Defending champion River Lions use taste of title run to top Surge in season opener

Niagara leaned on its championship experience to start this season the same way the last ended: with a win.

The defending champion River Lions beat the Calgary Surge 98-94 in their home opener on Friday at the Meridian Centre.

Calgary fell to 1-1 with the loss following a season-opening victory over Edmonton on Sunday.

A game that long seemed in the hands of Niagara — which once led by 16 — turned into a tight contest in Target Score Time when Calgary took its first lead of the game.

However, the River Lions, who led 89-86 when the clock stopped, fought back to take a 96-94 lead of their own.

That’s when head coach Victor Raso called timeout to set up a sideline out-of-bounds play. And River Lions fans saw something they might remember – just with a couple different names.

Ahmed Hill, in his first game as a River Lion, curled around a screen toward the net as inbounder Kimbal Mackenzie lofted a lob into the Niagara sky.

Hill soared through the air and jammed home the alley-oop, putting an exclamation mark on the season-opening win.

It was the same play the team executed last season – from TJ Lall to Khalil Ahmad — to beat the Ottawa BlackJacks in the quarterfinals last year.

“It was amazing,” Hill said. “Shout out to the team. Shout out to the organization. Shout out to the fans for coming out, there was a great turnout. Happy we got the dub, for sure.”

Surge head coach Kaleb Canales, who spent time leading the Portland Trail Blazers in 2012, promised to see Raso and the River Lions again after the barnburner finish.

“Tough battle [on] both ends. Came down to the wire. You know, we had opportunities. Got to do a better job at cleaning up the rebounds. Great game. I'll see him down the road. I'll be there,” Canales said.

Zooming out, Raso, who has coached Niagara for its entire CEBL existence, said his team looked like one just getting its feet wet in a new season despite the win.

“I thought we played better offensively than we did defensively. I thought we were too much kind of focused on them and their strengths and we needed to be more focused on us defensively and being fundamental and all the stuff we did in training camp,” Raso said.

For Niagara, the win was a continuation of its home cooking from last season, when it became just the second team ever to go undefeated on its home court.

The River Lions’ last loss at the Meridian Centre came on June 24, 2023, at the hands of Ottawa.

“The crowd is awesome. We play well at home and we just believe we can win. That's a massive thing. If you've got energy and belief, then you can do a lot of great stuff,” Raso said.

Hill, 30, enjoyed a strong River Lions debut even beyond playing hero, totalling 20 points while adding five rebounds, five assists and four steals.

The Augusta, Ga., native came to Niagara after four seasons split between the Guelph Nighthawks and Montreal Alliance.

“I felt a little weird because every time I come in here, it's always a battle, but it's good being on … the home side. So it felt really good. I'm excited for the future,” Hill said.

Hill also drained three three-pointers to give him 200 in the regular season for his career — the first player in league history to reach that mark.

He said he hopes to continue growing into the Niagara culture moving forward.

“Just fitting in, you know, I bring a lot of things to the game, so whatever they need me to do, I just fit in to do it,” Hill said.

Raso said the River Lions are built to win with depth — but that the Hill addition certainly doesn’t hurt.

“We don't necessarily play through one guy over and over. I mean, Khalil Ahmad has been that for us in the past, but we weren't necessarily playing through Ahmed tonight. He just does a lot of things. He does a lot of winning things, and he's proven in this league. And he played really well in the second half tonight,” Raso said.

The River Lions also welcomed back forward Eddie Ekiyor, who played for the team in 2023 but missed last season with a knee injury. The Ottawa native recorded 11 points and four rebounds in his return.

Mackenzie, the team captain, was second in scoring behind Hill with 17 points. Guillaume Boucard, who played with Montreal last season but was a River Lion from 2019 to 2021, added 15 points and nine rebounds.

CEBL rookie Olumide Adelodun led the Surge with 25 points, including multiple key three-pointers as Calgary waged a comeback attempt in the second half.

Greg Brown III contributed 23 points and six rebounds for Calgary, while Stefan Jankovic poured in 12 points off the bench.

Canales said he’s been impressed with his team’s cohesiveness through two games.

“Love our competitiveness, our grit, our connection on both ends. You know, everything we've been practising, we're working on, we're seeing it on the floor, and we know every game's going to be tough, so we just got to focus on the next game and turn the page,” he said.

Niagara was up 28-24 after the first quarter despite leading by as much as 12 in the early going. It extended its lead to 57-50 at halftime.

The River Lions’ lead swelled up to 16 in the third quarter, but Niagara took an 80-74 into the final 10 minutes.

Then came the dramatic fourth quarter. Now, Niagara looks set on defending its title.

And the scary part for River Lions opponents? This may not be their final form, as Ahmad — who led Niagara in its title run and scored the winning bucket — could return to the team later in the season.