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A game to forget for Lions saw them go down 103-67 at BBL champions Leicester Riders, on Sunday.
The home side never looked back after a 33-15 first period as they gained revenge for Lions inflicting their first league defeat of the season on them.
Three-point shooting was the big difference between the sides with Lions connecting with only seven of their 33 long range efforts, while Rider buried 16 of their 29 shots from outside the arc.
Lorenzo Cugini led a Lions side missing Justin Robinson and Dirk Williams, finishing with 16 points in 22 minutes, while Isaiah Reese added 13 points and six assists. Julian Washburn finished with eight points and as many rebounds while Chris Tawiah came off the bench to pull down 11 boards to go with his seven points.
All five Leicester starters finished in double figures, led by Marc Loving’s 18 points,
Cugini, Reese and Washburn were all, on the scoresheet at Lions made a positive start and were only trailing 7-6 after two minutes. But Loving and Zach Jackson hit triples as the hosts went on an 8-0 run, and although Cugini got the scoreboard moving for the visitors again, Jackson hit another triple and Mo Walker made it a double digit game.
Reese’s treble with 4:27 on the clock made it a nine point game but Greg Crandall’s three-pointer sparked an 11-2 run to give the hosts a 33-15 lead at the first break.
A Reese and-one opened the second period scoring, but Walker converted a similar shot and although Cugini briefly made it a ten-point game, Riders replied with a 15-2 run and Washburn’s triple wasn’t enough to prevent Leicester taking a 62-37 lead into the locker room.
Patrick Whelan hit a pair of treys as Riders started the second half with a 10-0 run before scores from Tawiah and Ryan Martin reduced the arears to 72-41 at the five minute mark. Triples from Brandon Kaboza, Washburn and Andre Lockhart kept the scoreboard moving before Tawiah’s jump shot cut the arrears to 83-55 at the final break.
Tawiah also scored Lions’ first point of the fourth period, only to see Riders reply with 12 unanswered points and the hosts outscored Lions 20-12 in the final frame to wrap up the win.
