Tigers drop to 0-20 as Lions get lucky in 88-79 win

If that’s as close as the Mersey Tigers get to a win from now until the end of the season, then they will look back and rue the six fourth quarter turnovers that prevented them from getting over the hump and which ultimately condemned them to their 20th defeat of the season, an 88-79 defeat to the London Lions.

Despite breaking their seven game losing streak, the London Lions will also have a number of concerns having impressed no-one in the first three quarters with sloppy play before eventually turning it on in the final period behind stellar shooting from Adrien Sturt and some inspired guard play from Junior Williams.

Following a four hour journey south, the Mersey Tigers arrived on the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre floor only 25 minutes before tip-off. But early on it was the hosting Lions who looked the more fatigued of the two sides as they turned the ball over with alarming regularity, seemingly taking their winless opponents for granted.

It was only when the Tigers showed some physical fight in the final period that the Lions kicked into a higher gear and looked likely to break their own losing streak, as Junior Williams brought some flashy passing to the party (eight assists on the night), creating and scoring 10 of the Lions’ first 14 points in the fourth quarter. The baton was then passed to Sturt who nailed three long range shots to seal the win for the Lions, their eighth of the season.

For the Tigers, there are a great number of improvements from their opening day 106-45 defeat to the Surrey Heat but for guard, Josh McGinn, frustration at an opportunity lost is how Friday’s defeat will be remembered.

“That’s the second or third game for me, that was a winnable game this season. We haven’t found a winning system and it’s that winning system that we needed to close out the game with a few minutes to go. I don’t think we were beaten, I think we lost the game for ourselves.

Gael Hulsen played with composure and control for the full 40 minutes last night, probing the Lions defence throughout and scoring 18 points in the loss. Josh Lockett led the Tigers with 23 points, 10 of those in the final period.

For the Lions, Jordan Spencer led the scoring with 21, while Adrien Sturt had 17 points.