River Lions re-sign top 4 scorers
Four players who combined to average 56.8 points per game for the Niagara River Lions in 2023 are back with the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL).
Khalil Ahmad, the spring-summer pro league’s MVP in 2022 and its top defensive player last year, is returning for a third season as is Antonio (AJ) Davis Jr.
Eddie Ekiyor, a finalist for both the defensive player and sixth man of the year, and Jahvon Blair, a CEBL champ with the then Hamilton Honey Badgers in 2022, are each coming back to the St. Catharines-based River Lions for a second season.
Returning are the four leading scorers from last year — Khalil (18.9 points), Blair (15.3), Ekiyor (12) and Davis (10.6) — for the team’s sixth season in the league. “Our goal going into this off-season was to retain as many pieces as possible from last year’s team, and this announcement gets us off to a great start toward that goal,” GM-head coach Victor Raso said.
Raso, who has served in both capacities since the River Lions joined the CEBL as one of six founding franchises after three seasons in the fall-winter National Basketball League of Canada, said, besides being “great basketball players,” the four are “great people.”
“Being able to build upon the success we had last season and the lessons we learned was a necessary step in free agency,” Raso said. “But we aren’t done yet.
“More members of last year’s team will be announced soon, as well as some exciting new additions.”
Last season, the CEBL’s first split into two conferences, the River Lions finished first in the east with a league-best 13-7 record.
They lost 74-71 to the eventual champion Scarborough Shooting Stars in the semifinal round on Championship Weekend in Langley, B.C.
Khalil, Davis and Ekiyor are currently playing fall-winter schedules in pro leagues in Europe. Khalil is averaging 14.6 points, 2.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game for Filou Oostende of the BNXT League in Belgium. Meanwhile, Davis is averaging 14.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals with the Leuven Bears, also in the BNXT League, and Ekiyor is putting up 19.6 points per game and 5.3 rebounds with Sporting CP in Portugal. Blair recently signed with Ostioneros de Guaymas, a Mexican team that begins league play this weekend.
The River Lions open the 20game season with a home-andhome versus the Honey Badgers, now located in Brampton. They are on the road May 24, and host Brampton the following Thursday.