Lions prolong lead at BBL summit with Flyers shut behind and Phoenix keep top-four spot

London Lions strengthened their lead on the high of the BBL Championship desk with an 84-60 win over the Caledonia Gladiators on the Emirates Area on Sunday night.

They improved to 15-2 thanks to fifteen factors from Aaron Greatest and 12 every from Sam Dekker and Kosta Koufos to be the standouts towards a short-handed Gladiators, who have been led by 13 from David Sloan.

The guests broke free first within the early components of the opening quarter, as a elegant close to full-court lob from Luke Nelson discovered an open Dekker underneath the basket for a 7-4 lead.

However the Gladiators chipped away on each ends of the ground, and the defensive hustle of Kyle Jimenez was on present, which was a catalyst within the hosts taking a 13-11 lead with 3:21 remaining within the first.

London responded with a 7-0 run, highlighted by a lay-up from Greatest handy them an 18-13 cushion, en path to a slender 21-18 lead after one.

Each side went chilly offensively to start out the second as they missed their first 5 mixed pictures because the defence intensified.

That chilly spell was snapped as Sloan drove down the lane for a three-point play to tie the sport at 21-21, with the American main all scorers with 9 factors.

Nonetheless, the Lions have been in a position to restore their lead as Greatest was left broad open within the nook for a triple that began a 9-0 run, forcing Caledonia coach Gareth Murray right into a timeout.

Earlier than lengthy, the Lions’ lead grew to fifteen factors as a brief hook from Koufos put him on 10 factors – the primary participant to succeed in double figures in scoring.

At each ends, the Lions have been nice, capturing 60% from the sphere on the half, holding the Gladiators to only 36% because the guests headed into the locker rooms with a 50-31 lead.

Caledonia began the third quarter strongly as they held London to only two factors within the first 4 minutes. Closing the deficit, back-to-back scores from Sloan made it 52-39.

The constructive spell, offensively, was dimmed on the different finish, because the foul depend piled up, Princeton Onwas picked up his fourth foul with greater than 4 minutes left within the third.

For all their depth and skillset, the Lions took full benefit, main 64-43 after the third quarter and pulling additional forward within the early phases of the fourth.

Caledonia, to their credit score, by no means backed down with a 3 from native veteran Jonny Bunyan opening the Gladiators’ account within the ultimate interval, to the delight of the close to sell-out crowd in Glasgow.

The Lions, although, have been too robust. They head into Wendesday’s EuroCup conflict with Hapoel Tel Aviv and Thursday’s BBL Trophy opener, towards NBL Division 1 facet Worthing Thunder, filled with confidence.

Bristol Flyers survived a late scare to beat the Manchester Giants 103-95 in a fast-paced thriller on the Nationwide Basketball Efficiency Centre.

VJ King paced the winners with 27 factors, cancelling out Dirk Williams’ 36-point explosion for Manchester.

Each groups began on hearth from the opening tip as a dunk from Tajh Inexperienced and a triple from Rahmon Fletcher cancelled out an early three-pointer from Brandon Mahan.

And after an important passage of play from the Flyers, they have been undone by a second three from Fletcher to provide Manchester a 9-7 benefit.

A quick-paced first interval noticed Bristol profit, and a 3 from King opened up a 20-15 lead, which they held heading into the second interval.

Inside ten seconds of the second quarter starting, the Flyers – because of a rating from Thomas Bell prolonged their benefit to 9 and, following a rating from Williams, restored that cushion with a slam from King.

Manchester fought again and decreased the deficit to 34-31 with a rating from William Lee.

However the Flyers, contemporary off their win over Leicester on Friday night time, remained composed. A dunk from Legend Robertin regarded to spark Giants once more, however Mahan shortly responded with a 3.

Williams took issues upon himself within the ultimate two minutes of the half, as he hit seven factors in fast succession to slender the hole to only a level on the break.

And Manchester’s run continued within the third as Inexperienced scored inside to provide the hosts their first lead for the reason that early phases of the primary quarter. Nonetheless, Malcolm Delpeche nearly instantly re-established Bristol’s lead with a bucket.

The mix of King and Bell handed Bristol a large benefit as soon as once more and an extra 13-3 run, topped off with a 3 by Mike Miller that gave the guests a 81-67 cushion en path to a 15-point lead heading into the ultimate interval.

That lead ballooned to 91-71 with 8:07 left within the sport because of a triple from Corey Samuels because the Flyers loved a double-digit lead for almost all of the fourth.

Manchester wouldn’t go away and regarded for the grandstand end as Williams regarded to do what he did within the second quarter. He scored seven factors in two minutes to cut back the deficit to 6 factors with 1:17 remaining.

However Bristol held agency and finally hit the 100-point mark to shut out the sport for the very important highway win.

Cheshire Phoenix led from tip to buzzer as they beat Plymouth Metropolis Patriots 101-82 on the Ellesmere Sports activities Village.

Tahjai Teague produced a strong double-double of 21 factors and 10 rebounds to steer the Phoenix as their beginning 5 have been all in double figures for scoring.

The Patriots, contemporary off their BBL Trophy first spherical success towards St Mirren, discovered the going powerful however battled on towards a persistent Cheshire facet.

Troy Simons went for a game-high 32 as life with out current Patriots departure Antonio Williams begins.

Roared on by the vocal residence crowd, the Phoenix raced out to a 14-1 begin, with Larry Austin and Marcus Evans on the coronary heart of all of it.

Markedric Bell and Elvisi Dusha have been in a position to get the ball rolling for the Patriots and finally Plymouth have been capable of finding their groove as the primary interval wound down and 5 fast factors from Troy Simons decreased the deficit to 28-21 with 1:33 left.

However Cheshire have been relentless offensively as their first quarter lead peaked at 14, on their technique to a 35-23 lead after one.

The Patriots fought again within the second as back-to-back scores from Bell narrowed the hole to 10 factors because the Phoenix have been starting to lose their manner at each ends of the ground.

Bringing Teague and Austin again into the fray ignited the hosts, as a driving lay-up from the previous put his facet up 46-31 with 5:07 left within the second.

Because the half-time break neared, Cheshire’s lead was additional prolonged because of the sheer ability of Austin as he hit two consecutive scores to place the Phoenix up 59-41 on the interval.

Regardless of the double-digit lead, there was a way that the sport may nonetheless go both manner as Plymouth confirmed constructive indicators and nice power on each ends of the ground.

Nonetheless, it ended within the third as Cheshire ran away with the sport. A 19-4 burst from the hosts regarded to place the sport to mattress with 5:02 left within the quarter.

A lay-up from Simons saved the scoreboard ticking for the guests, however the hosts have been up 77-47 at this level. Patriots battled however nonetheless trailed 85-54 after three.

The ultimate interval was constructive for Plymouth, as they continued to assault and put collectively constructive spells, however Cheshire have been comfy.

The Patriots received the quarter 28-16, however Cheshire received the conflict.