London Lions make their longest domestic trip of the season on Friday as they travel to strugglers Glen Luss Glasgow Rocks.
It will be the first of three BBL Championship meetings between the clubs this season, with Rocks coming into the game on the back of a 78-71 victory against B. Braun Sheffield Sharks and a 102-90 success against Cheshire Phoenix in the BBL Trophy semi-final first leg,
Rocks were top of the BBL table - albeit having played more games than their title rivals - when Covid-19 brought a halt to the 2019/20 season, and it's been downhill for the Scottish club ever since. They finished bottom of the table last season with just four wins from 30 games and although they have improved this year they are second-from-bottom with a 5-10 record.
Jordan Harris is the key man for Gareth Murray's team, leading them with 17.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game as well as dishing out 4.2 assists in 30.9 minutes. Point guard Jordan Johnson leads Rocks with 7.5 assists, adding 15.2 points and 3.5 boards while Scottish forward Ali Fraser's return to Glasgow has seen him average 16.9 points and 4.2 rebounds. Murray's plans to concentrate on coaching were put on hold by financial constraints and the former GB man brings his side 4.6 points and 4.3 board in 21 minutes per game,
Despite their poor start to the league season, Lions' coach James Vear won't be taking the Scottish side lightly:
"They've had a bit of a funny season, they started strongly, then had a difficult time but have been really good over the last couple of weeks" he said. "They've beaten Sheffield and I watched them beat Cheshire in the BBL Trophy on Wednesday, and they were really impressive. They look confident and they'll be dangerous after a long trip."
Vear continues to struggle with a long injury list as his side look to climb the BBL Championship table. Jordan Williams returned to light training this week, but Josh Ward-Hibbert is out indefinitely with a broken hand, the Lions' coach is clearly disappointed to be without the British forward:
"I'm really gutted for Josh" he said. "He's been great for us over the last few weeks. It's only a small bone in his hand and we didn't realise it was broken until we travelled down to Plymouth, but when he tried to warm-up he couldn't catch the ball. It clearly it isn't going to be a quick job. On the plus side we have Justin [Robinson] back and it will be good to see him back in action."
Lions split their pair of games against Plymouth City Raiders last weekend, with both sides recording narrow road victories and Vear had mixed emotions:
"Friday was disappointing as I felt we were in control throughout first half but really flat in the third [period], they jumped on us and made it a game.
"On Sunday they came in with lots of confidence and they played pretty well but our second half was really good. We dug in, it wasn't pretty but Lorenzo [Cugini] hit some huge shots and some great defence got us a good win."
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