Riders tonne up to cool Scorchers and Lions leave it late to ground Flyers
[ad_1]
BBL Championship
Surrey Scorchers 76-102 Leicester Riders (18-28, 39-54, 58-80)
(Scorchers – Davis Jr. 23, Ogedengbe 11, Ringer 11; Riders – Whelan 24, Walker 20, Mackenzie 13)
Bristol Flyers 74-77 London Lions (19-10, 34-34, 57-54)
(Flyers – Evans 16, Jacob 16, Simmons 14; Lions – Reese 16, Robinson 15, Martin 13)
It was top versus bottom in the first game of this relatively
quiet Saturday in the BBL Championship, as the Leicester Riders travelled to
Surrey Sports Park to face the Surrey Scorchers, and it was a fast start for
the home side as Surrey took a 6-0 lead early in the game.
The Riders took a couple of minutes to find their rhythm,
but as soon as they did they blitzed the home side for the remainder of the quarter
behind some fine shooting from Patrick Whelan who went five for five from the
field in the opening period, including four three pointers, on the way to 24
personal on the night.
Trailing by 10 going into the second quarter, the Scorchers
came back into the game somewhat behind some shifty play from Stanley Davis Jr.
who has 16 points in the first half, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Riders
extending their advantage to 15 by halftime.
Leicester never looked like faltering and eventually saw out
a 26-point victory to secure their 19th win of this BBL Championship
campaign.
Over in Bristol, British basketball fans were treated to a much
tighter affair between two sides who have it all to play for as we approach the
business end of the season – the Bristol Flyers and London Lions.
Due to postponements and congested fixture lists, both of
these sides have 10 games to content with in the next three weeks and as such need
to build as much momentum as possible so they can tackle a busy few weeks with
vigour and confidence.
The ebb-and-flow of the game certainly reflected its
significance to both teams, as the Flyers started fastest behind some impressive
play from Trejon Jacob who was perfect from the field in the first quarter to
give the home side a 19-10 lead.
The Lions responded in the second quarter with some
high-intensity defence leading to easy points in transition, as Justin Robinson
and Bradley Kaboza set the tone in pressing Bristol from the moment they
inbounded the ball, bringing the game back to 34-34 at halftime.
Whatever Andreas Kapoulas said to his side at halftime proved effective as the Flyers stormed to a healthy lead out of the interval once again, but the Lions refused to quit and stayed within touching distance until the closing stages of the game where they finally took the lead for the first time on the night with two minutes to go, eventually seeing out an essential win for James Vear’s side.
[ad_2]
Source link