The first place Niagara River Lions will look for their sixth straight win Friday night at home, and they’ll do so in front of a national audience.
The River Lions (12-5) host the Montreal Alliance (7-10) in a 7pm tip-off from Meridian Centre in downtown St. Catharines, in a game that will be broadcast live on TSN across Canada.
Niagara is the defending Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) Champions, and the team’s motto this season is ‘Run It Back’ – meaning return to the championship.
“We wanna win the East. We wanna win the championship,” River Lions head coach Victor Raso said recently on cebl.ca “Our standards are much higher. We expect to make the playoffs.”
The River Lions lead the Eastern Conference standings by four games and have already punched their tickets to the playoffs.
“We’re just finally playing well. Play every game, every single possession like it doesn’t matter what happened before or after. Our team needs to keep doing that,” said Raso.
Former CEBL most valuable player, and a player known affectionately as the Lion King, Khalil Ahmad leads Niagara with 20.2 points per game
He’s also made more free throws and nailed more Target Score Winners than anyone in league history. He is also the CEBL’s all-time steals leader.
It’s those finishes, though, that have become Ahmad’s calling card. His 28 winners are 10 more than any other player.
“Confidence can take you places you would’ve never expected to go before and have you do things you never expected to do,” Ahmad said.
Raso offered this when asked about the Coruna, California native:
“Like that that musician or painter, they’re themselves in their own world but when they’re doing the craft it’s like this [different] person comes out and that’s Khalil,” Raso said.
“Since Day 1, he’s a mental monster and he’s physically gifted, he works hard and he’s just coachable. And we’ve had our struggles too, we’ve gone through losses and recommitted to each other, each and every year. And to see him last year just a switch flip mentally, that he was going to be super solid, and he was going to show everyone that he’s a winner – it’s like, this is an unbelievable basketball player.”
And while Ahmad continues to produce and impress, the River Lions continue to play with ‘the next man up’ mentality as on any given night another player will step up.
Ahmad, captain Kimbal Mackenzie, CEBL all-time leading scorer Ahmed Hill, Ron Curry and Eddie EkIyor are the usual starting five for Raso.
A player is only as good as his supporting cast, but Niagara’s success starts and will likely end with Ahmad.
“Hey, we’re trying to run it back,” said Ahmad.
Tickets for Friday night are still available here: https://www.ticketmaster.ca/niagara-river-lions-vs-montreal-alliance-st-catharines-ontario-07-25-2025/event/1000624DCD042628
Rod Mawhood is a lifelong Niagara native who has had the pleasure of working in all three mediums – Radio, Print and TV – for over 20 years. His first announcing gig was with the then St. Catharines Stompers. Since then he’s worked in radio and TV in Toronto, and currently is the announcer for the Niagara IceDogs and Niagara River Lions.
Rod also covers the Buffalo Bills for FOX Sports and the Buffalo Sabres for NBC Sports.
