The British Basketball League season began on Friday night with two new sides making their BBL debuts and one team especially ended up stealing the whole show.
BRISTOL GET OFF TO A FLYING START
Bristol Flyers have begun life in Great Britain’s top division with two wins against seasoned BBL sides in Plymouth Raiders and Glasgow Rocks. They have breathed new life into the league and are certainly enjoying themselves.
The debutants started with a 65-56 win at home to the Plymouth Raiders in a south-west derby. The former EBL Division 1 side looked comfortable in their new surroundings, quickly leading 21-10 after the first quarter and despite being pegged back to 46-44 after three periods, the Flyers finished strong to claim an opening day win.
Doug McLaughlin-Williams and Alif Bland both led Bristol with 14 points. DeAndre Medlock led the Raiders with 12 points.
Bristol then flew to Scotland and less than 24 hours later, defeated the Glasgow Rocks 79-62.
McLaughlin-Williams once again led the Flyers with a game-high 20 points as the visitors came back from a 42-35 half-time deficit to record a character-building victory.
PLAYOFF FINAL REMATCH HAS SAME OUTCOME
The BBL curtain-raiser saw Worcester Wolves defeat the Newcastle Eagles 86-81 at Sports Central in a rematch of last season’s Playoff final that also saw the same outcome.
With the game all tied up at 62-62 heading into the fourth quarter, the visitors showed enough composure in the final ten minutes to secure their first win of the season in one of the most difficult venues to get a result.
Robert Thurman had a game-high 27 points for last season’s Playoff winners.
RIDERS MARK TERRITORY WITH TWO WINS
In an attempt to regain the BBL regular season crown, Leicester Riders won their opening two games of the season.
They comfortably beat Manchester Giants 104-82 with Tyler Bernardini leading all scorers with 25 points. They then got the better of the Cheshire Phoenix 65-59 on the road less than 24 hours later.
Neil Watson and Bernardini led the Riders with 16 points each as a Cheshire team filled with great expectations begin the season with a loss.
AND THE REST …
Surrey United started this season very much like they did last season – with two losses – despite strengthening their squad in an attempt to compete for a Playoff spot this time around.
They lost 89-73 at home to London Lions, who were unable to field Zaire Taylor due to visa issues. Lions were led by 27 points and 12 rebounds by centre Makal Stibbins, on a night when they scored 60 points in the paint.
Surrey then went on to lose 94-74 to Plymouth Raiders, who despite losing in Bristol the night before, rebounded quickly with this routine win.
David Evans made the best possible start to life at the Plymouth Pavilions by hitting all six of his three-point attempts, en route to a game-high 28 points for the Raiders.
It was a mixed weekend for the Sheffield Sharks, who looked impressive in their 83-70 win over Durham Wildcats. Allen Payne leading the way with 20 points in their opening day success, but that win turned sour by the weekend’s conclusion as they lost 76-72 away to the Manchester Giants, who bounced back from their loss 24 hours previously to Leicester.
Stefan Gill came up with big plays down the stretch to lead his team with 24 points as they celebrated their first win of the new season.
Durham Wildcats bounced back from their loss in Sheffield with a thumping 80-46 win over BBL new boys Leeds Force. Panos Mayindombe poured in a game-high 19 points off 79 percent field-goal shooting for the Wildcats as a difference in class showed in the north-east.
