River Lions secure third victory over Cape Breton

It was a fan’s delight, but a coach’s nightmare.

In the end, 249 points later, the Niagara River Lions secured their third straight victory with a 126-123 win over the Cape Breton Highlanders Wednesday night at Meridian Centre in St. Catharines.

The River Lions scored a franchise-record 69 first-half points, and led 69-53 at the break, but the Highlanders put up 43 points in the third quarter and would in fact take two second-half leads including 123-119 with 1:32 left in the fourth quarter.

The Lions would, however, finish the game on a 6-0 run to seal the deal and improve to 15-19 on the season.

“You respect every win,” said Niagara head coach Joe Raso.

“Today was an example of us playing really well in the first half, and then I think what we did is – we disrespected the game slightly.”

Ronnie Johnson led the Lions with 24 points off the bench, as four players scored more than 20 for Niagara.

“He (Johnson) stepped in and brought some energy in,” Raso said.

“He engaged us offensively, and took care of his shots, but also he broke some of their (Cape Breton) runs in the second half.

“Ronnie was a good story for us tonight.”

Johnson, a 24-year-old pointguard from Indianapolis, says the team’s three-game win streak is what’s most important.

“It feels good to get back on a winning vibe,” said Johnson, who finished his college basketball career at Auburn University.

“However, I can contribute in the game I look forward to it. I’m just trying to make my team better.

“I take pride in not letting my man score.”

Malik Story was the story for Cape Breton. The 6-foot-5 swingman scored 33 of his game-high 37 points in the second half, including draining eight threepointers.

LIONS continues // C1

“We let him get off, and all of a sudden at the end we’re scrambling,” said Raso. “But we pulled out the win.”

The River Lions continue their seven-game homestand Friday night at Meridian Centre when they host the Island Storm from Prince Edward Island.

Lion Pride: Guillaume Boucard pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds for Niagara despite only scoring four points on an off-night offensively ... The River Lions did commit 19 turnovers compared to just eight for Cape Breton ... The Highlanders dressed only nine players and starter Chris Braswell fouled out in the fourth quarter ... Bruce Massey Jr. recorded the game’s only double-double for the Highlanders — 24 points and 12 rebounds.