The Guelph Nighthawks escaped their home court with a narrow victory over the Montréal Alliance with a 86-84 win on Saturday. 

The Nighthawks were clutch from the free throw line down the stretch, going 9-12 from the charity stripe in Elam time to clinch the victory. It avenged a 94-74 loss to Montréal last Sunday in Quebec.

“They hit 15 [threes] last time and our focus was to eliminate that threat,” Nighthawks’ head coach Charles Kissi said. “We were going to live with the post-ups today and they hit six threes. We did a good job taking away those looks.” 

Ahmed Hill pushed the boulder for the Nighthawks in their second consecutive win, with a game-high 28 points on 9-13 from the field, 3-4 from three and 7-8 from the line to go along with 8 rebounds. AJ Lawson added 18 points and 6 assists, with TJ Lall contributing 17 points, 8 rebounds and four assists. Cat Barber struggled from the field with 3-14 shooting, but scissored through the defence to draw fouls and finished the game with 13 points and 5 assists. 

“We had a really good film session before this game and Ahmed implemented some of the things he had seen,” Kissi said. “That’s why he’s a pro. He’s able to adapt and he had his most efficient night.” 

Meanwhile, Montréal relied on their big men to carry the offensive load with Nathan Cayo and Ashley Hamilton putting on a low post clinic. Cayo netted 23 points on 10-16 shooting and hauled in 6 boards in a losing effort. However, Hamilton took centre stage for much of the second half, scoring 21 points on 8-12 from the field and 5-6 from the line, to go along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Isiah Osborne and Dominic Green each reached double figures as well, with 12 and 11 points respectively. 

The Alliance were dominant inside shooting 50 per cent on twos and winning the points in the paint battle 42-30. They also out-rebounded the Nighthawks, 50-38, snagging 11 offensive boards. However, the Nighthawks relied heavily on their accuracy from the free throw line and skill in transition to win the game. Guelph went 25-28 from the line for 86 per cent while Montréal were 14-22 for 63 per cent. The Nighthawks were flying on the fast break, outscoring the Alliance 27-7 in fast break points. 

The first quarter saw the Nighthawks pick up a 20-14 lead despite struggling from the field. Ashley Hamilton was an interior force for the Alliance in the opening frame, picking up 10 points on catch-and-shoots from the mid-range, a reverse layup, a put back and a fadeaway from the paint. 

The Alliance continued to rely on their low post presence in the second quarter. After two points in the first quarter, Nathan Cayo exploded for 13 in the second for Montréal. He scored on contested layups and showed off his superior footwork on the low block. Ahmed Hill carried the Nighthawks in the first half, heading into the locker room with 16 points and 5 rebounds. Hill hit some timely threes and a pair of and-one finishes to give Guelph a 38-34 lead at the half. 

The Nighthawks shot just 31 per cent from the field and 28 per cent from three after 20 minutes, but they didn’t miss from the free throw line and forced 9 Montréal turnovers to their two. However Montréal was efficient and dominated the battle in the paint. They shot 48 per cent at half, outscored Guelph in the paint 22-10 and out rebounded to e Nighthawks 27-17. 

In the third quarter, Hamilton and Cayo continued to carry the Montreal offence while Hill was able to help extend the lead for Guelph. Cat Barber threw an alley-oop lob to AJ Lawson to give the Nighthawks a 53-41 lead, their largest of the night. Alliance head coach Vincent Lavandier let his squad play through the adversity and a five point swing at the end of the quarter narrowed the Nighthawks’ lead to 62-56.

It was a back and forth start to the fourth quarter but Guelph were able to maintain their lead before the Elam ending. Barber left the game briefly with a hand injury after an and-one but returned to finish the game. Hill used his footwork to create space for a mid-range jumper to extend the lead to 77-68 before a crucial error before Elam time.

Guelph was whistled for an intentional foul, giving Montréal two shots and the ball to start the Elam ending. Guelph carried a 77-69 lead into the final stretch with a target score of 86. Buckets from Ossé, Cayo and Osborne cut the lead to one and forced Guelph into a timeout. Montréal kept fighting and an Osborne free throw gave the Alliance their first lead of the half. 

A thrilling sequence in which Ossé was blocked in transition by Lawson led to an Osborne and-one putback to put the Alliance ahead 84-83 with both teams one bucket away from victory. An inadvertent whistle with Cat Barber on the hardwood trying to call a timeout from the backcourt with just 7 seconds left on the shot clock robbed Montréal of a late opportunity and gave Guelph another shot to win. 

Barber missed a layup, then Laroche missed from the paint and Lall hit a free throw to tie the game at 84. Lall drew an important offensive foul on Hamilton, and Barber closed the game out from the line. 

Guelph improves to 3-3 and will host the Newfoundland Growlers 7 ET on Tuesday while the Alliance drop to 3-4 and will host Niagara at 7:30 ET on Wednesday. 

The games will stream on CEBL+ live internationally and in Canada at cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app for iOS

and Android devices and the free CBC Gem streaming service. Games are also available on the CEBL’s official app, CEBL Mobile, available on iOS and Android devices.

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