River Lions frustrated by Bandits in final regular-season home game

Maxie Esho scored 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Fraser Valley Bandits past the host Niagara River Lions, 95-86, on Monday in Canadian Elite Basketball action.

Niagara (12-5) misses chance to put pressure on league-leading Honey Badgers (13-5)

Yuri Coghe · CBC Sports · Posted: Jul 25, 2022 10:26 PM EDT | Last Updated: July 26, 2022

The Fraser Valley Bandits frustrated the River Lions in Niagara's final regular-season home game by claiming a 95-86 road win in Canadian Elite Basketball League action on Monday. (@CEBLeague/Twitter)

Maxie Esho scored 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Fraser Valley Bandits past the host Niagara River Lions, 95-86, on Monday in Canadian Elite Basketball action.

Marek Klassen added a double-double for Fraser Valley (10-7) with 14 points and 11 assists. Starters Shane Gibson (14 points), Alex Campbell (13) and Thomas Kennedy (12) also chipped in with double-points.

Khalil Ahmad led the River Lions (12-5) with 22 points and seven assists. Antonio Davis Jr. added 17 points and six rebounds.

Niagara took a 23-14 lead at the end of the first quarter but failed to hold on to the early advantage, finding itself trailing by two points at halftime.

Sky High for Maxie Esho. 🌠<a href="https://twitter.com/thE_Show1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@thE_Show1</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/FVBandits?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FVBandits</a> <br><br>📺 CEBL Mobile app, CEBL+, <a href="https://twitter.com/cbcsports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cbcsports</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/cbcgem?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cbcgem</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/ItsNxtLevel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ItsNxtLevel</a> (US Only)<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LetsBall?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LetsBall</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NRLvsFVB?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NRLvsFVB</a> <a href="https://t.co/tEyIk6yMH1">pic.twitter.com/tEyIk6yMH1</a>
—@CEBLeague

The loss meant the hosts missed an opportunity to put pressure on the league-leading Hamilton Honey Badgers (13-5).

The team with the best regular season campaign will punch a ticket straight to the Championship Weekend in Ottawa in August.

Both the River Lions and the Bandits have already secured post-season action this season.

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Niagara will conclude its regular season on Sunday by taking on the Honey Badgers on the road at 2 p.m. ET.

Fraser Valley will visit the Scarborough Shooting Stars on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET before hosting the back-to-back champion Edmonton Stingers on Saturday at 10 p.m. ET to wrap up regular-season play.

All CEBL games are streamed live on CBCsports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.

WATCH l CEBL: Fraser Valley Bandits @ Niagara River Lions: