River Lions overwhelm A’s
It was a cold, blustery, snowy night outside Meridian Centre, but inside the Niagara River Lions continue their red-hot scoring touch.
For the first time since December, the River Lions scored 100 or more points in three straight games, this time defeating the Orangeville A’s 113-104 in front of a noisy group of 1,174 fans who braved Tuesday’s snowstorm to witness the Lions improve to (916) on the season.
“We’re moving in the right direction, for sure,” said head coach Keith Vassell, who improved to 2-1 since taking over the reign of the River Lions last week.
“We’re playing with energy and guys are trusting each other, and encouraging each other. Overall I’m happy with what I’m seeing so far.”
One player who has definitely caught the eye of Vassell, and the Lions fans, is Tyler Murray.
The 6-foot-4 guard and 26-year old Toronto native scored 14 points in his second start in three games.
Murray scored a season high 18 points in last Saturday’s loss in London.
“Tyler is a fantastic leader, and a great decision maker,” Vassell said. “He has that calming influence on the court.”
Murray, for his part, is one of the quietest, most humble, basketball players you’ll ever meet.
“It’s just good to be playing again, and good to be producing,” said Murray, who played almost 29 minutes in Tuesday’s victory.
“But most importantly we’re getting wins — we’ve won two of the last three and two in a row. I pride myself on my humility but getting some recognition is always good.”
Murray was also quick to praise Vassell.
“We’re enjoying the transition,” said Murray. “He’s brought a different style that he likes to play. He’s letting us just kind of flow out there. He’s tweaked a few things and I think it’s pretty evident as we’ve scored over 100 points in the past three games.
“One through 12, even the 13th player on the bench, we’re all enjoying having him here,” added Murray, who played last season for Moncton of the National Basketball League of Canada before leaving to play professionally in Colombia.
For the second straight game Niagara led basically from start to finish.
The River Lions were up 23-19 after one quarter of play, 47-43 at halftime, and 71-68 heading into the fourth.
Marcus Lewis led Niagara with 21 points, while Chris Commons recorded another double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
The Lions now visit Windsor tonight, before welcoming Kitchener-Waterloo next Thursday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
Tonight at midnight is also the NBL Canada trade deadline.
“I’m happy with my team, anything can happen, but as of now I’m not really expecting anything,” Vassell said.
Lion Pride: Logan Stutz (shoulder) and Sammy Zeglinski (calf) did not dress for Niagara … Guard Nick Okorie, acquired in a trade with P.E.I. on Monday for Mike Allison and a second round Canadian draft pick, made his River Lions debut and scored 16 points off the bench … Sam Muldrow was a beast all night on the defensive end for the Lions, recording eight blocked shots … In a rarely seen statistic, both Niagara and Orangeville shot 36.2 percent from the field, 17-for47 on field goals, and 5-for-17 from three-point land at halftime.