Shooting Stars cruise past River Lions, bolster playoff position

The Scarborough Shooting Stars bolstered their position for the Eastern Conference’s second seed Sunday, dismantling the first-place Niagara River Lions, 81-64.

Led by Michael Foster Jr.’s franchise-record 16 rebounds and a commanding defensive effort, Scarborough showcased the kind of physicality and urgency that could make them dangerous contenders heading into Championship Weekend.

Foster, playing just his fourth game with the team, added 15 points to his monster rebounding performance and anchored a second-quarter surge that left Niagara scrambling. “I’m a little upset that I didn’t get 20 [rebounds], but hey, it’s a franchise record and I’m happy with that,” Foster said.

The River Lions have already secured their place in Championship Weekend as the top seed in the East. Perhaps that security contributed to their performance, but the Shooting Stars would not be denied this afternoon in front of their home crowd.

Scarborough has now split its regular season match-up with Niagara, 2-2. Foster was not a part of the team the last time the two played each other. Niagara added Meshack Lufile, brother of current River Lions’ big man Elijah Lufile, since then.

Scarborough had a dominant second quarter, winning 21-9, and cemented their lead in the third quarter even as Terquavion Smith and Donovan Williams spent more time resting than playing.
Scarborough’s size confounded Niagara in the second quarter. Foster set solid screens and not only was he scoring, his huge block on a nearly unguardable hook shot had reverberated through his team. His presence along with Kalif Young’s made it hard for Niagara to score down low – they only had four paint points by the second half.

Young had a block of his own and Khalil Miller followed suit, blocking Kimbal Mackenzie.

Towards the end of the quarter, Foster threw down a two-handed alley-oop to give Scarborough a 40-27 lead, and Kobe Elvis made a huge defensive play, mugging Ron Curry as the latter tried to post Elvis up, and this fueled an easy transition bucket for Aaron Best.

Foster said that these defensive plays were just a mental disposition. “[It’s] really just having heart. That’s really it,” he said. “I felt like everybody came out here, really wanted to win. It’s a really good team out here, so we just wanna show our impact.”

Scarborough continued to press the gas in the third quarter. Aaron Best answered with three triples, the third one giving Scarborough a 20-point lead. He then attacked the hoop and missed, but had Young to tap the ball back in.

Things were clicking so well for Scarborough that even Miller stopped on a dime in transition, and with two Scarborough guards around him, he hoisted a three and nailed it, causing CEBL+ commentator Rod Black to scream, “You did not do that! Miller Time!”

Scarborough also got lucky on some empty Niagara offensive possessions. After stopping Mackenzie from getting a three-point look, the ball was swung out to Khalil Ahmad on the weakside, but he missed the wide-open triple. On the other end, Miller attempted another three, but Foster grabbed the board and dished it out to Anthony Walker who splashed the corner three.

Foster kept putting his stamp on the third frame as well, scoring off his own miss and kissing the ball off the glass after taking Elijah Lufile off the dribble.

At the start of the fourth, Scarborough wasted some possessions – Best turned the ball over, Curry got a bucket, then Williams turned the ball over after getting called for a charge on Mackenzie. Young had a live-ball turnover, but Nathan Cayo could not convert it into a three.

Smith came back into the game with a 68-51 lead, and it didn’t take much for Scarborough to close out the lopsided affair.

“It helps us immensely in the standings. We’re one up against Ottawa now,” Scarborough head coach Mike De Giorgio said. “The guys came out and they responded. They were physically there. We hit first and that’s something that can carry over into the playoffs.”

Niagara head coach and general manager Vic Raso was honest about the challenge he faced today.

“We can’t fake the fact that every team we’re playing is fighting for something and we’ve already clinched,” he said. “But at the same time, we need to earn it back and we’ve got a good opportunity here to go away as a team for three games out west and really find that.”

Nathan Cayo reached his 1000th point milestone (regular season and playoffs) today. “It’s a blessing just to be able to get that many points … To be able to be healthy and get the opportunity to play in this league,” he said.

He finished the game with seven points on one-for-five three-point shooting, struggling from the field like most of his teammates. Niagara finished 26% from the field and 20% from downtown. Curry was the exception who had a team-high 21 points on eight-for-19 (42%) shooting.

Ahmad struggled shooting two-for-eight from the field, but Raso dusted the loss off and remained optimistic about the future.

“We’ve got some growing to do still,” he said matter-of-factly and looked forward to continuing the road trip ahead.

Up next for both teams

Scarborough (11-11) stays home to host the best team in the league, Vancouver Bandits (16-5), at Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre on Friday, August 8. Niagara (14-7) head west and face the Winnipeg Sea Bears (9-11) at Canada Life Centre on Wednesday, August 6.

Next CEBL action

The Montreal Alliance (8-12) recently secured a playoff berth and will host the Calgary Surge (14-7) at Verdun Auditorium tomorrow. This will be CEBL’s lone Monday, August 4 Civic Holiday game.