Flyers withstand late comeback to beat Lions in thriller
BRISTOL Flyers survived a late comeback to defeat London Lions 75-71 in a tight contest at the SGS College Arena on Sunday, having beaten Caledonia Gladiators 89-79 at the same venue two days previously.
Five players finished in double digits for Coach Kapoulas’ side against the Lions, led by a 17-point performance from VJ King.
The win sees Flyers improve to 7-3 on the season and go level with the Lions on 14 points, although the Lions remain top on points difference.
In the opening quarter, Bristol Flyers worked the ball around the perimeter for a VJ King threepointer.
At the other end, Kosta Koufos worked in the post to find Aaron Best for the slam dunk.
The Flyers were incredibly active on defence from the beginning of the game and unsettled the Lions on multiple occasions.
Three pointers from King and Mike Miller extended the lead to eight points in the opening period – forcing coach Ryan Schmidt to call a time-out.
Flyers started to build further momentum in the second quarter, with Miller proving a tough coverage for the Lions. Building a 14-point lead, London couldn’t find the hoop until NBA veteran Sam Dekker broke through the traffic for a dunk. Miller came straight back with a nifty finger roll of his own.
Buckets from Luke Nelson, Josh Ward-Hibbert and Koufos forced Bristol to take a timeout and reset.
The Flyers opened up the third period with a 10-2 run – with buckets from Malcolm Delpeche and Tevin Olison.
The Lions, who were playing without Ovie Soko, relied heavily
on Sam Dekker, who led all scorers with 27 points and and spurred a 7-0 run for the Lions to bring them to within five points.
Jelani Watson-Gayle took control in the fourth - hitting back-to-back three-pointers and scoring eight of
his 14 points in the period. Lions, however, continued to knock on the door, as Dekker found Tomislav Zubcic for three.
Miller hit a huge three-pointer which prompted a timeout from Coach Schmidt.
The Flyers kept hitting big shots down the stretch as Watson-Gayle’s offensive rebound and free throws put the game firmly out of reach.
This report first appeared on www.bristolflyers.co.uk.