BBL round-up: Leicester Riders eliminate Plymouth Raiders from Championship title race

Conner Washington of the Riders looks for a team-mate during his side's win over Plymouth. Image: BBL

The league-leading Leicester Riders took another major stride towards BBL Championship glory as they eliminated the previously second-placed Plymouth Raiders from the title race with a 93-85 win in overtime on Saturday.

Meanwhile, an 84-73 victory over the Bristol Flyers saw the London Lions hurdle the Raiders into second with 32 points, leaving them 12 behind Leicester with three games in hand on the frontrunners.

Newcastle's hopes of catching the Riders were mathematically dashed on Friday as the Eagles found themselves on the wrong end of a thrilling comeback win for the Manchester Giants.

Leicester lead the way

Leicester led for over 30 minutes of the game before weathering five lead changes in the fourth quarter as they held off Plymouth to chalk up their 22nd win of the campaign.

A further four lead changes occurred in overtime before Leicester's Conner Washington drained a three-pointer with just shy of a minute remaining. Team-mate Corey Johnson was then afforded a stroke of fortune when he floated an intended 'alley-oop' pass only to watch it fall straight in, prompting a nine-point surge from the Riders to see it out.

Darien Nelson-Henry top scored for Leicester with 19 points on 75 per cent shooting from the floor, Geno Crandall flirted with a triple-double on 15 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, and Washington finished with 15 points and eight assists.

Plymouth were led by Mike Morsell with a game-high 20 points, Ricky McGill had 16 points and 13 rebounds and Ashley Hamilton added 13 points along with his 10 boards.

London jump into second

In Saturday's other clash, DeAndre Liggins provided 18 points, 10 assists and six rebounds as the Lions made it five successive wins with victory over the Flyers.

Vince Macaulay's side hit 10 of their 16 efforts from deep in the first half, Justin Robinson reeling off a trio of triples in the space of a minute for a 26-27 first quarter lead.

The lead reached its first-half peak at 47-30 on a Dirk Williams three-pointer as he scored eight points in a 10-2 burst; and despite Flyers digging in during the third period, London captain Joe Ikhinmwin beat the buzzer with another three, his second, and Lions were never threatened.

Eric Lockett had 16 points for Bristol, who have lost three of their last five.

Liggins had also starred earlier in the week with 30 points four rebounds and seven assists in the Lions' 110-73 win over the Glasgow Rocks. Williams added 24 points, Orlando Parker had 15 and Justin Robinson 14.

Manchester Giants produce remarkable finale

Friday's slate of games saw the Giants overturn a 16-point deficit to fend off a stunning display from Rahmon Fletcher and clinch a thrilling win against the Eagles.

Fletcher ran riot with 38 points and nine assists for Newcastle on 68 per cent from the field and 66 percent from behind the arc.

Manchester entered the fourth trailing by 15 points before delivering a 35-16 run to stun the hosts behind an inspired Sam Cassell Jr, who put up 22 points - 18 of which came in the final 20 minutes - as well as nine assists. His day also included a crucial four-point play as he drew the foul on a three-pointer late in the fourth quarter.

David Ulph also had 20 points and nine rebounds in what served as the Giants' eighth win of the campaign.

The Giants capped a fine week on Sunday by cruising to a 77-58 win over the Sharks after 18 points apiece for Jordan Whelan, Justin Satchell and Donovan Marshall-Johnson. Satchell also has 13 rebounds alongside 12 from Ulph.

Sheffield were led by Bennett Koch's 16 points and 10 rebounds from the bench, while Jordan Ratinho had 15 points.

Earlier in the week the Sharks followed up back-to-back defeats by beating the Surrey Scorchers 88-59, during which Antwon Lillard poured in 24 points to go with 10 rebounds.

Scorchers, Phoenix finish week in victory

In the first of three games on Sunday, the Scorchers edged out the Worcester Wolves 85-75 to pick up their ninth win of the season.

Tony Hicks led the scoring for Scorchers with a double-double performance of 18 point and 10 rebounds. Lacey James also finished with a 14-point, 13-rebound double-double of his own.

Lamarr Kimble logged a team-high 17 points for Wolves, who finished the weekend sitting sixth in the table on 26 points.

Cheshire, meanwhile, sit in fifth, also on 26 points having played two games fewer than Worcester, after beating the Glasgow Rocks 84-77.

The Phoenix were propelled by a 31-point third quarter, before taking control in the fourth to earn their 13th win of the season, consigning the last-placed Rocks to their 21st loss in the process.

Mike Mccall and Pharroh Gordon both finished on 14 points with Kyle Carey on 13. Gareth Murray supplied a game-high 23 points for the hosts Glasgow, for whom Boban Jacdonmi also contributed 17 points and 15 rebounds.

The win for Phoenix saw them reclaim the fifth-place slot they had surrendered to Worcester earlier in the week as Maarten Bouwknecht led the Wolves to victory with 18 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists.

Mike Parks Jr also impressed for Worcester with 16 points and five rebounds, and Henry Wilkins had 21 points in 21 minutes off the bench. Matthew Bryan-Amaning, Mike McCall and Jalen Hayes all made 16 points for the Phoenix.