London Lions Women II gave themselves a massive shot at Division One survival with a 60-49 victory at Reading Rockets on Sunday.
The win lifted Lions out of the relegation zone for the first time this season and also sealed the head-to-head decider against the Rockets meaning that the Berkshire team need to win two more games than London to finish above them.
Fatmata Janneh had another massive game with a 28-point, ten rebound double-double, with Grace Strickland adding 11 points. A depleted Lions’ line-up saw only six players take to the court, with Strickland and Tinu Faklunle – who pulled down nine rebounds to go with four points and as many assists - playing all 40 minutes.
After a tight start Rockets took a six point lead, only for Janneh to score three straight baskets to send the teams into the first break tied at 13.
Strickand’s jump shot gave Lions a lead they would never lose in the second period a Clementina Odom’s basket saw the visitors take their lead out to seven heading into the final two minutes of the first half, but Ford’s three pointer cut the visitors’ lead to 25-21 heading into the locker room.
That advantage was swiftly erased as Lions went six and half minutes without scoring at the start of the second half, with Rockets pouring in 12 straight points to open a 33-25 lead.
Janneh ended the drought at the foul line and then hit jump shot before Strickland drained a triple to make it a one-point game going into the final three minutes of the third period.
Lions continued their good run as Janneh and Strickland buried triples before Janneh’s lay-up gave London a 41-37 lead heading into the final break.
A triple from Janneh saw the lead grow to seven with the first score of the fourth period and Strickland’s triple made it a double digit lead with 7:22 on the clock as Lions chased the nine point victory they needed.
A Candela Hermida Nunez triple saw the advantage cut to seven with six minutes remaining but Fakunle took the lead back up to ten points before Jennah’s triple sparked a crucial six point run that completed the victory and kept Lions’ Division One hopes alive.
In contrast the men’s Division One team saw their play-off hopes fade with a 123-87 home battering against Derby Trailblazers. Lions are now down to tenth spot, but do have games in hand over the teams immediately above them.
Elijah Maynard led the hosts with 22 points and eight rebounds, with captain Bradley Kaboza adding 17 points and seven rebounds. Emmanuel Karnei had his highest scoring Division One game of the season with 11 points but Lions had little answer to Jonas Dietrich and Blake Bowman who finished with 29 and 25 points respectively.
The visitors did the majority of the damage in the fourth period as they piled on the pressure with a 42-18 quarter to give the scoreline a lopsided look.
Lions had started well as Kaboza and Brandon Tchouya scored the opening baskets, and Maynard’s triple put them 11-10 ahead at the four minute mark. But that proved to be as good as it got for London as Derby hit six unanswered points and despite Paul Asante’s triple, Lions trailed 30-22 at first break.
Caschilli and Karnei halved that lead with the first scores of the second period and Steven Asante’s triple kept them within five points at midway stage of the frame but a 7-0 run from the visitors put them in charge and although Steven Asante broke the tear from downtown and Kaboza also hit a trey, Blazers took a 56-43 lead into the locker room at half-time
Ling’s trey broke Derby’s 6-0 run which opened the second half, and Maynard made it a single digit deficit midway through the third period but the visitors closed out the quarter strongly to lead 83-69 and then overpowered the young Lions in the final ten minutes.
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