Raiders bow out of BBL Cup

PLYMOUTH Raiders have been eliminated from this season’s BBL Cup after forcing their second consecutive overtime game, where London Lions were composed from the free-throw line in the fifth period to seal the victory at 85-80.

Plymouth’s head coach, Paul James acknowledged that it was a game that could have gone either way, saying: “We battled hard. I thought we came out and got after it, and we learned some lessons on Friday and made some adjustments.

“I thought we were very competitive tonight, back to the level that we should be playing at, and very unfortunate not to win the game.”

Raiders came into the game looking to make a positive statement after their agonising loss to Glasgow Rocks on Sunday, whilst the Lions were looking to do the double over Raiders in the space of a week; both sides looking for that all-important cup semi-final spot.

The game was close right until the final buzzer, which fans probably expected following the match-up between the sides last week. Neither team controlled the game as they both traded scores throughout each quarter. The majority of Raiders’ play went through Ashley Hamilton as he picked up 27 points and seven rebounds, with Mike Ochereobia being the only other home player to break double digits.

The game was dictated by freethrow shooting in the final regulation period and overtime, as both teams stayed in the game as it went down to the wire. Big performances from Dirk Williams, DeAndre Liggins, and Orlando Parker made up a lot of the scoring for the visitors who defensively were solid throughout.

The visitors were up by six going into the first interval, but Raiders had cut the deficit considerably come half-time as the sides went into the locker room at 33-32 and that was extended to two points at the end of the third as Lions led 60-58.

Elvisi Dusha went to the line with six seconds left on the clock and made both clutch free-throws to tie the game at 76-apiece. However, Raiders losst their way in overtime with Lions taking the game 85-80.

Raiders’ next game will see them travel away to an in-form Manchester Giants side on Sunday night.

Ahead of this game coach James emphasised the need to compete at a high level for the rest of the upcoming games this season, stating: “We just have to play at the level we know we can play at. It’ll be very tough there as Manchester have had a very good start to the season.”