The Guelph Nighthawks shot just 36 per cent from the floor Sunday as they fell to the Niagara River Lions 89-69 at the Sleeman Centre Sunday afternoon in front of roughly 600 fans.
Guelph (3-9) started strong and held an early lead, up by six after the first quarter, before Niagara took control and took a double-digit lead in the third quarter.
Guelph battled back toward the end of the third quarter, narrowing the deficit to three points, but unforced turnovers and poor shooting allowed Niagara to reestablish a significant lead.
The Nighthawks' Ahmed Hill led all scorers with 24 points.
Guelph leading scorer Cat Barber was held to just six points, going two-for-12 from the floor.
The Niagara River Lions (7-4) were led by 19 points from Phil Scrubb.
Gueph committed 19 turnovers in the game, compared to 10 by their opponents.
The Nighthawks will play in Ottawa on Wednesday, then wrap up the regular season portion of the schedule with a home game against Ottawa on Friday in a 7 p.m. start.
“When you have Ahmed Hill on your team, he competes so hard, he gives you everything every time on both ends of the floor. Every team needs an Ahmed Hill, or ten of them if you’re lucky,” said head coach Charles Kissi in a news release. “He competes and it’s a great compliment that you never feel like he’s cheated you, he gives you everything, every game and every practice. That’s the ultimate professional as far as I’m concerned.”
