Leicester Riders steamroll Plymouth Raiders as battle for second hots up
It was arguably the biggest league fixture of the season for Coach Paternostro’s Leicester Riders as a legitimate shot at second place dangled tantalisingly before both the Raiders and Riders on Wednesday night. And if there were any doubts about how the Riders would fare having twice faced the Plymouth Raiders before and twice been beaten comfortably, those concerns were wiped away after the opening 10 minutes.
With a 30-20 lead at the conclusion of the first quarter – established thanks to the contributions of Bradd Wierzbicki (game high 30 points on 12/14 shooting, 4/5 from three) and Andrew Sullivan (finished with 19/7/7) – the Riders never looked back, their lead swelling to as many as 30 during a high point during the game and never shrinking to less than eight (achieved with only 30 seconds gone in the second quarter).
Coach Paternostro spoke with pride about the offensive display his team put forth en route to the 96-72 beat down of their opposition saying: “We were excited to play tonight. We’re really excited to play at home right now. We thought energy was going to be the key early and we came out with loads of energy.”
“I was impressed with the way we attacked the basket early. I thought Drew Sullivan set the tone with his play. I thought (Bradd) Wierzbicki also was on fire.
“To put 54 points up in the first half and to hold them to 32 was a great start and after that we were able to hold on.”
It’s true that the Raiders helped seal their own fate by refusing to move away from the three point line where they finished the game shooting a painful 1/18 for 6%. But as the saying goes ‘Live by the three, die by the three’ and it just so happened that Plymouth fell on their own sword in death. Bell, Colbert, Martin and Williams all registered ‘oh-fors’ by not hitting a single triple while James Jones connected on the only make.
It’s also true that the visiting Raiders were playing their third road game in the space of only six days which would have lead to fatigue heading into the Riders game. And although the Riders themselves were far from rested, playing their third game in eight days, Coach Gavin Love’s side were clearly on the short end of the schedule straw.
None of the above factors will matter in the days to come as history will ignore the details and merely show that the Riders recorded the W. With that win, Paternostro’s side moved into third place, joint with the Raiders on 40 points and seven losses apiece, while the second place Worcester Wolves advantage, narrowed to only one win and enough to keep them in second….for now? (Question mark added as a sign of respect to the fantastic job Paul James has done this season).
It’s not to be forgotten that as a direct result of the Leicester Riders win on #winningwednesday the Newcastle Eagles were able to clinch the BBL Championship trophy without playing. In all honesty, it was only a matter of time before the Eagles were crowned champions having torn through all opponents placed before them in every competition, so congratulations to Coach Fab and all connected with the Eagles.
The fourth and final piece of BBL silverware for the season is on offer in the BBL play-offs and odds are that one of the finalists will come from either the Raiders or the Riders.