Riders topple the Giants to retain their 10-point lead at the summit
HOSTS’ STUBBORN RESISTANCE IS OVERCOME
LEICESTER Riders held on for a narrow 90-87 win over the Manchester Giants on the road last night for their 20th win to ensure they kept their 10-point lead at the top of the BBL Championship.
The Giants had a final long shot to try to tie the game on the buzzer, but the ball bounced well away to leave Riders victorious.
Riders had Geno Crandall back available following injury, and he started the game, before being quickly subbed out in favour of Conner Washington and was used sparingly throughout.
The game also saw a return to action for Mo Walker after a long period out, and when he scored at the start of the second period, it was his first basket in competitive play in two years.
The Giants opened the scoring with a three from Jordan Whelan and quickly built a five-point lead before Mustafa Heron got the scoreboard ticking for the visitors with a three.
Riders were moving the ball well, creating openings inside for William Lee and Darien Nelson-Henry and after four minutes the scores were level on 10 points.
Manchester have a strong attack, and the first half found their American forward Justin Satchell unstoppable, hitting seven shots from seven attempts, including five threepointers, on his way to a stunning 19 first half points. Some of his shots were far beyond the three-point line, so Riders’ defence was hardly at fault.
With Corey Johnson and William Lee hitting threes for Riders, it was enough for a 26-20 first quarter lead for the visitors.
Leicester quickly built a 10-point lead early in the second period, but with Manchester guard Sam Cassell also scoring from long range, the Giants went on a seven to nil run to close to 32-29, forcing Riders to a timeout.
Nelson-Henry made a couple of scores inside and Conner Washington a huge three, but with Satchell scoring at will, Riders could not build any sort of lead.
Crandall made a trademark driving layup at the end of the first half to give Riders a 44-41 first half lead.
Satchell kept up his relentless pace of scoring in the third quarter and with two minutes gone the scores were level again on 48 points.
Washington hit another three pointer and when Heron and Lee again combined for scores Riders had edged into a 56-50 lead.
But Jordan Whelan was keeping the Riders defence off balance with some driving lay-ups and the game was still in the balance through three quarters, with Riders leading 68-61.
An Aaron Falzon three-pointer and a three-point play by Crandall got Riders lead out to 76-68 early in the fourth quarter, but every time Riders threatened to break open the game, Manchester came up with crucial long-range scores. Their guard, Alex Ouandie, came off the bench and hit three in a row from beyond the arc late in the shot clock, and Riders’ lead was down to a single point at 88-87 with 15 seconds left. Corey Johnson then calmly hit two free throws after a deliberate foul by the Giants and Riders just held on.
William Lee had a huge game for the Riders with 19 points, on 80 per cent shooting, and he added nine rebounds and two assists with two blocked shots.
Darien Nelson-Henry had a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Crandall finished on eight points, three rebounds and six assists on his return in 21 minutes of play.
But it was Satchell who put on one of the performances of the season in the BBL finishing up with 36 points on 13 shots made from 16 attempts, along with nine rebounds in 37 minutes of play. His scores included a sensational six of eight three-pointers.