Riders in scorching form as they bounce back from loss
NEW SIGNING LOVING TOP SCORES IN BBL CUP QUALIFYING VICTORY OVER SURREY
LEICESTER Riders bounced back from defeat in their opening match of the BBL season to comprehensively beat Surrey Scorchers at the Morningside Arena.
Riders swept aside the Scorchers 96-80 in their BBL Cup qualifying clash – just two days after their dramatic one-point defeat at home to Bristol Flyers.
As against the Flyers, Riders took control early against the undermanned Scorchers, but this time they kept the foot on the pedal and never looked like losing, notwithstanding some impressive outside shooting by Surrey, led by their veteran captain Tayo Ogedengbe.
With Geno Crandall improving with every minute he plays on his third day back in the UK, Riders were
on fire in the opening period, building a 34-24 lead.
At that stage shots were going in from all directions with Marc Loving and Zach Jackson particularly
impressive from beyond the threepoint line.
But Ogedengbe was in perfect shooting form in the first half, hitting from all angles, and at half-time
Surrey was still in the game trailing 56-45.
Riders came out pumped up to not let the home crowd down, and they dominated the third quarter, forcing a succession of Surrey turnovers, with Crandall’s defence in particular just awesome, and that led to a number of breakaway Riders dunks.
Riders were up 86-65 with ten minutes left and at that stage the Scorchers were wilting.
But Riders rather lost their way offensively in the final period, missing a succession of easy looks, and the Scorchers were able to keep the score respectable in the end.
Riders’ three-point shooting was much more impressive than Friday, hitting 10 from 20 from deep, including an outstanding five out of six by Loving.
Riders also dominated inside, outscoring Surrey in the paint 46 to 26, and they ran Surrey ragged with 25 fast break points to just five for the visitors, with many of those for Riders in the third quarter.
Loving showed his class by top scoring for Riders with 21 points on 70 per cent shooting and he added eight rebounds.
Crandall was again all-action with 15 points, eight assists and four rebounds, while his back court partner Conner Washington was not far behind with 12 points, five rebounds and one assist.
Most importantly, Riders’ BBL Cup campaign is now up and running.