Raiders reach semi-finals of the BBL Cup

Plymouth Raiders progressed through to the semi-finals of the BBL Cup thanks to a convincing 91-57 victory at Surrey United on Friday night.

Having only played against one another a few weeks ago, it was to be an interesting rematch between the two sides. In the previous meeting Plymouth came out with the win following a tight opening quarter where Surrey had led after ten minutes.

Raiders have made some changes in recent weeks with the addition of former Phoenix player, Masse Doumbe, to what is already a talented roster, and he bullied Surrey on both the offensive and defensive ends with blocks and rebounds.

Through two quarters Plymouth had built up a substantial lead. Both teams were committing fouls, and haphazard through their plays – yet Plymouth managed to make something out of the majority of theirs. Flustering defence from Haskins, Setty and Pressey resulted in yet more United turnovers and held their opposition to just nine points before free throws brought their offensive spark back, and allow them to muster 26 points by the end of the quarter.

The third quarter opened up as a much closer affair with the two sides going at one another, fouling resuming, before Coach Marriott called a timeout after a strong Surrey showing. Unfortunately for Jack Majewski’s side, business resumed for Plymouth as they went on a tear for 10-2 to make it a total 16-6 run.

Plymouth relaxed in the fourth, enough to bring on young British guards, Tristan Hall and Ryan Peard – helping them reach a game-high lead of 41, before Surrey pegged it back to close out the 57-91 loss.