First-leg victory puts Riders in the box seat
PATERNOSTRO’S MEN SET FAIR FOR PLACE IN
LEICESTER Riders have put themselves in a superb position to progress to the BBL play-off final at the O2 Arena next Sunday.
The Emirates Arena proved a happy hunting ground on Saturday afternoon as they won the first leg of their semi-final clash with Glasgow Rocks 105-84.
Riders will play the second leg live on Sky TV tonight at the Morningside Arena knowing anything less than a 22 points Rocks win will see Leicester progress.
Riders did not have it all their own way, giving up 31 points in the second quarter to a red-hot shooting Rocks team, but they dominated from early in the third quarter, forcing a series of Glasgow turnovers and turning up the pace on offence.
Reigning BBL MVP Geno Crandall was in imperious form, torturing the Glasgow defence with a series of exquisite drives and pinpoint passes.
It was a reminder of why he is favourite to be selected again as the best player in the BBL.
The win was Riders’ fourth over the Rocks this season, all pretty convincingly, so Leicester will be hot favourites to progress, although the Rocks did shock Sheffield Sharks on their home floor a week ago in the quarter-finals, winning by 24 points.
In contrast to their showing in both quarter-final matches against Plymouth, where they went down early, Riders started this game in superb form, with Mark Loving and Crandall hitting early three pointers. The Riders’ lead was 9-4 on a Patrick Whelan jump shot and a Loving three-point play pushed the gap to 12-7.
A Whelan three-pointer made it 17-7, but then Jordan Harris the Rocks springing American forward hit a three-pointer and dragged the Rocks back into the game.
Boban Jacdonmi also came off the bench to cause havoc on the boards and for a while he outmuscled Mo Walker under the basket for three quick baskets. At the end of the first quarter, Riders were up 25-17.
But Harris continued to score at will and his dunk closed the gap to 27-24, forcing Riders head coach Rob Paternostro to a timeout.
Darien Nelson-Henry made a couple of neat plays inside and the teams traded blows with a threepoint play by Harris nudging the home side in front 37-36 with four minutes left in the first half.
Scottish international Fraser Malcolm hit from long range and Jordan Johnson another on the half-time buzzer to give the Rocks a 43-38 lead. Glasgow had dominated Riders in that second quarter, winning it 31-18.
The visitors came out a different side in the second half, in spite of a pair of three-pointers from Johnsonpushing the Glasgow lead out to 56-46.
Whelan started finding his range and Nelson-Henry was finding more space inside and Riders went on an 11-nil run which turned the game, Riders up 60-59.
Each team was hitting big shots from long range and Johnson hit another huge three on the third quarter buzzer to cut Riders’ lead to 77-69, as Riders won the quarter 34-21.
Conner Washington opened the final period with five straight points, and Jubril Adekoya made an oldfashioned three-point play.
Five points in a row from Crandall, including a three-pointer, were followed by free throws for Whelan, and with three minutes left, Glasgow called a timeout, trailing 99-80.
Riders managed those final minutes well, never giving the Rocks a way back into the game for their 12th straight win. Crandall was simply sublime, his 32 points including five three-pointers and he added 11 assists and seven rebounds as well as making five steals in 34 minutes of magic.
Whelan had a slow start but recovered in the second half to finish on 18 points, including four of six threepointers, and added three rebounds and two assists.
Loving was also efficient with 15 points, on 60 per cent shooting, along with seven rebounds and three assists.
After a so-so start, Riders hit 13 three-pointers on 54 per cent shooting, and overall shot 55 per cent from the floor, while holding the Rocks to just 41per cent.