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An efficient London Lions extend their unbeaten league streak by powering past the Bristol Flyers in East London.
October’s Player of the Month Matt Morgan sparkled again as London move to an impressive 12-0 in the British Basketball League.
Having played EuroCup basketball the day before, the Lions went into what many believed would be a closely fought contest against the second placed Flyers.
Bristol had begun the season with just one win in their opening four games but travelled to the capital with six straight league victories under their belt.
The hosts started the game strongly as American duo Matt Morgan and Donte Grantham landed shots from behind the arc.
Morgan (47%) and Grantham (45.2%) have been two of the most efficient players in the league from three-point territory, with the pair hitting six between them against the Flyers.
Petar Božić’s team went on to put up 18 points in the opening five minutes, picking up some valuable points in transition. Nine of the points came from Gabe Olaseni – with the big man making all of his opening four shots to start the game.
Just seconds after subbing into the game, Rokas Gustys found the net on his British Basketball League debut. The assist came from the returning Kareem Queeley, who was making his first league appearance in just under a year after recently returning from a long-term injury.
Brad Greene (five points) led the scoring for Bristol in the first quarter, who went into the second trailing 23-18.
There was a slow start from both teams in the second period with the game being played at a slower pace to what we had seen in the opening 10 minutes.
A moment of misfortune from the visitors saw Mo Soluade capitalise with a steal and corner three. Moments later, he landed again from the very same spot. Suddenly, the Flyers were trailing by 12.
Something that the scoreline didn’t reflect was Bristol’s control of the boards. The Flyers had seven offensive rebounds in the first half which dominated London’s tally of just one. With that being said, it was the Lions who were shooting better on the night which translated into the nine-point lead that they took into half-time.
In the third quarter, the Lions exploded from three-point land and extended their lead by a wide margin.
It was raining buckets at the Copper Box with a range of players contributing towards a huge run for the home team. London scored 30 points in the quarter, extending their lead to 29 points with just 10 minutes to go in the game.
From here, Matt Morgan was able to add to his points tally by a draining a couple of shots from behind the arc. Everything was going in London’s favour in a contest where they blew the Flyers away.
The visitors were able to draw some fouls which took them to the charity strike, eventually allowing the game to peter out.
The Lions took and made as many two-point shots as they did three-point shots – shooting a staggering 51.6% on the night.
The victory took the Lions’ record to 12-0 to start the season. Having not lost a British Basketball League game since April 2023, it marks the fourth longest unbeaten run in the league’s history.
Watch the highlights from London Lions vs Bristol Flyers here.
