For the first time in its history, the Montreal Alliance suffered defeat in a home game. She lost the flag 76-64 to the Niagara River Lions on Wednesday at the Verdun Auditorium.
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Allianz (3-5) could not make up for their deficit after the outbreak of the “Elam Ending”, which was justified by the guests leading 67:60. It was finally Khalil Ahmad who ended hostilities by scoring two consecutive baskets from the freedom throwing line.
Vincent Lavandier’s men had one of their worst starts of the season, trailing by 13 points after a quarter.
The River Lions (5-3) showed opportunism, hitting 51% of their shots compared to just 40% for the Alliance. Team Ontario’s players, who started the game on the bench, also picked up 10 points more than the crowd favorites (21-11).
Isiah Osborne and Hernst Laroche led the team with 13 points each. The latter, co-captain of the Montreal team, was the only player of his team to finish the game with a positive difference (+4).
Ahmad (14 points) was the most productive player on the Verdun floor on Wednesday, but three other of his teammates had at least 10 points.
Allianz will look to end their three-game losing streak against the mighty Edmonton Stingers on Monday in Montreal.