For the first time in their franchise history, the Niagara River Lions are champions.
The River Lions defeated the Vancouver Bandits 97-95 in the CEBL championship Sunday evening.
Khalil Ahmad, nicknamed the ‘Lion King’ during this postseason, scored the winning shot for Niagara in all three playoff games. Ahmad had 23 points in the victory, while Nathan Cayo led the way for Niagara with 25 points.
Niagara had defeated the Ottawa Blackjacks last weekend in the Eastern Conference semifinals, before beating host Montreal Alliance on Friday night.
It was a historic season for the River Lions on home court, winning all 10 home games in the regular season at the Meridian Centre, as well as their one playoff game in St. Catharines.
For Niagara, it is their first league championship in either the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) or the now-defunct National Basketball League of Canada (NBLC), which they competed in from 2015 to 2018.
(Written by: Matt Latour)
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