River Lion guard Khalil Ahmad named BL’s most valuable player

Ahmad wins MVP, clutch player honours; Onu is the top defensive player

Niagara River Lions shooting guard Khalil Ahmad is the 2022 Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) player of the year after leading the spring-summer professional league in scoring.

Besides averaging 20.7 points per game to help Niagara finish second in the league with a 13-7 record, Ahmad led the team in assists, with 4.5, was fourth on the River Lions with four rebounds and his 1.9 steals per game were fourth best in the 10-team league. He shot 45 per cent from the field.

The six-foot-four, 185-pound native of Corona, Calif., southeast of Los Angeles, also was selected as the CEBL’s clutch player of the year. He netted the game-winner in Elam Ending in all but three of the team’s 13 victories.

Instead of running out the clock, the CEBL uses a formula in which teams play to a target score that is set after the first stoppage in play when four or fewer minutes are remaining in regulation. This formula is known as the Elam Ending.

River Lions co-general manager and head coach Victor Raso said Ahmad is “incredibly deserving” of the honours. “He’s someone who has been overlooked his whole life and he works so hard. He’s a lovable superstar on our team, and he’s constantly a problem for other players,” Raso said. “It’s huge to have our first MVP in the CEBL and glad it happened to a great guy like Khalil.”

River Lions power forward EJ Onu received defensive player of the year honours at the league’s awards banquet Wednesday night at Casino Lac Leamy in Gatineau, Que. The six-foot-11, 240-pound native of Cleveland, Ohio, set a record by averaging 3.3 blocks per game during the regular season.

Onu was a key contributor to a River Lions defence that led the league with 4.9 blocks per game.

“EJ really earned it,” Raso said. “He changes the way people have to play offence because of his ability to not only block shots, but affect plays on the defensive end with his length.”

While the awards were presented to individuals, they are “big for our team and big for our organization,” according to the fourth-year coach.

“They are a true testament to the hard work that our team has put in all season,” Raso said.

Also wrapping up the CEBL’s fourth season with three awards were the Hamilton Honey Badgers. Point guard Caleb Agada, who came to Burlington from his native Nigeria at age six, is the CEBL Canadian player of the year after averaging 12.7 points, six rebounds, 5.1 assists and 2.1 steals, while guard Koby McEwen edged Niagara’s Elijah Mitrou-Long for sixth man honours.

Ryan Schmidt is the coach of the year after the Honey Badgers went 13-7 in league play and, along with the host BlackJacks, earned a bye into Championship Weekend in Ottawa.

Schmidt, whose career record in three seasons at the Hamilton helm is 26-16, has the Honey Badgers in the final four for the third time in three seasons.

Thomas Kennedy of the Fraser Valley, B.C., Bandits is this year’s top U Sports player after averaging 14.5 points and 8.3 rebounds, third best in the league, while shooting 63.6 per cent from the field, second in the league. In the fall, he will return for another season with University of Windsor.

Ahmad ends Xavier Moon’s threeyear reign as the league’s top player, but Moon, a standout in his time with Edmonton, was nonetheless part of the celebrations at Wednesday’s banquet.

The most valuable player award Ahmad received is an X mounted on a maple hardwood base in honour of Moon, currently under contract with the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association.

Championship Weekend in Ottawa continues Friday with a semifinal doubleheader at TD Place Arena. Tipping off at 4 p.m. is secondseeded Niagara versus the No. 3 seed Scarborough Shooting Stars, with Hamilton taking on the host BlackJacks at 7 p.m. Sunday’s goldmedal game gets underway at 4 p.m. All three games will be broadcast nationally by the CBC, with coverage of the final getting underway at 3:30 p.m.

Hamilton and Niagara are both hoping to advance to the championship final for the second time since the CEBL was launched in 2019.

In the inaugural championship played in Saskatoon, the Honey Badgers lost to the host Saskatchewan Rattlers. In 2021, the River Lions lost to Edmonton, also the host team.