RIDERS FIRED UP FOR BIG PLAY-OFF SEMI THIS EVENING
LEICESTER RIDERS v NEWCASTLE EAGLES
Tuesday, May 11, Morningside Arena
LEICESTER Riders face Newcastle Eagles in the first leg of their BBL Play-offs semi-final this afternoon at the Morningside Arena (5pm), with the second leg on Thursday also in Leicester.
The tie will be decided on the aggregate scores over two legs.
The teams have played each other six times this season, with each team securing three wins.
Riders and Eagles are the most successful teams in BBL history and have particularly dominated the silverware over the last decade.
The Eagles progressed to the semi-finals courtesy of a narrow two-point win over Sheffield Sharks, the second leg ending in a tie, with American forward Justin Gordon hitting the winning basket with three seconds left in the second game.
Gordon is one of the stars of the Eagles, the MVP of 2021’s BBL Cup Final, in which Newcastle beat London Lions, and he scored 45 points and pulled down 16 rebounds and dished out nine assists in the two matches with Sheffield.
The Eagles’ 32-year-old American point guard Rahmon Fletcher is a two-times BBL MVP and has had one of his best seasons in the BBL, topping the BBL scoring charts at 19.2 points per game and first in the BBL in assists, with 9.3 per game.
He will be in the running for MVP honours again this season, with his opposite point guard, Riders Geno Crandall, also in contention.
Fletcher has been playing big minutes, and he was on the court for all bar just over five minutes in the two games against Sharks.
His back-court partnership with Cortez Edwards has been key to the Eagles’ success this season, with Edwards contributing 28 points, 13 rebounds and four assists in the two games against Sheffield.
Since the Cup Final, the Eagles form has been uneven, and their loss to Riders in mid-March effectively put them out of the running for the BBL Championship title, and by their standards a fourth place finish in the league was a big disappointment.
Riders will be hoping their greater strength in depth, both in the backcourt and in the forward line, is enough to make a difference. Scottish international Ali Fraser remains a doubt with a foot injury, but Riders will be lifted by the steady return to fitness of centre Mo Walker, who has missed most of the last two seasons.
Riders head coach Rob Paternostro, below, said: “It is a huge match for everyone. “These teams will be playing each other for the seventh and eighth time this season, and I think that is a record.
“It has been three-all so far, so the teams are very well matched. “Obviously, the teams are very familiar with the other’s strengths and weaknesses, particularly when both teams have very experienced players.
“So there are no secrets, and the teams need to be on their game. “They have three guys in Fletcher, Cortez-Edwards and Gordon who are amongst the top ten in the league, so we know where the threats are.
“Knowing, and having effective tactics to stop them are, of course, two different things.
“What we do know is we need to look after the ball.
“They are among the best in the BBL in converting turnovers into quick scores as we saw at their place a month ago.
“But we are really looking forward to the games, with the end of the season close and so much on the line.
“We expect it will be two very close matches which will go to the wire.”
Leicester Riders: Corey Johnson, Jamell Anderson, Geno Crandall, Mustafa Heron, Darien Nelson-Henry, William Lee, Conner Washington, Ali Fraser, Aaron Falzon, Greg Wild, Kyle Jimenez, Justin Hedley, Victor Ndoukou, Mo Walker.
Newcastle Eagles: Rex Pflueger, Evan Maxwell, Justin Gordon, Rahmon Fletcher, Cortez Edwards, Louis Sayers, Darius Defoe, Drew Lasker, Sauveur Kande, Eddie Matthews, Shore Adeneken, Sean Murphy.