Niagara River Lions
Niagara River Lions | |||
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Leagues | CEBL | ||
Founded | 2015 | ||
History | Niagara River Lions (2015–present) | ||
Arena | Meridian Centre | ||
Capacity | 4,030 | ||
Location | St. Catharines, Ontario | ||
Team colours | Green, navy blue, grey | ||
President | Jeffrey Sotiriou | ||
Head coach | Victor Raso | ||
Ownership | Richard Petko, Michael Skrtich, Jeffrey Sotiriou | ||
Website | riverlions.ca | ||
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The Niagara River Lions are a Canadian professional basketball team based in St. Catharines, Ontario, that competes in the Canadian Elite Basketball League. From 2015 to 2018, they were members of the National Basketball League of Canada. The River Lions play their home games at the Meridian Centre in downtown St. Catharines.[1]
History
In February 2014, the Niagara Basketball Group started the application process to get a local team.
In 2017, River Lions' owner Richard Petko became one of the investors of a new basketball league called Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). On June 8, 2018, the River Lions announced that the franchise had moved to the CEBL after three seasons in the National Basketball League of Canada.[9]
Mascot
For their first season, the River Lions announced that their mascot would be Dunkin the River Lion. Dunkin performs during every River Lions home game and attends events throughout the Niagara Region.
Players
Current roster
Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.
Niagara River Lions roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Updated: January 4, 2024 |
Season-by-season record
League | Season | Coach | Regular season | Post season | ||||||
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Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | |||
NBLC | 2015–16 | Ken Murray Grâce Lokole |
16 | 24 | .400 | 3rd Central | 0 | 3 | .000 | Lost div. semi-finals |
2016–17 | Grâce Lokole Keith Vassell |
14 | 26 | .350 | 5th Central | did not qualify | ||||
2017–18 | Joe Raso | 17 | 23 | .425 | 4th Central | 1 | 3 | .250 | Lost div. semi-finals | |
CEBL | ||||||||||
2019 | Victor Raso | 15 | 5 | .750 | 1st | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost semi-finals | |
2020 | Victor Raso | 2 | 4 | .333 | 6th | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost quarter-finals | |
2021 | Victor Raso | 10 | 4 | .714 | 2nd | 1 | 1 | .500 | Lost finals | |
2022 | Victor Raso | 13 | 7 | .650 | 2nd | 1 | 1 | .500 | Lost semi-finals | |
2023 | Victor Raso | 13 | 7 | .650 | 1st East | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost semi-finals | |
NBLC totals | 47 | 73 | .392 | — | 1 | 6 | .143 | |||
CEBL totals | 53 | 27 | .663 | — | 2 | 5 | .286 |
Notable players
References
- ^ Dadson, Zach. "Five facts about River Lions". BulletNewsNiagara.com. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
- ^ a b "Niagara to get its own NBL Canada team". CKTB. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
- ^ "Professional Basketball Coming To The Niagara Region". NBLCanada.com. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
- ^ "Optimism And Unity Highlights NBL Canada League Meeting". NBLCanada.com. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
- ^ Dube, Kris. "River Lions ready to build winning team for Niagara". BulletNewsNiagara.com. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
- ^ "River Lions axe head coach coach/GM". Niagara Falls Review. 21 February 2016.
- ^ "Keith Vassell taking over NBL Canada team on interim basis". stcatharinesstandard.ca. Archived from the original on 10 March 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
- ^ "Niagara River Lions name Joe Raso as new head coach". Niagara This Week. June 28, 2017.
- ^ "River Lions make move to CEBL – holding court in 2019". St. Catharines Standard. June 8, 2018.