.jpeg)
London Lions Lose Overtime Thriller 87-82 to the Bristol Flyers.
Poor 3-Point Shooting and a Lack of Rebounds Help to Condemn to Lions' Fourth Regular Season Defeat
On Friday, 31st March 2023, the Bristol Flyers, second in the league table, lost 106-89 to the Leicester Riders, allowing the London Lions to clinch the regular season title. Today, the Flyer set out to prove that there is little to no gap between the first and second-place teams in the league.
Bristol Flyers took advantage of the Lions' lack of physical presence with Sam Dekker, Josh Sharma, and Bradley Kaboza all sidelined, scoring and scoring 30 points in the paint. The hometown team also outrebounded the Lions 54-40, contributing to their 13 second-chance points. The Lions could only score 12 points off Bristol’s 16 turnovers, whereas the Flyers took advantage of the Lions' scoring 15 points off the Lions’ 10 turnovers.
The Lions' injury-hit-shortened rotation suffered another injury when Jonathan “Jono” Komagum went down after only six minutes on the court. Coach Ryan Schmidt’s squad was led by Jordan Taylor, who recorded 19 points, four rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block. The lead guard shot 42% from the field and 85% from the free throw line but struggled from long distance, shooting 25% from the 3-point line.
Vojtech Hruban contributed 15 points, four rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block to the Lions' efforts. Hruban also led the team in field goal shooting, connecting on 71% of his attempts from the floor which was complimented by a team-leading 60% from the 3-point range.
Aaron Best fought gallantly with his comrades recording a 13-point, four-assist and one-block performance. The Skipper knocked down 85% of his attempts from the charity stripe but struggled from the floor, connecting on only 37% of his shots from the field.
Luke Nelson led the bench mob’s scoring production with 12 points, four rebounds and one assist. The combo guard had an off night of shooting, completing only 25% of his shots from the field and 12% from long-distance. The Lions bench squad was outscored 44-22.