Niagara’s New Guys Are Already Scary Good, and That’s Bad News for Everyone Else

Here’s the thing about defending back-to-back CEBL champions: they’re allowed to be annoying. And Niagara? They’re being very annoying right now.

On May 26, the Niagara River Lions waltzed into Montreal, took care of business against the Alliance with a 15-point win, and—this is the part that should worry the other nine CEBL franchises—they did it while essentially auditioning new talent. Curtis Hollis dropped 18 points in 25 minutes. Donald Carey., who was literally signed five days earlier, came off the bench and orchestrated the entire offense with 17 points and 7 assists like he’d been there all along. This is what happens when you’re good enough to win championships: you get to add pieces mid-season and still feel like a 65-win team.

The Efficiency Guy

Hollis has become the exact type of complementary star that championship teams crave. The 6’6″ guard spent the winter in Latvia—VEF Riga, 15 points per game, the kind of quiet excellence that goes unnoticed until the playoffs—and Niagara smartly brought him back on an April signing. In 25 minutes tonight, he was a flamethrower: 18 points on what you could immediately tell was clean shooting. His career CEBL average sits at 12.2 points across 20 games, which honestly feels low given how the eye test treats him. Last year’s playoff run? 7.8 points on 43.8% from three in four games. So yeah. He’s that guy.

The Wildcard

Then there’s Carey, who arrived about a week ago with Leicester Riders and Mexican summer league experience—basically, international grind mode. Nobody knew what to expect. Twenty minutes in, you realized Niagara had quietly made a very smart move. The 6’5″ guard’s 7 assists weren’t just high; they were purposeful, the kind that set up easy looks and kept Montreal constantly scrambling. This is only his second CEBL game. Let that sink in.

The Ugly Truth for Montreal

Montreal had no real answer. Quincy Guerrier’s 16 points were solid; Freeman-Liberty’s 11 assists showed playmaking effort. But when you’re facing a team that can get 16 points and 8 rebounds from Nathan Cayo, 12 and 7 from Elijah Lufile, and still has Keonte Kennedy lurking in the rotation? You’re basically hoping for fouls and turnover luck. You don’t get that against a championship team with fresh legs.

The Bigger Picture

Niagara won back-to-back titles in 2024-2025 and 2025-2026. They’re now in the eighth season of the CEBL’s existence, playing with Elam Endings that eliminate the coaching-desperation stuff down the stretch—just pure execution. A 15-point win in that format is a beatdown. And they did it with two guys who weren’t even on the team a week ago playing like they’ve been running the system for years.

That’s not sustainability. That’s just unfairness disguised as depth.