Glasgow rock the Lions to another defeat
Glasgow Rocks claimed their second consecutive BBL Championship victory with an 87-73 win over the struggling London Lions on Sunday at the Emirates Arena.
Starting Fives:
Glasgow Rocks: Robinson, Harrison, Achara, Davis, Murray
London Lions: Lawson, Sturt, Ogedengbe, Jackman, Martin
Glasgow took an early 5-0 lead in the early afternoon encounter at the Emirates thanks to baskets from Davis, coming of a terrific 20-point performance in front of the Sky Sports cameras last week, before ‘The Don’ Robinson nailed a three pointer.
The Scots kept a two basket difference between the sides with both teams going tit for tat. Harrison’s breakaway lay-up opened up a six point gap for the Rocks with 3:48 remaining in the first quarter.
The Lions then took over with Tayo Ogedengbe the catalyst for a 14-0 run that firstly saw Jordan Spencer and then Duane James hit back-to-back three pointers in fifty seconds. London went into the second stanza leading 23-15.
The next ten minutes saw both sides dominate proceedings for five minutes apiece, with the Rocks pulling it back to 28-28 with 5.15 left in the half only for the Lions to pull away yet again and take a 39-30 lead into the break.
The Rocks went 1-for-12 from two point range in the second quarter and the situation could have been much worse if it wasn’t for Achara and Davis chipping in with three pointers.
Into the third quarter and whatever Coach Davis said at half-time seemed to work as his troops went on a 15-4 run in the opening four minutes with GB international Achara running the show.
Adrien Sturt hit a big three pointer for the away side with a minute left in the third to give his side a 55-59 lead, but a Donald Robinson lay-up and one with 1.3 seconds left in the quarter giving the Rocks all the momentum going into the final quarter.
With seven minutes to go, the Rocks led 66-64 before they managed to eventually turn the screw and wear down the Lions defence.
The Rocks went on a 21-9 run the rest of the way, with Scots duo Achara and Murray proving too much to handle for the spirited Lions defence and lead their side to their third league win of the season.
Play of the game: Not so much a play, but Davis’ half-time team talk must have been a cracker as the Rocks came out all guns blazing and changed the game entirely.
Game MVP: Gareth Murray. The big 28 year old Scot was the only player to come away with a double-double. He scored at crucial points in the game and his hustle defence led to 15 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists.
