London Lions Home EuroCup Streak Snapped by Dinamo Sassari, 75-82. Katsiaryna Snytsina Led Lions’ Charge with a 19-Point, 5-Rebound, 2-Assist and 2-Steal Effort Whilst Shooting 50% From Long Range.
The London Lions, relocated to the Copper Box Arena, lost their home FIBA EuroCup clash against Italian titans Dinamo Sassari, 75-82.
Euro Cup veteran Katsiaryna Snytsina led the Lions with a game-high 19 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals whilst connecting on 4 of 8 shots from the 3-point line. Holly Winterburn, who just missed out on a triple-double, contributed 13 Points, 8 Rebounds and 7 Assists to the Lions’ efforts.
Mikiah “Kiki” Herbert-Harrigan once again showed her 2-way prowess grabbing 3 steals and blocking 2 shots, including one to end the second quarter. The forward also put up 12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists during her 34 minutes on the floor.
The Lions, having already qualified for round one of the playoffs, trailed for most of the game and were, on several occasions, hampered by unforced turnovers. This included one unfortunate error in the third period when London were only down by 5 points.
Snytsina got things rolling for the Londoners with a nifty up-and-under move in the paint via an offensive set orchestrated by Winterburn and assisted by a screen from Kennedy Leonard. Shortly after the Lions went ahead 5-3, the game turned into a back-and-forth affair, with both teams battling to take and own their respective leads.
Towards the halfway mark of the quarter, Lions took a 12-11 lead via a triple from Winterburn. However, they could not hold onto this advantage, going down 12-16 a little over one minute later. The back-and-forth continued for the rest of the quarter, with neither team leading by more than 2 points.
The second quarter saw the Lions struggle to contain Dinamo’s advances, conceding 25 points. Although London struggled to connect on some of their mid-range and outside shots, they could still weave their way in the paint. Shanice Beckford-Norton made a Commonwealth medallist-level play when she dished the rock to Ty Battle in the paint behind Samantha Thomas’s back.
Sassari kept the Lions at bay with back-to-back triples, followed by a mid-range bucket en route to a 29-35 lead. However, London continued to fight back into the game, highlighted by Kiki’s energy-shifting block on Debora Carangelo to end the quarter.
London continued to struggle to contain Sassari in the third quarter. Although held to 21 points in the third, the Italian islanders found ways to break through the Lions’ defence. The Lions recorded 19 points through contributions from Shequila Joseph, Herbert-Harrigan, Snytsina, Winterburn, Leonard and Battle.
The Lions' defence improved in the fourth quarter as they held Sassari to just 16 points; however, they were only able to record 16 points themselves, which ultimately wasn't enough to win the game. Winterburn gave the Lions a glimmer of hope when she hit a 3-point shot with 37 seconds left on the clock, but Sassari did enough to hold on at the end.
