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 the 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 the 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 pushe.