Lions edge nearer, Riders and Flyers strengthen high 4 spot, Sharks sink Scorchers

BBL Championship

Newcastle Eagles 85-88 London Lions (27-31, 50-47, 70-65)
(Eagles: Hamlet, 30; Gordon, 16; Defoe, 13 — Lions: Dekker, 17; Zubcic/Taylor, 15; Greatest, 13)

 BBL Championship

 Leicester Riders 84-81 Caledonia Gladiators (22-16, 43-39, 63-59)
(Riders: Mackenzie, 25; Walshe, 15; Loving, 13 — Gladiators: Sloan/Durham, 22; Malcolm, 14; Alihodzic, 8)

 BBL Championship

 Bristol Flyers 99-60 Plymouth Metropolis Patriots (25-7, 54-20, 71-40)
(Flyers: Olison, 23; Mahan, 19; King, 14 — Patriots: Brandon, 12; Bissainthe, 11; Hawthorne Jr., 10)

 BBL Championship

 B. Braun Sheffield Sharks 70-65 Surrey Scorchers (16-8, 33-27, 50-43)
(Sharks: Ratinho, 16; Nichols/Ramsey, 13; Nelson, 9 — Scorchers: Johnson, 21; McFolley, 18; Ogedengbe, 10)

London Lions are one step nearer to the BBL Championship however left it late to beat Newcastle Eagles 88-85 at Vertu Motors Enviornment on Friday night time.

Having led for almost all of the sport from the second quarter, Eagles got here undone by a 10-0 run by the Lions within the latter levels of the sport, which in the end sealed the win.

Newcastle did have an opportunity to take the sport to time beyond regulation, however David Cohn’s lengthy three smacked the backboard and out.

Sam Dekker paced London with 17 factors, cancelling out Javion Hamlet’s 30-point explosion for Newcastle.

The guests obtained off to the absolute best begin as 5 fast factors from Jordan Taylor, adopted by a rating inside from Dekker gave London a 7-0 benefit.

The Eagles, combating for the eighth spot within the post-season, hit again with a burst of their very own as Hamlet linked underneath the basket to scale back the deficit to 2 factors.

London’s skillset and expertise was sufficient to keep up the lead all through the primary interval, main by as many as eight factors solely to be pegged again by the hosts.

And a three-pointer from Jermel Kennedy as the ultimate seconds ticked by gave Newcastle momentum going into the second, however they nonetheless trailed by 4.

The deficit was shortly turned on its head within the second as a 10-3 begin from the Eagles handed them their first lead with a jumper from Darius Defoe – on his 570th recreation within the BBL – elevating the roof on the Vertu Motors Enviornment.

Nonetheless, the Lions obtained their lead again briefly halfway by the interval as Taylor slid a cross inbetween the legs of Defoe to feed Jonathan Komagum for the simple end.

To not be deterred although, the hosts hit again and managed to take a three-point cushion on the half.

 It didn’t take the league leaders lengthy although to take the lead once more as a slam from Josh Sharma adopted by a mid-range jumper from Taylor restored London’s lead once more.

The Eagles although hit again as a tug of battle over the lead went their method once more, due to a 10-0 run, giving them a 63-54 lead, which was snapped by a free throw from Luke Nelson.

The run from Newcastle prompted Lions coach Ryan Schmidt to place Dekker and Josh Ward-Hibbert again into proceedings because the momentum was firmly with the Eagles.

London managed to finish the third on an 8-0 burst, however Newcastle had been nonetheless in entrance heading into the fourth.

Nonetheless, with 2:18 left within the fourth, London obtained the scoring run that they wanted to get the lead again as a 10-0 run, led by back-to-back three-pointers from Dekker gave his facet an 86-82 cushion.

Newcastle did pull it to inside a subject objective, however Cohn’s final second heave, missed its mark.

Leicester Riders secured a slim 84-81 victory over the Caledonia Gladiators in entrance of the Sky Sports activities cameras at Morningside Enviornment.

 It was a recreation that Leicester ultimately gained from the foul line as Kimbal Mackenzie and Evan Walshe linked on their free throws.

Caledonia had their probabilities to take the sport to time beyond regulation however Aljami Durham and Jonny Bunyan each missed their alternatives.

Mackenzie paced Leicester with 25 factors, going 12/12 from the free throw line, together with two very important photographs on the finish.

“We’re glad to get a win,” Mackenzie stated afterwards. “I do know we’re going to return to the drafting board, watch some movie and we wish to get higher.

“It positively wasn’t fairly tonight, however we’re glad to be on the best facet.”

Walshe stepped up for the Riders so as to add 15, going 5/9 from the sector. Durham and David Sloan every hit 22 factors to guide the BBL Trophy finalists.

A cagey and bodily begin to the primary quarter was damaged open by a three-pointer from Marc Loving, which gave the hosts an 11-8 cushion, halfway by the primary.

Caledonia hit again in a reasonably even first quarter however the Riders saved the scoreboard ticking too as a dunk from Nice Britain worldwide Aaron Menzies gave the hosts a 16-12 lead, en path to a 22-16 cushion heading into the second.

And the lead ballooned to 13 factors halfway by the second due to a bucket inside from Loving, however the Gladiators, true to the moniker fought exhausting.

A troublesome lay-up from Sloan with 1:09 left within the half made it a one-possession recreation forcing Riders coach Rob Paternostro to name a timeout. Nonetheless, the Riders saved their composure and held on to a four-point lead on the half.

The Riders began to tug away within the third as a 3 from Mackenzie handed his facet a 56-47 lead with 4 minutes of the third performed, the guests struggled to seek out any form of rhythm and seemed out of types.

It didn’t final lengthy although because the guests responded with a 9-0 run to tie the sport at 56-56 and regardless of a rating from the Riders, Bunyan hit from deep to provide the Gladiators a 59-58 lead.

It was to be the ultimate rating from Caledonia as they went almost three minutes with no rating, permitting Leicester to construct a 63-59 lead going into the ultimate interval.

And regardless of many efforts to claw their method again into the sport, the Riders had sufficient in them to edge to victory.

Bristol Flyers solidified second place within the standings with a 99-60 win over native rivals Plymouth Metropolis Patriots on the SGS Campus.

Tevin Olison led six Bristol gamers in double figures with 23 factors on 61% taking pictures, ably supported by Brandon Mahan with 19, which included 5 three-pointers.

Isa Brandon led Plymouth with 12 factors.

 Spurred on by a vocal crowd, Bristol jumped out to an 11-2 lead, capped off by back-to-back scores from VJ King.

Plymouth’s struggles continued within the first interval. Unable to register a subject objective within the first eight minutes till James Hawthorne Jr. linked.

The Patriots had missed their first 13 makes an attempt till that rating whereas the Flyers fared higher, main 25-7 after the primary, taking pictures 45% from the ground.

Flyers had been definitely snug within the second quarter, having fun with a 38-16 lead with 3:27 remaining due to a basket from Olison.

And the lead solely grew bigger on the half because the Flyers maintained their strong subject objective share, whereas Plymouth shot 22% leaving them trailing 54-20.

Bristol appeared to be on cruise management within the third quarter, because the lead grew to 69-29, resulting in a robust end to the interval from the guests.

The Flyers although nonetheless led 71-40 after heading into the ultimate quarter and secured a cushty victory to remain second within the BBL Championship desk.

B. Braun Sheffield Sharks bagged a hat-trick of league wins over the Surrey Scorchers with a 75-70 win at Ponds Forge.

Jordan Ratinho celebrated becoming a member of the 1000 BBL factors membership by main the Sharks with 16 factors.

Shakem Johnson led all scorers in useless for Surrey with 21 factors.

 Harking back to their earlier two encounters at Surrey Sports activities Park, the sport was sluggish to get going, with defences holding agency, nevertheless Ratinho scored his a thousandth level for the Sharks with a 3 on the wing.

A jumper from Kipper Nichols with 2:15 left within the first obtained the Sharks over double figures for an 11-7 cushion.

The hosts had been capable of construct on that lead in the direction of the tip of the quarter as a three-point play from Rodney Glasgow Jr, gave his facet a 16-8 lead with 30 seconds left.

Surrey although obtained their groove again within the second interval. Regardless of trailing by double digits within the first possessions, they discovered their vary from outdoors with triples from Tayo Ogedengbe and Ryan Martin, which narrowed the hole to 21-20 with 6:25 left.

However the Sharks preserved their lead all through the second, even managing to take an 11-point lead with 3:28 remaining due to Ratinho and regardless of being pegged again, saved a large 33-27 benefit on the break.

Surrey, who had solely had the lead as soon as (2-0) within the contest, lastly obtained a 39-37 benefit with 4:31 left within the third, as Johnson scored inside, making Sharks coach Atiba Lyons name a timeout.

Sheffield responded out of the timeout with a 7-0 run, capped off by a triple from Ratinho. It was an enormous run for the hosts, as they led 50-43 after the third.

It proved to be the game-changer, because the Sharks’ lead peaked at 12 factors within the closing interval as they boosted their Playoff aspirations with the win.

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