River Lions kings of the CEBL

Khalil Ahmad has earned the nickname ‘The Lion King’ for a reason.

Moving forward, though, it might be more fitting to refer to him as ‘The CEBL King.’

For the second year in a row, the Niagara River Lions have claimed the CEBL title with their star guard putting the finishing touches on the championship game. This time, the final scene was inside the Canada Life Centre on Sunday where Ahmad drew a foul in Target Score Time and sunk both attempts from the charity stripe to push Niagara past the Calgary Surge 79-73.

“He’s the greatest player to ever have played in this league, and he’s just a phenomenal person,” said Niagara head coach Victor Raso.

“He won’t say all the things that I’ll say, but that’s the truth. He’s the best player to ever play in this league.”

Dating back to last year’s title run — where he hit a floater to win it all over the Vancouver Bandits 97-95 — Ahmad has now scored five consecutive Target Score winners in post-season play.

“It means a lot, it means the world,” said Ahmad, a 28-year-old from California who was once again named Finals MVP.

“It’s a lot of trust from Vic and the rest of the guys to let me have the ball in certain situations like that and I gotta do my best not to let them down.”

In four CEBL seasons, all with Niagara, Ahmad has 30 career winners.

“Yeah, honestly, it’s getting a little bit ridiculous at this point,” said River Lions point guard Kimbal Mackenzie.

“Quite frankly, when he hit that shot against Scarborough (in the East final), I was like ‘How many times is this guy gonna do this?’ He just has a knack for when those moments get big, he’ll do some stuff that I haven’t even seen him do before and he’s just playing off instincts trying to win a game.”

The result puts Niagara in elite company as they join the Edmonton Stingers (2020-21) as the only team to win back-to-back/multiple championships in league history.

“It feels incredible. It really does,” said Raso.

“I read a lot about teams who repeated and it all rang true, really. It’s not going to be like the first time, it’s going to be hard, there’s going to be ups and downs, you’re going to have to find a new why and shed last year. This feels different than last year, for sure, but it’s as special of a moment that I’ve ever had as a coach. This one, for these guys, it just cemented them.”

It was the lowest scoring final in league history. Calgary steamrolled its way to Sunday with guards Evan Gilyard Jr. and Jameer Nelson Jr. averaging 27 points per pame each in three playoff wins. The River Lions managed to hold those two to 13 points a piece, and Calgary’s regular season scoring leader Greg Brown III to just nine points.

The Surge (17-7) defeated the Winnipeg Sea Bears 90-79 in the Western Conference final on Friday and the River Lions (14-10) prevailed over the Scarborough Shooting Stars 93-91 to capture the Eastern crown.

“Did I think that we’d hold them to 73? No, but I knew that we were capable of it if you kept them out of transition and made a bunch of their guys who are attackers be jump shooters,” said Raso, who hails from Hamilton, Ont.

“I’m not surprised, but we did a really good job. We were thoughtful on every defensive possession and we just kind of forced them to play to their weaknesses instead of playing to their strengths. Now, those guys are really talented. There are times where they got the better of us, but we had a plan, and we have always been a team that’s been defensive focused.”

Even though the Sea Bears didn’t make it to the big dance, 7,129 fans made the trip to the downtown Winnipeg arena. The 2024 finale in Montreal drew 3,031 fans.

Chad Posthumus’s parents — Charles and Diana — presented the CEBL championship trophy to commissioner Mike Morreale — who was sporting a Posthumus No. 33 Sea Bears jersey — at halfcourt at the start of Target Score Time.

“It was probably the best, most first-class championship weekend we’ve had,” said Raso, who’s been coaching in the CEBL since Day 1.

“This is a sports town, you can tell just the way they support the Sea Bears. It was really fun to play here and honestly, it felt like a treat. This is kind of like the crown jewel of the CEBL in terms of arenas.”

Niagara had four players in double figures with Ahmad leading the way with 16 points. With Calgary’s imports struggling, guard Sean Miller-Moore — a Canadian Player of the Year finalist — stepped up with 19 points.

The Surge shot 34.2 per cent from the field and 24.3 from deep and trailed by 16 late in the third quarter before clawing back near the end. The River Lions connected on 39.2 per cent of their field goals and 31.2 per cent of threes.

Calgary has now lost the final twice in three years.

“There’s no moral victories for us. Our goal was to win the championship, and we came up short,” said Calgary head coach Kaleb Canales.

“It’s going to sting for a bit, but I absolutely love our team, I love our squad, and I wouldn’t trade them for the world. Congratulations to Niagara, they made plays when they had to and we didn’t.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca