘It’s just basketball, go out there and do what you do,’ and that was that,” Browne said. “I got great teammates, I just lean on them and they get me through things, so I don’t have to do much of the heavy lifting around here.” 

“He’s a player, he plays like he’s a seasoned veteran. He’s a really smart player who’s very confident in himself and his abilities,” Jacobson said.

Import player Kevin Bracy-Davis hit a deep three-pointer which saw the Rattlers take a 31-28 lead out of the break. The Rattlers would go on to never relinquish that lead – as Niagara was unable to catch up for the rest of the contest. 

Rattlers guard Kemy Osse made a fast impression in his CEBL debut. The Montreal, Que-native scored 17 points in the game and chipped in with nine rebounds and five assists. Osse was also responsible for ending the game by drilling a contested three-point shot to reach the Elam Ending target score of 111. 

Fatigue may have been a factor for the River Lions as they took to the floor less than 24 hours after defeating the Hamilton Honey Badgers yesterday. The Rattlers defense was able to stunt Niagara’s fast transition offense that was on full display in their 97-85 victory a day prior. 

“They just beat us up,” said River Lions head coach Victor Raso. “We looked a little tired, I think the guys were a little complacent. We need to focus on execution on both sides of the floor. Today, we got ourselves into rotations unnecessarily all the time.”  

River Lions starting guard Trae Bell-Haynes did not feature in Sunday afternoon’s game. A key member of the River Lions roster, Bell-Haynes’ control of the game was missed on the court. 

Daniel Mullings led the River Lions in scoring with 16 points, adding four rebounds and four assists. 

“We need to get on the same page offensively,” said Raso. “Obviously, a huge wrench was thrown into it 20 minutes before the game when Trae was out. I give the guys a lot of structured freedom, and sometimes that leads to complacency and that’s the biggest problem right now – we don’t execute our stuff. We just don’t have the correct flow, so we need to figure that out.”

The River Lions and Rattlers both return to action on Tuesday, facing the Guelph Nighthawks (1-0) and Fraser Valley Bandits (1-0), respectively. 

All CEBL Summer Series contests are available to watch on CBCSports.ca and the CBC Gem App. A complete broadcast schedule can be found here.