Riders extended their winning streak to a league-best eight games, thrashing the Durham club 101-67, as Leicester coach Rob Paternostro became ninth coaches to enter the 200 win club in BBL history.
Conner Washington led all scorers with 22 points off the bench for Riders, while Wildcat’s John Puk finished with a team-high 15 points.
Although Force did claim a 64-57 win against Play-Off hopefuls Giants, the unfavourable result in the game between Riders and Wildcats meant that Leeds can no longer theoretically finish higher than ninth in the league table. That would have only been possible in a three-way tie between Wildcats, Force and Flyers, who are currently eighth.
Meanwhile, Sheffield Sharks and Glasgow Rocks celebrated important wins in the battle for the fifth spot in the BBL Championship and a higher Play-Off seed, with the postseason in sight.
Sharks trailed for most of the game against Surrey United, but a stellar fourth-quarter performance was more than enough to register a 95-79 victory in the end.
The Sheffield side outscored the hosts 36-15 in the final period, with Nick Lewis pacing Sharks with a game-best 26 points.
Elsewhere, Rocks topped the visiting London Lions 82-65, not only sweeping the season series 3-0, but also closing in on the fifth place in the league table with a win against their direct opponents.
| Wednesday 01 April 2015 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BBL Championship – Results | |||||
| Leicester Riders | 87 – 81 | London Lions | 19:30 | ||
| Surrey United | 75 – 111 | Glasgow Rocks | 19:30 | ||
| Friday 03 April 2015 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BBL Championship – Results | |||||
| Glasgow Rocks | 72 – 86 | Plymouth Raiders | 17:00 | ||
| Sheffield Sharks | 92 – 61 | Bristol Flyers | 19:30 | ||
| Worcester Wolves | 88 – 81 | Newcastle Eagles | 19:30 | ||
| Saturday 04 April 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| BBL Championship – Results | |||
| Leicester Riders | 100 – 82 | Cheshire Phoenix | 19:30 |
| Plymouth Raiders | 90 – 101 | Newcastle Eagles | 19:30 |
| Sunday 05 April 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| BBL Championship – Results | |||
| Durham Wildcats | 67 – 101 | Leicester Riders | 16:00 |
| Glasgow Rocks | 82 – 65 | London Lions | 17:00 |
| Manchester Giants | 57 – 64 | Leeds Force | 16:00 |
| Surrey United | 79 – 95 | Sheffield Sharks | 18:00 |
| P | Team | PL | W | L | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Esh Group Eagles Newcastle | 32 | 29 | 3 | 58 |
| 2 | Leicester Riders | 30 | 25 | 5 | 50 |
| 3 | Worcester Wolves | 32 | 25 | 7 | 50 |
| 4 | Cheshire Phoenix | 33 | 23 | 10 | 46 |
| 5 | London Lions | 32 | 18 | 14 | 36 |
| 6 | Glasgow Rocks | 31 | 17 | 14 | 34 |
| 7 | Sheffield Sharks | 32 | 17 | 15 | 34 |
| 8 | Bristol Flyers | 34 | 12 | 22 | 24 |
| 9 | Manchester Giants | 31 | 11 | 20 | 22 |
| 10 | Plymouth University Raiders | 32 | 10 | 22 | 20 |
| 11 | Leeds Force | 33 | 9 | 24 | 18 |
| 12 | Durham Wildcats | 33 | 8 | 25 | 16 |
| 13 | Surrey United | 33 | 5 | 28 | 10 |
| 2014/15 League Table | |||||
Quote of the Week
We still believe we are not quite where we had hoped we would be in terms of record and in the table, so we are trying to play catch-up.
Over the last month we have been playing Play-off basketball so every time the ball goes up that is how we are prepared to play. Lions’ Head Coach, Vince Macaulay
Rashad Hassan was the hero for Riders as his monumental double-double helped his team to topple London.
Riders came away with a hard-fought 87-81 home victory after having to stave off a final quarter comeback by the Lions who had trailed by as many as 18 points early in the fourth period.
In a dramatic finale, Lions almost drew level inside the last minute of the contest after Zaire Taylor has converted an ‘And-1’ play against his former team to make it a one shot game.
However much to their relief, the home side got the scores they needed at the death to pull away, including another basket for Hassan who accumulated an eye-popping 31 points and 17 rebounds.
It was a brilliant effort from the forward who had set the tone with some great early work after making five of his first six attempts to get Riders onto the front foot early.
Helped by the shooting of Tyler Bernardini, they opened up a double-digit lead by the time they hit the locker room at the half and 44-33 ahead going into the third quarter, they extended their lead further with a solid penultimate period.
When Anthony Rowe sunk a basket to put Riders 18 points ahead, it looked done and dusted, but, Lions had other ideas as they came roaring back into contention with a quality spell of play that had home nerves shredded.
Led by Makal Stibbins who had 22 points and 11 rebounds, as well as Great Britain star Drew Sullivan who returned 15 points and 11 boards against his ex-employers, London pushed their opponents to the wire, but just came up short in another highly entertaining BBL match-up.
Tayo
Glasgow Rocks returned to winning ways with a three-point deluge at Surrey United.
The Scottish side avoided three successive losses after making up for two defeats last weekend with a crushing 111-75 success against Surrey on the road.
While the home side jumped out and slipped into a high offensive gear early, they were soon overtaken by the Rocks who were in sizzling form from behind the three point line all evening.
After United led 26-23 after the opening quarter, the Rocks cut loose and never looked back as they racked up a massive 34 points during the second period.
That was helped by the smart shooting from downtown which eventually witnessed them convert a massive 62.5% from outside, with Scottish talent Dale Grieve stepping off the bench to hit all four of his attempts.
With United unable to recover from their second quarter mauling, Rocks had little difficulty in sliding to the win.
Reggie Middleton completed a fine double-double with 14 points and 11 assists, while Tayo Ogedengbe put in a typically explosive display to record a game high 19 points.
Kramer Knutson accumulated his now customary double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds in defeat.
Plymouth University Raiders kept their BBL Championship Play-Off hopes alive as they beat Glasgow Rocks 72-82, for a second win over the Rocks this season and seventh in a row dating back two years.
The Raiders hit ten three-pointers on the night, from six different players, to pose a long-range threat that the hosts struggled to cope with. Pierre Hampton led their scoring with a haul of 25 points and 10 rebounds, enough to propel him into the league’s top five scorers; while former Rock Gareth Murray hit four triples on his way to 14 points.
The visitors opened with a couple of early threes, and led from the early stages and throughout as Hampton’s trey four minutes in sparked a 10-2 burst, capped by a Joshua Wilcher three-pointer for a 13-16 lead.
Murray added two more three-pointers before the end of the first quarter, and Raiders led 21-26. The second and third quarters were tied, with the Rocks getting to within one point on a couple of occasions; but by the third period they found themselves trailing by double digits for the first time at 42-53 after a 12-4 push, in which Hampton scored six, and the Raiders looked to be cruising towards the win.
But Tommy Freeman responded immediately with a triple, and his ‘and-one’ play soon after saw the Rocks within striking distance heading into the fourth period at 57-62.
Freeman added another three-pointer early in the decisive period, and the Rocks were back to within one shot at 64-66. But that was as good as it would get. Derek Elston, and another Murray triple, halted their momentum, and when Brent Benson was fouled while hitting from long-range the lead was 72-80 inside the last two minutes. Raiders secured their second consecutive road win, having lost the previous five away games.
Mike Cook making the difference for the Sharks, Photo MPhotography
Sheffield Sharks used a dominant second half spell to overpower Bristol Flyers 92-61, securing the head-to-head between the teams and ensuring that their opponents cannot finish above them in the BBL Championship. Sharks have now won six in a row, hitting form at the right time with their two biggest wins of the season coming in the last three games.
Sharks were in control for much of this game, after an early 12-4 run in which BJ Holmes and John Barber hit three-pointers, and the lead reached 22-12 as Mike Tuck added another. Sharks hit another seven in a row before half time, five for Holmes, to see the first half lead peak at 32-17.
After Flyers had a run of their own, hitting nine in a row, Mike Cook’s three-pointer on the halftime buzzer restored Sheffield’s double-digit lead at 44-34, and Cook led all scorers on the night with 19 points.
Bristol enjoyed their best spell of the game as they raced out of the break with a 10-0 burst, including consecutive three-pointers from Roy Owen, to get back to 46-44. Sharks called a timeout, from which Cook emerged to hit four points in a row, their first baskets in two and a half minutes, to spark nine unanswered as Holmes added another triple, and that would prove decisive as an irrepressible run followed.
Cook hit nine in a push that became 34-5 over a dominant ten minute spell across the third quarter break as the visitors didn’t score for more than six minutes, before the lead peaked at 83-51 on Barber’s trey.
Sharks will now have their eyes on fifth place, but Flyers will be looking over their shoulder as they hang on to the final Play-Off spot, having lost five in a row and the last three by double-figures.
Bristol Head Coach Andreas Kapoulas, Photo MPhotography
In one of the games of the season, Worcester Wolves completed a sweep of Esh Group Eagles Newcastle, winning 88-81 for their third victory over their title rivals as they remain the only team to have beaten them all season. It’s Newcastle’s first defeat in 19 games, three months, and leaves the door to the BBL Championship title slightly ajar.
The game was tight throughout despite, after eight early lead changes, Kalil Irving’s put-back dunk and a Jamal Williams three-pointer sparking an 11-2 burst for the Wolves, for a 24-16 lead. Scott Martin hit back immediately with a triple, and that became seven in a row, for a score of 24-23 after ten minutes as Wolves didn’t score for two minutes.
And the teams could hardly be separated from thereon. Eagles, already missing Fab Flournoy and Andre Jones through injury, lost Rahmon Fletcher in the second quarter as he was taken to hospital after a heavy fall, but they emerged from that to tie the game at 27, and went into the break trailing 40-38.
Andy Thomson’s three-pointer and another Martin score gave Newcastle a 45-47 lead in the third quarter, but that was the only lead that they would see for some time as the hosts responded with a 12-2 burst, Alex Owumi hitting the first five of those for a 57-49 lead. That was the biggest lead of the game, but was trimmed by another Martin three-pointer, and one from Drew Lasker, and Eagles were back within striking distance at 62-59 heading into the last ten minutes.
Once in the fourth Owumi hit the first of his big shots down the stretch, a three-pointer giving Wolves a 71-65 edge. But Newcastle came storming back, and held a brief lead as a 9-2 run was capped by Lasker for a score of 77-79 with under a minute and a half to play.
But Owumi won the game soon after as, with 54 seconds to play, he found space to hit his fifth three-pointer of the game to snatch the lead back at 81-79, finishing with 25 points and 10 rebounds.
It was nervous for the Wolves in the closing moments, as Chavis Holmes missed two free-throws; but he grabbed the rebound and hit his next two, before a double technical was called on the Newcastle bench and Owumi rounded the game off with four free-throws of his own.
Leicester Riders made it seven BBL Championship wins in a row as they beat Cheshire Phoenix 100-82 behind Tyler Bernardini’s 29 points and five three-pointers. The third-placed Riders have won the last six games between these teams, and put distance between themselves and Phoenix in fourth.
But Cheshire had the better of the early exchanges in this one, as Taylor King hit consecutive three-pointers to tie the game at 14, before Dustin Salisbery hit ten points in a 14-3 push to end the first quarter, with the visitors in front 27-33.
And Phoenix, coming into the game on the back of three straight wins, held that lead almost up to the halfway point. But Neil Watson hit a three-pointer for the hosts, and Conner Washington added another in what became a 14-4 finish to the second stanza, Bernardini giving them the lead back at 51-49 just before the break.
And the game was settled immediately in the second half as Riders opened with the first 13 points, six for Rashad Hassan and a triple for Bernardini, to stretch that run to 27-4 over the break. Cheshire didn’t score for nearly five minutes, and trailed 64-49.
They had one last go, recording the first eight points of the fourth quarter as King hit another triple. But Bernardini settled matters with a pair of quick three-pointers, and the Riders were comfortable down the stretch, hitting a century on Hassan’s ‘and-one’ play.
Charles Smith hit a massive 38 points to ensure Esh Group Eagles Newcastle bounced back from their first defeat in three months to beat Plymouth University Raiders 90-101, beating the Raiders for the fifth time in all competitions this season.
And it was clear from the outset that the title-chasing Eagles wanted to put Friday night’s defeat behind them as they raced into a 4-26 lead as Smith hit a trio of early three-pointers, and Andy Thomson added two more.
They prevented their hosts from scoring for more than six minutes, with only Brent Benson’s triple on the first quarter buzzer getting them into double-figures, and the lead was through twenty points when Smith connected from long-range again, for an 18-40 second stanza lead as the veteran forward had 16 points in 13 minutes on 4/5 shooting from beyond the arc.
But Raiders finished the half with a 16-5 surge, sparked by Joshua Wilcher’s triple, to dig themselves out of that hole and get back to 45-54. And as the second half began, the injury-ravaged Eagles, running with only six players, looked to be feeling the effects of back-to-back games. The hosts scored seven unanswered and were within one shot at 58-60 as Wilcher hit another three.
But Smith was there to halt the run, as he hit three baskets in a row, extending the lead back to 60-69 and giving them enough of a cushion to withstand the final Plymouth onslaught in the fourth, when Pierre Hampton got them back to 81-84. Smith gave Newcastle breathing room once more, Thomson scored again for 83-93 and when Smith added his sixth trey of the game, it was settled in Newcastle’s favour as they went through the century for the fifth time in their last five wins.
There was no stopping Leicester Riders at the Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre on Sunday, as the visitors steamrolled Durham Wildcats 101-67, keeping the longest winning streak in the BBL Championship alive and eliminating the Durham side from Play-Off contention.
It was the eighth consecutive victory in the league for Rob Paternostro’s side, who are two losses behind current BBL Championship leaders Esh Group Eagles Newcastle.
Riders dominated end-to-end, running away to a 16-point lead in the first quarter after the guests went on a 19-4 run to finish the opening period.
The Leicester side dominated inside, winning the battle for rebounds 39-27 and outscoring Wildcats 58-38 the paint, sailing home with an easy win.
Conner Washington had a game-high 22 points for the winners, Tyler Bernardini collected 17, while Pavol Losonsky chipped in with 14 points and seven rebounds.
All eight registered players scored for Wildcats, with John Puk leading the way with a team-high 15 points. Fran Urli added 13 points for the Durham side.
A great game by Ingus Bankevics, who finished with 24 points, was not enough for Manchester Giants, as the Play-Off hopefuls were handed an unexpected defeat in the BBL Championship by the visiting Leeds Force, who triumphed 64-57 at the Lucozade Soccerdome on Sunday.
The loss might prove very costly for Giants, now 11-20, who are currently ninth and are struggling to make up ground on the eighth-placed Bristol Flyers, who are 12-22 and have the head-to-head tie-breaker in their favour.
The guests, coached by Matt Newby, broke away in the second quarter after a 15-2 run turned a three-point deficit into a 37-25 lead at the halftime.
However, Giants battled back and erased the gap, outscoring Force 22-8 in the third quarter for a two-point edge heading into the final period.
With just under four minutes remaining in the game, it was all even at 53-53, but baskets by Armand Anebo and James McCann sparked a late charge for Force. With Giants failing to find an appropriate response on the other end, it proved to be enough for Leeds, who sealed the win from the free-throw line.
McCann had a team-high 19 points and eight rebounds, William Hall added 18 points and nine rebounds, while Anebo finished the game with 10 points.
In addition to 24 points by Ingus Bankevics, Robert Marsden had 12 points and 15 rebounds for Giants, with Stefan Gill adding 11 points on 4-of-16 shooting.
Nick Lewis scored a game-high 26 points off the bench for Sheffield Sharks, leading the Sheffield club to a 95-79 comeback victory against bottom-of-the-table Surrey United on the road at the Surrey Sports Park on Sunday.
Nick Lewis, Library photo MPhotography
United actually had the lead for most of the game, but Sharks outscored the hosts 36-16 in the fourth quarter to extend their winning streak to seven games. Meanwhile, Surrey are now guaranteed to stay in the last spot in the BBL Championship.
The hosts actually started the game really well, taking a 19-10 lead with a couple of minutes left in the opening period after Dominique Coleman knocked down three long-range shots. United carried over the early momentum into second period, extending the gap to as many as 13 points, before allowing Sharks to close within 42-34 at the halftime break.
The Sheffield club trailed by double figures for most of the third quarter, but an 11-2 run to finish the period saw the visitors slice the deficit to 64-59 heading into the final frame.
Sharks continued the fightback in the fourth quarter, while Surrey stalled completely. Another 8-0 stretch by Sheffield allowed the guests to finally nudge ahead for the first time since the opening quarter. United had no answers for Nick Lewis, as Sharks continued to pull away, eventually cruising to secure a convincing margin of victory.
Lewis finished the game with 26 points, five rebounds and four assists in 23 minutes, while Bryan Holmes and Michael Tuck chipped in with 21 and 20 points respectively for Sharks.
For United, Dominique Coleman had a team-best 18 points, as Donatas Visockas and Anthony Downing added 15 points apiece.
Rocks’ Head Coach Sterling Davis, Photo MPhotography
Glasgow Rocks put together a great team effort to gain ground on the fifth-placed London Lions in the BBL Championship standings, defeating the visitors from London 82-65 at the Emirates Arena on Sunday evening.
After improving to a 17-14 mark, the Scottish club is now only a single game behind Lions in the win column and have a game in hand. Having swept the season series 3-0, Rocks would also hold the tie-breaker.
It was Lions, who made the first move in the game, breaking away to a 17-7 lead midway through the opening quarter. However, Rocks kept the situation under control and went on a 12-2 run to finish the period, tying the game at 19-all.
Having snuck ahead by a pair at the halftime break, the Glasgow side took over the reigns after the interval, leading by as many as nine points in the third period, before increasing the gap to double digits in the final frame.
Lions found themselves in a slump to start the fourth quarter, scoring only two points in a stretch of seven minutes. Rocks made the most of this opportunity and iced the game, pushing the margin to 15 points to seal the win.
Here’s REGGIE!
Five players reached double figures for Glasgow, with Reggie Middleton leading the way with 17 points and six rebounds. Paul Egwuonwu and Danny Huffor added 14 points apiece in the win.
Meanwhile, Lovell Cook had a game-high 18 points for Lions, with Makal Stibbins chipping in with 15 points and eight boards. Andrew Sullivan also finished with 15 points.
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