Flyers stun Riders as BBL leaders run out of steam
FIVE-GAME WINNING STREAK IS ENDED AFTER DISASTROUS FINAL QUARTER
LEICESTER Riders ran out of steam in a disastrous final quarter as they lost 80-54 at home to Bristol Flyers in the BBL Championship, ending their five-game winning streak.
Their final score was their lowest since January 2009, and they have scored fewer than 54 points on just eight occasions in more than 1,400 games since the BBL started in 1987.
Riders’ previous three losses in the Championship this season have been to shots in the final seconds of regular time or overtime by their opponents, but this time they completely ran out of gas and were outscored in the final quarter 28-7.
Once again, without the injured Geno Crandall, Riders were shorthanded in the back court, and looked once more to point guard Conner Washington to carry the load, as he had in the Riders’ win in Bristol on Saturday night.
Washington tried manfully and Riders stayed in touch, with the scores level at half-time, and Bristol edging to a five-point lead with 10 minutes left.
But collectively the team lost its way in the final period, running up a total of 19 turnovers in the game, and shooting just 37 per cent from the floor, as well as making just four of 18 three-pointers in the game.
The game started with the defences on top, and Riders could not establish any inside game via captain Darien Nelson-Henry.
A three-pointer from GB international Ben Mockford gave the Flyers an early 11-4 lead as Riders’ longrange shooting was misfiring.
The bigger Bristol team was overpowering the Riders inside the paint, and an easy Daniel Edozie basket inside got the Flyers in front. But Aaron Falzon came off the bench to spark a Riders revival with a threepointer, bracketed by a pair of jump shots from Washington, and after the first quarter the Riders were back in touch, trailing 18-16.
Bristol’s captain Josh Rodgers came off the bench at the start of the second quarter and fired the Flyers with three consecutive three-pointers to extend the visitors’ lead to 31-21 and forcing Riders to a timeout.
Corey Johnson finally hit a three, that was followed by a quick jump shot from a quiet William Lee, and Washington followed up with a three to force Bristol to a time-out, leading 33-29.
But Riders maintained their momentum and with scores from Nelson-Henry and Washington the sides were 33-all at half-time.
Third quarters have often proved pivotal for Riders this season and they quickly built a 47-40 lead midway through the quarter, with fine play by Mustapha Heron, a dunk by Lee and a pair of driving baskets by Johnson.
But Rafael Thomas-Edwards found himself with space and hit consecutive three-pointers for Bristol and they took the lead at 52-47 with ten minutes to go on a 12-0 end to the quarter.
Heron immediately cut into the lead at the start of the fourth quarter with a jump shot, but another three from Thomas-Edwards turned the tide, as he triggered a 57-51 Bristol lead.
Riders then made turnovers and errant passes and the visitors took charge with a 13-0 run that turned the game in just over three minutes.
Apart from a Lee dunk, Riders had little to show from their offences for the rest of the game.
At the other end of the floor, the win was rubber stamped by two emphatic alley-oop dunks from American forward Eric Lockett late in the game for the Flyers as he finished the game with a game-high 18 points along with seven rebounds and five assists.
Washington can hold his head high, in spite of drawing a lot of attention from the Bristol defence following Saturday night’s heroics.
He finished Riders’ top scorer with 13 points on an efficient 67 per cent shooting, while chasing down six rebounds and dishing out six assists.
The other Riders guards, Heron and Johnson, contributed 11 and 10 points respectively, but the normally reliable shooters managed just one three-pointer from 12 attempts.