The Riders were down at the half before recovering to defeat Bristol Flyers 70-80 with Andy Thomson scoring 20 points.
Meanwhile, Orlan Jackman netted 32 points to help guide Esh Group Eagles Newcastle to a 103-93 victory over Plymouth Raiders.
Glasgow Rocks claimed their fourth league success with a 78-61 win against DBL Sharks Sheffield, while Worcester Wolves defeated Surrey Scorchers 90-82 behind 26 points from Marek Klassen. |
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BBL Championship
Glasgow Rocks 78 (25,41,63) (Watson/Lescault 16, Murray 11)
DBL Sharks Sheffield 61 (16,31,39) (McFarland 14, Tuck 12, Odister 11)
Glasgow Rocks claimed their fourth league win of the season with a convincing 78-61 success against DBL Sharks Sheffield.
The visiting team won all five encounters between the two teams last season, but the Rocks made sure there was no repeat with an impressive performance.
Hayden Lescault dished out nine assists to go with a joint team-high of 16 points alongside Neil Watson.
Watson made a hot start with 11 of his 16 points in the first period, passing 1000 BBL Championship points in the process as the Rocks earned a 25-16 advantage.
Their lead grew to as many as 16 points at 34-18 in the second before the Sharks bounced back with 10 straight to cut the gap, although they would trail by 10 going into half-time.
Glasgow then extended their lead with a strong third period as they held their opponents to just eight points whilst building a commanding 24-point advantage.
The Sharks continued to battle in the fourth and will have been given encouragement by new signing Malcolm Riley’s late cameo of five points and five rebounds.
Sheffield now have five defeats for the season, while the Rocks have a chance to make it five league wins when they host Bristol Flyers on Sunday.
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BBL Championship
Bristol Flyers 70 (15,37,51) (Ali 18, Streete 14, Boggs 13)
Leicester Riders 80 (20,35,66) (Thomson 20, Bernardini 16, King 10)
Leicester Riders are now seven from seven after a strong third quarter display helped carry them to a 70-80 victory away at Bristol Flyers.
The Flyers had worked hard to forge a narrow advantage at the break, but the visitors came out firing with seven 3-pointers in a 31-point period to seize control.
Andy Thomson finished 5-of-7 from beyond the arc as he netted 20 points with Tyler Bernardini adding 16 points.
A trio of triples helped Riders out to an 11-2 start, but Bristol recovered from their slow start and closed to within five at the end of the first.
Their turnaround was complete in the second when Hameed Ali put his side ahead at 30-29 from beyond the arc and the hosts held on for a 37-35 half-time advantage.
The Riders came out firing in the third and poured in 24 points in six minutes as they opened up a 16-point lead having taken the lead on back-to-back threes from Brandon Clark and Thomson.
Leicester’s advantage peaked at 17 points late in the third, but the Flyers continued to battle and closed to within seven on the back of an 8-0 run.
However, the damage was done and the Riders were able to hold on to improve to 7-0 ahead of Sunday’s clash with Leeds Force, while the Flyers visit Glasgow Rocks.
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BBL Championship
Esh Group Eagles Newcastle 103 (27,57,78) (Jackman 32, Martin 19, Defoe 17)
Plymouth Raiders 93 (24,50,76) (Nicholas 26, Grady 24, Dixon 19)
Esh Group Eagles Newcastle bounced back from their first defeat last week to beat Plymouth Raiders 103-93, on Friday evening.
The home side were again without Deondre Parks, but Orlan Jackman stepped up with 32 points with seven 3-pointers to lead his side to victory.
Scott Martin and Darius Defoe added 19 and 17 points respectively to help the Eagles claim their fifth league success of the season.
The Eagles went on a 9-2 run in the first to take control in a high-scoring start to the game before the visitors closed the gap.
Both teams continued to trade blows in the second but it was Newcastle who finished the stronger of the two with Jackman’s tip-in making it a seven-point game at the break.
Plymouth managed to stay with their opponents but were unable to regain their lead from the first period but did cut the gap to two points ahead of the final period.
The Raiders did briefly take the lead early in the fourth and were still in contention down 90-88 before an 8-0 run capped by a three from Jackman proved crucial for the Eagles.
Donte Nicholas led the Raiders with 26 points and 13 rebounds and the two teams will meet again in Devon on Sunday.
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BBL Championship
Worcester Wolves 90 (16,38,59) (Klassen 26, Bachman 20, Kennedy 13)
Surrey Scorchers 82 (20,41,54) (Rollins 24, Ogedengbe 21, Taylor 13)
Worcester Wolves halted their losing slide in the BBL Championship with a 90-82 victory over Surrey Scorchers, on Friday.
Marek Klassen led the way for his side with an impressive 26 points and nine assists with Andrew Bachman contributing 20 points including six triples in an adjusted starting role.
However, they were behind at the half after Surrey came up with strong finishes to the opening two periods to lead by three at the break having been up by as many as eight points.
Worcester saw their deficit doubled at the start of the second half, but responded well to take the lead on a 6-0 burst before opening up a five-point lead to take into the final quarter.
Surrey closed to within two points, but every time they drew near, the Wolves would answer with big 3-pointers from Klassen and Bachman to seal the victory.
Chaz Rollins went 11-of-13 for his 24 points as Scorchers drop to 1-7 in the league ahead of Saturday’s home game against Cheshire Phoenix, who Worcester travel to on Sunday.
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P
|
|
PL
|
W
|
L
|
Pts
|
| 1 |
Leicester Riders |
7 |
7 |
0 |
14 |
| 2 |
Esh Group Eagles Newcastle |
6 |
5 |
1 |
10 |
| 3 |
Glasgow Rocks |
5 |
4 |
1 |
8 |
| 4 |
London Lions |
3 |
3 |
0 |
6 |
| 5 |
Plymouth Raiders |
5 |
3 |
2 |
6 |
| 6 |
DBL Sharks Sheffield |
8 |
3 |
5 |
6 |
| 7 |
Worcester Wolves |
5 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
| 8 |
Leeds Force |
3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
| 9 |
Bristol Flyers |
4 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
| 9 |
Cheshire Phoenix |
4 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
| 11 |
Surrey Scorchers |
8 |
1 |
7 |
2 |
| 12 |
Manchester Giants |
4 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
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