August 11, 2024
Khalil Ahmad leads the Niagara River Lions to first CEBL championship
Kahlil Ahmad is rapidly making quite a name for himself, leaguewide, as he once again dominates the night for the Niagara River Lions. For all the marbles – the two CEBL teams with the best regular season records, the Vancouver Bandits and the Niagara River Lions, squared off at the Verdun Auditorium tonight with the CEBL Championship, and trophy, on the line.
Both teams finished the season with identical records, fourteen wins and six losses, and in the early going there was practically nothing between them. The best versus the best. Yet, both teams had made the finals having owning narrowly beaten their conference finals opponents.
See Also: The Niagara River Lions are Eastern Conference champions
Khalil Ahmad shines bright once again, leading the Niagara River Lions to their first CEBL championship.
The Niagara River Lions held a ten point lead going into the target score zone, and minutes later found themselves trailing to the Vancouver Bandits. With a target score set at 97, the game was tied at 95 points a piece – next basket would win the championship, and as Kahlil Ahmad has done all season long, he came up clutch when it mattered most, sinking the golden basket that would give the River Lions their first championship in franchise history.
“I can’t even put it into words,” said Khalil Ahmad, on scoring the CEBL Championship Final-winning basket. “This is my third summer here trying to get a ‘chip and we finally got it done.”
Nathan Cayo had 25 points and eight rebounds, while Ahmad finished with 23 points and four assists for the River Lions, who joined the league in 2019 as an original six squad. Aaryn Rai scored 15 points off the bench and Loudon Love chipped in with 10 points.
The River Lions have made the CEBL playoffs every year and reached the final in 2021. The Bandits have only missed the post-season once and made it to the finals in 2020.
“This organization has been elite in the CEBL, but we never had the validation of a championship,” said River Lions head coach Victor Raso. “We just really needed this as an organization.”
The Bandits’ offence shot out of the gates in the game’s early minutes, but the River Lions adjusted and led 23-20 after the first quarter. Vancouver led 46-44 at halftime but Niagara outscored their rivals 27-16 in the third quarter to grab control.
Mitch Creek led the Western Conference champion Bandits with a game-high 26 points and 13 rebounds, while Koby Mcewen chipped in with 17. Nick Ward had 13 points off the bench for the Bandits.
“When you put yourself into a position where you have to fight back, it’s really hard to repeatedly do that,” said Creek. “Some of us might have to go to the casino and roll a few dice tonight and try to win back some of the emotions.
” This loss was sad, hard and tough. You watch the River Lions cheer and chant and carry on like a pack of idiots just like we would as Bandits. You almost enjoy watching someone else win because you know at some point you’re going to get that opportunity.”
Read More:
>> The Vancouver Bandits are Western Conference champions
>> Montreal Alliance beat league best Vancouver Bandits
>> Montreal Alliance defeated the Saskatchewan Rattlers at home
CW24 weekend had been an incredible weekend for Canadian basketball as the nations premier league grows with each passing weekend – the CEBL season is now over, but leaves fans craving more! The way it should be.
