It was a disappointing weekend for Lions’ NBL Division One teams as both suffered road defeats.
The men’s 93-76 loss at Hemel Storm leaves their play-off hopes hanging by a thread while the disappointment of the women’s 74-68 overtime defeat at Anglia Ruskin University was tempered by defeats for the other sides involved in the fight to avoid relegation.
Bradley Kaboza’s 28 points wasn’t enough for the men to repeat their National Cup victory at big-spending Storm, with the guard who has recently been involved with Lions’ BBL team adding six rebounds and three assists.
Kaboza’s fellow UEL student Bradley Tchouya added 15 points and seven boards but while Elijah Maynard having a quite night and Jase Harrison still missing through injury, Lions were never able to overcome a poor first half.
Greg Poleon led Storm with 24 points and nine rebounds while Taylor Johnson added seven steals to his 21 point, ten rebound double-double.
An even start saw Lions within a point at the final minute mark after Tchouya’s lay-up and Cem Umer kept it as a one point game heading into the final three minutes of the first quarter.
A 9-0 Storm run saw them take control of the game before Maynard’s triple made it 28-19 at the first break and Zak Welche opened the second period scoring to make it a seven point game.
But the hosts replied with a 16-2 run and although Kaboza continued to pour in the points, a Rees Sundimalt triple could only reduce the hosts’ lead to 57-33 going into the locker room.
Lions showed fighting qualities to edge the final two periods 21-18 and 22-18 without ever threatening to get the deficit into single figures, and they will travel to Reading at the weekend knowing a win is vital if they are to reach the post-season.
Fatmata Janneh moved closer to the Women’s Division One scoring title with a 38 point haul in Cambridge, but the visitors went scoreless in overtime and they just came up short against Anglia.
A poor first period saw Lions trail 22-15 but they fought back to trail by a single point at half-time as they outscored the hosts 13-7. They looked to be on the cusp of a key win as they opened a 48-43 lead but Anglia stepped up to take the game into an extra period and kept the momentum going to snatch the win.
Rachae Walton added 11 points for David Lavinier’s team, but with Reading Rockets losing and Worcester Wolves tasting defeat in both of their games, Lions still sit top of the three clubs battling to avoid joining Nottingham Trent University in Division Two next season.
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