River Lions fall to reigning champs

Despite having six players scoring in double digits, the Niagara River Lions couldn’t overcome the London Lightning Saturday night on the road.

The defending National Basketball League of Canada champions improved to 6-0 this season against the River Lions with a 103-92 victory in front of 6,312 fans at Budweiser Gardens.

“Against London we don’t have to be flawless, we just have to be good,” Niagara head coach Joe Raso. “I thought we were improved and thought we answered the call really early against them.”

The Lightning led by just a single point, 27-26, after one quarter of play and 49-41 at the half but the homeside would increase that lead to 14 in the third quarter as the Lions would rally once again to cut it down to just four points.

However, in the depth of London shone through.

“When you’re chasing from behind, you just use up a whole lot of energy,” Raso said. “I thought we had our chances, I thought we played pretty well.”

London shot 52 per cent from the floor improving to 15-8 on the season, while the Lions fell to 12-14 after shooting 41.5 per cent.

Carl Hall led Niagara with 15 points, while Jaylon Tate dished out seven assists and newly signed Devonta Pollard pulled down six rebounds as the River Lions outrebounded the Lightning 55-44 overall.

Despite keeping the game close most of the night, the Lions only lead was after C.J. Aiken opened the contest with a 3-pointer nine seconds in.

Overall, combining Friday ’s 10299 overtime in Windsor, Raso was happy with his team’s defensive effort.

“This whole weekend I thought we got better defensively as a team,” Raso said. “I think there’s been a better commitment to it, but we’re still not where we want to be.”

The River Lions now open a home and home set with the Windsor Express starting Saturday night in Windsor before returning home to take on the Express on Thursday, Feb. 15. Game time at Meridian Centre is 7 p.m.

Lion Pride: Aiken started the game but couldn’t finish after a nagging lower-body injury flared up. Raso hopes the injury will be nothing long term … Every River Lion played at least 11 minutes in Saturday’s loss … London forward, and reigning National Basketball League of Canada most valuable player, Royce White has left the team for a second straight season due to personal reasons..