ST. CATHARINES, Ont. — Khalil Ahmad is going to Montreal for Championship Weekend — he made sure Sunday his entire team is going with him.
The two-time Clutch Player of the Year scored 13 consecutive points in Target Score time as the Niagara River Lions rallied from behind to trump the visiting Ottawa BlackJacks 94-91 in the Canadian Elite Basketball League's Eastern Conference semifinal.
The River Lions, who finished first in the Eastern Conference this season with a 14-6 record, now face the host Montreal Alliance in Friday's Eastern Conference final, with the winner advancing to next Sunday's CEBL championship game at Verdun Auditorium in Montreal.
With the River Lions needing two points to clinch Sunday's victory, Ahmad inbounded the ball to Omari Moore, who passed to TJ Lall above the arc. Meanwhile, Ahmad curled around and sprinted toward the net. Lall lobbed the ball into the air — and Ahmad ferociously threw down the alley-oop, sending his teammates and the crowd into a frenzy.
“I told TJ, throw it up and I’ll go get it. And my guy trusted me,” Ahmad said. “It was beautiful, picture-perfect.”
Head coach Victor Raso said it’s a play his team has run multiple times throughout the season — but it’s usually completely shut down or wide open. On this occasion, the defence was somewhere in-between.
“TJ threw the ball where only Khalil could get it and Khalil made an incredibly athletic play,” Raso said.
“They (Ottawa) literally pushed us to the limit. And if this game is not here with 4,000 people, I don’t know if it goes our way. And then we got really tough, we went small, our guys played hard as hell and Khalil Ahmad is a special talent. Like what he did down the stretch and in Target Score Time was incredible."
Guard Jahvon Blair contributed 22 points and six rebounds in the win, while Nathan Cayo added 17 points, including a pair of three-pointers just before Target Score Time that cut Niagara’s deficit from 10 to four.
“We stayed together the whole game. They went on runs and we stayed together, took care of what we needed to take care of and we got the win. So I’m just proud of our guys, how we stayed resilient,” Ahmad said.
Shamar Givance led the BlackJacks with 19 points, while Isaih Moore chipped in with 17. Tevin Brown had 14 points and Deng Adel had 10 rebounds for Ottawa, which finished third in the Eastern Conference with a 9-11 record. The BlackJacks surprised the Scarborough Stars 90-73 in an East play-in game on Aug. 2.
SURGE 78 STINGERS 69
The visiting Calgary Surge outscored the Edmonton Stingers 24-15 in the third quarter and hung on for a victory in the Western Conference semifinal.
The Surge, who finished third in the West with an 11-9 record, will face the Vancouver Bandits in the Western Conference final on Friday at Verdun Auditorium. The winner advances to the CEBL championship game on Aug. 11.
In Sunday's Battle of Alberta, Corey Davis Jr. paced the Surge with 22 points. Sean Miller-Moore chipped in with 18, while Jordy Tshimanga added 14 points and eight rebounds.
Jacob Evans Lii led the Stingers with 13 points, while Brody Clarke, Michael Nuga and Trey Mcgowens all had 11 points.
Edmonton finished second in the West with a 13-7 record, one win behind of the Bandits.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 4, 2024.
The Canadian Press