Dominant display by Riders deals double defeat for Giants

Leicester Riders have now gone an entire calendar year undefeated on their home floor, as Rob Paternostro’s team confidently beat Manchester Giants 84-59 at the John Sandford Sports Centre on Saturday night.

It was no less than the Riders deserved, with their competent offense allowing them to generate a lead early on. However, it was the powerful defence that has become a Leicester trademark this season, that once again shone and showed just why so many believe big things are possible for the team this year.

In contrast, Manchester Giants head coach, Jeff Jones, cut a despondent figure at the final buzzer, with the result against Leicester sealing a second consecutive defeat of the weekend, having lost to Sheffield Sharks on Friday evening.

Make no mistake; this was far from a best-possible Leicester Riders performance. However the spirit of a tight group of players and strength-in-depth allowed the home team to control the game for large spells.

After Jay Couisnard failed to sink the opening shot of the game, from beyond the arc, Zaire Taylor pulled down the replay before handing off to Drew Sullivan. He in turn picked out Pavol Losonsky, who drained the opening bucket to get Riders off the mark.

Boasting a roster made up of players more than capable of shooting from beyond the perimeter, Manchester were forced to play the ball into the paint, with Riders’ defence ensuring that the Giants were unable to get a shot off from range.

That plan worked, as Riders continued to hit shots whilst restricting their opponents in the opening quarter. The home team went on an 8-1 run, as Losonsky’s 12 points in the first giving Riders a 24-14 lead at the end of opening 10 minutes.

At no point in the contest did Leicester trail. Despite a spirited resurgence in the second quarter, Leicester Riders’ second-half performance was nothing short of overwhelming.

A 10-4 run in the third quarter started with a three pointer from the impressive Drew Sullivan; however it was Zaire Taylor that provided two entries for the highlight reel, poking the ball out of the Giants’ possession before slamming the ball with authority on two consecutive occasions.

If the third quarter was impressive, the fourth was simply awesome. An 11-2 run in the space of two minutes left Manchester gasping for breath, with Sullivan and Losonsky continuing to hit big shots to open the lead up to 20 points, before Great Britain captain Sullivan added another three.

There were late cameos for young players Jordan Dawes and Alex Angelakos, with the former earning applause for a superb drive and lay-in late in the game.

However the biggest ovation was saved for forward Drew Sullivan, who once again led by example on the court, as Leicester Riders sealed a win that marks a historic landmark.

Leicester Riders Head Coach, Rob Paternostro, post-game, said: “At half-time, we went in and we were 0/9 from three and 5/14 from the free-throw line, so I said to them ‘hey, let’s just take it to the hoop, stop thinking and play like you’re at the park’.

“The one thing that’s constant for us is the defence. When you play defence the way that we do for 40 minutes, whether it goes in or not, you’re going to get the ball on offense and that was what we did tonight.

“We restricted them to 5/21 from three and we tried to make it so that, if they did shoot a three, we had a hand up. Our defence is good because we can play in different ways and we showed that.

“Drew Sullivan played 29 minutes tonight and scored 25 points. He hit a couple when we were struggling and that’s what he does. He reads the game so well. He’s the best player in the league – there’s nothing else to say.”

Starting Fives

Leicester Riders: Anthony Rowe, Pavol Losonsky, Drew Sullivan, Jay Couisnard, Zaire Taylor

Manchester Giants: Ben Eaves, David Aliu, James Jones, Devan Bailey, David Watts

Play(s) of the Game

The fact that Zaire Taylor orchestrated the same play, within the space of 30 seconds, results in two counting as one. The guard poked the ball away from, at first, Stefan Gill, before running down the line to throw down the one-handed slam.

Just seconds later, Taylor committed the same trick to dispossess David Aliu, before again throwing down with power.

Game MVP

Drew Sullivan

Simply put, Drew Sullivan was a game-winner. Whilst all Leicester Riders players contributed to this win against Manchester Giants, Drew offered more than points.

His stats read as follows: 25 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds, however Sullivan was also constantly linking up offensive plays and it was when he hit the shots that made the difference.

At a time where Riders needed a spark to make things flow for them, in what was a less-refined performance than in recent weeks, it was Sullivan that stepped up to hit them.