The winningest team in the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s Eastern Conference during the regular season is entering the playoffs with the franchise’s longest losing streak since joining the spring-summer pro league in 2019.

Since clinching the No. 1 seed, as well as first- and second-round byes to advance directly to Championship Weekend in Winnipeg, the Niagara River Lions have lost five in a row to end the CEBL’s longest-ever season — 24 games, up from 20 — with a 14-10 record.

The setbacks — home to the Ottawa BlackJacks, 96-93; at Scarborough Shooting Stars, 81-64; at Winnipeg Sea Bears, 86-81; at Edmonton Stingers, 92-81; at Calgary Surge, 94-76 — were only must-win games for Niagara’s opponents, all of whom were battling for playoff seeding. For the River Lions, with a ticket to

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