Fourth quarter fireworks as Riders blow away Phoenix
LOVING LEADS HOME SIDE TO SENSATIONAL BBL VICTORY
LEICESTER Riders staged a remarkable fourth quarter blitz to blow away Cheshire Phoenix 94-72 and record their second BBL Championship win of the season.
The two teams met in the BBL Cup quarter-final a week ago and Riders need a basket in the final two seconds to eke out a victory by a single point, after Cheshire had led for much of the game.
This time the teams were locked together for three quarters, Riders leading by just 62-60 with a ten minutes left, before Marc Loving almost single-handedly blew the game wide-open for the Riders.
In fact, the tide turned seemingly innocuously late in the third quarter when Cheshire’s 6ft 10 in centre Radwan Bakkali put a hard block on Geno Crandall, picking up a foul and then compounding the offence with a technical foul.
At that stage the score was 56-all with just over two minutes left in the period.
Words were exchanged between the players and Bakkali exited the game.
Foolishly ex-Rider Josh Mcswiggan committed a hard foul on Loving as the clock ran out on the third quarter, and Loving converted all three free throws to give Riders an edge heading into the final period.
Conner Washington knocked down a long three to open the fourth quarter, and Crandall repeated the feat, with Loving making it a triple of three-pointers to open up a 71-60 Riders lead with just 75 seconds gone.
Another ex-Rider Namon Wright stopped the rot for Cheshire with a long jump shot, but Loving was on fire and hit three consecutive three-pointers to break the game wide open as a shell-shocked Cheshire struggled to find an opening.
Washington hit yet another three to give Riders an 83-65 lead with just over four minutes left.
It had been a 27-5 run to Riders in six minutes which left the Phoenix reeling and after that there was no way back for the visitors.
Earlier, the game mirrored the Cup match as the Cheshire GB back court of Teddy Okereafor and Ben Mockford found their range early to keep Riders off balance.
Mockford’s shot off the dribble is very hard to defend, and with Okereafor again controlling the tempo for Phoenix offensively, Riders could not break free, and after the first quarter the home side trailed 22-21.
Riders could not shake off the visitors in the second period either as Michael Ochereobia made a nuisance of himself on the offensive board, and Riders’ outside shooting was inconsistent. At halftime, Cheshire led 44-41.
With Okereafor being very aggressive and challenging the Riders defence inside, Phoenix had a 53-45 lead with four minutes gone in the third period and Riders were wobbling. But a Loving three-pointer changed the momentum and set up the final quarter fireworks.
Loving led the way for Riders with 32 points on 57 per cent shooting, including a sensational six of 10 from beyond the arc and he added six rebounds and three assists.
Crandall played some stunning defence and added 11 points, nine assists, four steals and five rebounds, while Washington contributed 14 points including four of eight from three-point range.
Riders’ three-point shooting, inspired by Loving, proved the difference, as they made 14 on 45 per cent shooting.
But their defence was also a step up on the previous week, scoring 25 points from Cheshire turnovers versus just seven for the visitors, while Rider’s bench outscored Cheshire 33 to 19.