When asked post-game about the other contributions from the River Lions that caused the BlackJacks problems, Ottawa head coach James Derouin immediately spoke about Antonio Davis Jr.
Despite the reigning regular season MVP’s struggles, Niagara found contributions elsewhere to come out victorious. Khalil Ahmad put up just 10 points on 2-11 shooting from the field and 0-4 from beyond the arch. The win was even more impressive for the River Lions considering their scoring leader had his second-lowest offensive performance of the season. Through three games so far, they’ve forced 18.7 turnovers by the BlackJacks, well above their season average of 15.9 a contest.
Niagara’s stifling defence earned them a +15 edge on points off giveaways and should be recognized for the problems they’ve caused Ottawa all season. It seemed like the BlackJacks had figured out their giveaway problems from earlier in the season, averaging just 14.5 during their eight-game win streak, but on Thursday night they committed 20 turnovers. Ottawa’s leaders, Deng Adel and Kadre Gray had solid scoring nights with 24 and 18 points respectively, but the duo gave a lot of that back with their nine combined turnovers. The BlackJacks entered the night as the league’s best three-point shooting team (38.9 per cent) but were limited to just nine makes on a 28 per cent clip. It was the first time in a while that Ottawa looked vulnerable as Niagara’s defence seemed to be all over them. This will be the fourth and final contest this regular season between Ottawa (12-6) and Niagara (10-7), with the series currently favouring the River Lions 2-1.įor the BlackJacks, the 89-87 loss to the River Lions three days ago snapped their franchise-record eight-game win streak. The game will be available for streaming live on TSN+, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, and on the CEBL Mobile app available on iOS and Android devices. Eastern Conference heavy weights face-off in the second game of a home-and-home set as the Ottawa BlackJacks (-115) head to the Meridian Centre to take on the Niagara River Lions (-118) at 3:00 pm ET on Sunday afternoon.
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