Lightning strikes again as River Lions lose fifth straight
Joe Raso was happy with his team’s compete level, but in the end the London Lightning proved to be too much again, handing the Niagara River Lions their fifth straight defeat with a 106- 98 victory.
The River Lions trailed after one quarter Sunday, trailed at the half, but battled back to take a 77- 75 lead into the fourth quarter.
However, the Lightning would outscore the River Lions 31- 21 over the final 12 minutes.
“I thought we competed, and the compete factor was there, and that’s something I’ve questioned sometimes this season” said Raso, the Lions’ head coach.
“I thought the fourth quarter was a little bit like the second quarter. We lost a little bit of our intensity at both ends of the floor, and I thought we gave up some easy shots in the fourth quarter early.”
Niagara would in fact hold every London starter to below 20 points, and force the Lightning into 23 turnovers.
“I thought we guarded their shooters pretty good all game until the end there,” said Raso. “And they’re a good team, a solid team. But I thought it was one we were going to get ( win) today.”
Guillaume Boucard led the River Lions with 15 points, while former NBAer Kris Joseph drained 14 in his Lions debut.
Dwayne Smith, who was instrumental in bringing Joseph to Niagara, also scored 14 points off the bench.
“We worked really hard, and thought we were going to get that one ( win),” said the 28- year old Smith, who played professionally in Argentina last year.
Smith, who played with and against Joseph growing up in the Canadian junior program, knows the former Boston Celtic and Brooklyn Net will continue to improve as he gets into game shape.
“Kris is a high- level guy,” Smith said. “A first game ( in almost three months) is always tough to shake off the rust, but he’s definitely going to improve without question. He’s a great addition to the team.”
Raso was also quick to praise Smith’s efforts off the bench.
“I thought Dwayne kept us in the first half,” he said. “Dwayne came in for us and really picked it up for us. I thought he did a really good job.”
The one aspect of the game the River Lions struggled with Sunday afternoon was rebounding, as London won the battle of the boards 53- 39 overall.
The Lions next visit Windsor Saturday night before seven straight games at home that could very well determine their playoff positioning.
Niagara enters the month of March with a 12- 18 record.
“We know we’re a good team,” Smith said, “we just have to put 48 minutes together.”
Lion Pride: The start of the game was delayed by about 20 minutes due to a mechanical issue with one base of one of the baskets … The game was dubbed Hero’s Day, as the River Lions honoured all of Niagara’s first responders … Kris Joseph had a game- high four steals for the Lions … London ( 20- 9) had six scorers finish in double- digits in scoring … Former NBA first round pick, and London forward, Royce White was the only player to finish with a double- double, 18 points and 14 rebounds … Both teams used their entire benches in the game.