Weber's winner sends Honey Badgers to semis after close call against River Lions

Pushed to the brink, Brianté Weber made sure his Honey Badgers wouldn't lose.

A dominant third quarter had put the third-seeded Honey Badgers in control heading into the final 10 minutes. But the scoring from Weber and forward Jean-Victor Mukama suddenly dried up, allowing the River Lions to tie the game in Elam Ending time after starting the phase down six.

Up 83-81, Hamilton chose to intentionally foul the River Lions' Trae Bell-Haynes to prevent the potential game-winning triple. After Bell-Haynes nailed the pair, Weber took the inbounds straight to Niagara's basket to seal the Hamilton victory.

The Honey Badgers now prepare to take on the No. 2 Fraser Valley Bandits in Saturday's semifinals at 1:30 p.m. ET. The top-seeded Edmonton Stingers will play the Ottawa BlackJacks, who beat the Guelph Nighthawks in Thursday's late game, at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Bell-Haynes matched Mukama's 23 points for the River Lions. Fellow starting guard Kassius Robertson contributed 20 points and four assists to the cause.

WATCH | Honey Badgers sneak past River Lions:

CEBL Game Wrap: Weber sends Honey Badgers into Summer Series semis

4 years ago

Duration 1:00

Briante Weber had the game-winning basket as the Hamilton Honey Badgers edged the Niagara River Lions 85-83 to advance to the Summer Series semifinal.

BlackJacks send Nighthawks packing

It took until the final round robin game for Ottawa to clinch its playoff berth. Now, it's on to the semifinals after ousting Guelph 83-75.

Canadian guard and team captain Olivier Hanlan hit the game-winning shot for the BlackJacks in the Elam Ending after a series of Ottawa turnovers allowed Guelph a new breath of life.

The BlackJacks were one bucket away when they allowed the Nighthawks to claw back some points before Hanlan iced the game. The Canadian led Ottawa with 19 points, turning in a complete effort that also included six rebounds and four assists.

Thomas Scrubb added 17 points and Johnny Berhanemeskel posted 16 for the BlackJacks, who'll play the No. 1 Stingers in Saturday's semifinal.

Tre'Darius McCallum led Guelph with 17 points, while Kimbal MacKenzie and Tyrell Green added 14 each.

Live coverage continues Saturday with the aforementioned semifinals at 1:30 p.m. ET and 3:30 p.m. ET.

CBC Sports has live coverage of the entire tournament, through to the final on Aug. 9.

WATCH | BlackJacks take control against Nighthawks:

CEBL Game Wrap: BlackJacks blow past Nighthawks to reach Summer Series semifinal

4 years ago

Duration 1:00

Olivier Hanlan poured in a team-high 19 points to help the Ottawa BlackJacks beat the Guelph Nighthawks 83-75 in the CEBL Summer Series quarter-finals.