R’Lions lose their Edge
Joe Raso calls it a learning process.
The Niagara River Lions embarked on their first road trip of the 2017-18 National Basketball League of Canada season and returned home from Newfoundland empty-handed. Niagara dropped two straight games to the expansion St. John's Edge, losing 105103 Friday and 105-91 the following night.
“I don't think we played well both games, to tell you the truth,” said Raso, the Lions head coach. “We got challenged this weekend.
We got challenged big time, by a well-coached team, in a pretty hostile crowd.”
Indeed, it was as the Edge were playing their first two home games of the season.
Friday night the River Lions roared back outscoring St. John’s 29-18 in the fourth quarter only to fall just short after committing one of their 22 turnovers in the dying seconds of the game that led to the St. John’s victory.
Sam Muldrow was Niagara’s top scorer with 19 points and 13 rebounds for the double-double, while Marvell Waithe drained 17 points to go along with seven boards.
On Saturday Omar Strong led the Lions with 18 points, but it was two bench players who Raso was most impressed with.
“Adam Klie (13 points and nine rebounds) broke out a little bit today, and Jaylon Tate (five points, two steals and one assist) I thought was very strong as well.”
The Edge shot 50 per cent from the field in Saturday’s victory.
“It’s important that we have to get smarter,” Raso said.
“The effort tonight was there, and that’s good to know, but the assignments that we missed we have to find a way to correct that.”
One thing that an early road trip can show a coaching staff is leadership off the floor, and Raso mentioned a returning player in regards to that.
“Carl Hall has a big voice in our team room,” he said.
“I think that was one of the strengths of signing Carl this year.
“Carl’s more than just a banger, he’s a workhorse, and hopefully he can continue to lead by example.”
The loss leaves the Lions with a 3-2 record as they head home for two straight games, Friday against the London Lightning and Saturday against the Kitchener-Waterloo Titans. Both games are 7 p.m. starts at Meridian Centre.
“We learned something about ourselves this weekend, we learned that we’ve still got a ways to go,” Raso said.
“Those three wins (to start the season) may have inflated us a little bit, but these two games tell us how far we’ve got to go to get better.”
Lion Pride: Andravious Smith was the only Niagara player not to see the floor on the weekend … Raso did say the Muldrow was a little banged up after Friday’s loss, and only scored two points on Saturday … St. John’s improved to 5-2 with the two wins, as every player found the scoresheet in Saturday’s victory … The Edge feature Team Canada member and St. John’s native Carl English who finished with game highs in scoring both nights draining 22 points on Friday and 33 on Saturday.