River Lions Win 103-93 Over Riptide

Written by: Zach Dadson

The Niagara River Lions defeated the Saint John Riptide 103-93 on Tuesday March 13, the second game of the River Lions seven-game home stand that spans the month of March.   

It was Niagara's second win in a row and an excellent night on the court, but it was what the team was focusing on off the court that had the biggest impact.

The Niagara River Lions wore special edition purple uniforms on Tuesday night to shine a light on woman abuse.

Each player's uniform was auctioned off during the game and all funds raised will be donated to organizations in Niagara who work to end violence against women. 

The game started off with a cheque presentation made by the night's sponsor, The Boldt Team, to Women's Place South Niagara. Funds raised during the 50/50 raffle were also donated to the organization. 

The opportunity to participate in the night was important to each member of the River Lions.

"It means a lot because you have a lot of women out here in this world that get abused." River Lions' starting centre Devonta Pollard said after the game.

"Just to be a part of that, to try and get that to stop, it feels amazing." he continued.

As male leaders in the community, the team specifically felt that it was an important opportunity to stand against violence against women.

"You've got to make sure that us, as men, we can take the lead on that and it's something that people need to be more aware of and make a push to change things." Joe Rocca added about the night.

"It's a very important cause and I'm really glad we did something like that."

In terms of the night's action on the court, the River Lions led 44-42 at halftime but opened the third quarter on a 10-0 run, blowing the game open.

"We had three possessions there where we had a defensive run. Our defense got us three turnovers, takeaways that got us points on the other end. It's great to see that we got six points at the other end, but we got them because of three good defensive plays." Coach Raso explained.

Joe Rocca, who finished the night with 15 points while going 4-8 from three-point range.

"We have a talented team so offense comes but defense and rebounding, stops on that end so we can get out on the other end, I think that was the key and Coach Joe kind of made that a point at halftime." 

Devonta Pollard led the River Lions in scoring with 20 points and shot 66% from the field. 

"We got the ball moving which made their defense move and then we just attacked the gaps that they gave us." Pollard explained.

Sam Muldrow scored 13 points off the bench for the River Lions and added eight rebounds, three blocks and two assists while Guillaume Payen Boucard pitched in nine points, 10 rebounds and five assists.  

The Riptide were led by Malcolm Miller who finished the game with 26 points and four rebounds. Aaron Redpath added 13 points and six assists for the road team but it wasn't enough as the River Lions sweep the season series, 2-0.

The River Lions return to action on Wednesday March 14 when they host the Cape Breton Highlanders at the Meridian Centre.