BBL Championship
Team Birmingham Panthers 90 (24,44,60) (Sandell 20, Popoola
19, Jules 18)
Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 122 (26,61,90) (Love 34, Gall 18,
Beasley/Moore 15)
The Kularoos Plymouth Raiders made it a double-winning weekend
as they out-muscled the Team Birmingham Panthers in a comprehensive
90-122 win in the West Midlands, to complete a season sweep
of their opponents.
That is the most points that the Raiders have ever scored
in a BBL game, beating their previous best, which also came
against a Midlands side in Worcester (121-72 last season),
by one point.
The win helped consolidate their position in second in the
BBL Championship table, although the third-placed Heat have
games in hand; in the meantime, the Panthers are on a run
of eight successive defeats.
Gavin Love sank nine three-pointers on his way to 34, and
it was a good night for home-grown talent as Allister Gall
added 18 points. Dan Sandell led the Panthers with 20 points.
The hosts kept the game competitive in the early exchanges
and were just 24-26 down after the first ten minutes.
However, the Raiders broke the game open at the start of
the second stanza as they posted a 14-2 start to lead 26-40.
Love had four triples in the second period, and the Raiders
had seven as a team in the quarter.
Another fast start in the third period effectively settled
the game as the Raiders went 14-3 to lead 47-75. The lead
peaked in the fourth quarter at 67-108, before the Panthers
made a late run.
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 104 (20,56,76) (White 25,
McKnight 17, Janiska 15)
Worcester Wolves 99 (30,52,72) (Paez 33, Life 32, Harker 15)
The Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders kept their slim mathematical
hopes of reaching the BBL Championship Playoffs alive after
a 104-99 win over their Midlands rivals the Worcester Wolves.
It sets up a crucial tie on Wednesday night when the Riders
visit the Sheffield Sharks live on Setanta Sports 1.
The win means that the Riders have recorded back-to-back
wins in the league for just the second time this season and
have continued their revival from a ten-game losing streak.
Carlos White led the way with 25 points, whilst Chad McKnight
had 17 and fiery point guard Mindaugas Janiska added 15. Anthony
Paez led all scorers with 33 points and 12 rebounds in vain
for the Wolves.
A series of technical fouls down the stretch cost the Wolves.
After Paez had tied the game at 99 with 40 seconds left, Douaine
Anderson received a technical foul for flopping after shooting
a three-pointer. Steve Vear hit 2/2 from the line, before
Paez was called for a technical foul after arguing with the
referees. Wellington made 1/2 before McKnight completed the
scoring on the last play.
Earlier in the game, Life hit two three-pointers in a 9-0
first quarter burst that saw the Wolves lead 6-18. Paez then
added 7 points, with another triple from Life, the winner
of the 2008 Molten Three-Point Shootout, and the Wolves led
20-30 after the opening ten minutes, a triple from Janiska
on the buzzer keeping the Riders within striking distance.
The hosts took over in the second quarter as a 13-2 burst,
including 2 triples from Joel Burns, who has scored more career
three-pointers than any other current BBL player, and a further
three from Janiska, gave the Riders a 48-43 lead. Back-to-back
three-pointers from Life then saw Worcester regain the lead
before an 8-3 finish saw the Riders go in 56-52 to the good
at the half.
The teams traded in the third quarter, before the Wolves
opened the fourth with the first 8 points to take a 76-80
lead. With four minutes remaining the Riders notched 9 straight
points to lead 97-93 before the fascinating conclusion to
the game ensued.
BBL CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE
No Team P W L Pts
1 Newcastle Eagles 29 25 4 50
2 Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 30 22 7 44
3 Poujoulat Heat Guildford 26 19 7 38
4 Marshall MK Lions 28 18 10 36
5 SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks 28 16 12 32
6 Everton Tigers 27 13 14 26
7 Sheffield Sharks 28 13 15 26
8 Worcester Wolves 28 12 16 24
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9 BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 28 9 19 18
10Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 29 9 20 18
11PAWS London Capital 28 7 21 14
12Team Birmingham Panthers 27 5 22 10
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