Leicester Riders ensured there would be no repeat of the outcome they suffered last time they played the Glasgow Rocks, holding on for a 93-82 win on Saturday.
The teams had met two weeks before with the Rocks’ Kieron Achara scoring a dramatic winner as time expired, but the Riders weren’t about to let history repeat itself.
Just like the previous meeting, the Rocks built a double-digit lead, but the Riders came storming back in the second half to take control of the game with a 27-6 run, and hold on for victory.
Riders were led by 25 points from Neil Watson and a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds from Rashad Hassan, while the Rocks’ top man was JaJuan Smith with 19 points.
It didn’t get any better for the Rocks on Sunday as they slumped to an 80-61 defeat at the in-form Cheshire Phoenix. Demond Watt led the way with a double-double of 23 points and 13 rebounds with Paul Sturgess, the 7’8″ former Harlem Globetrotter, had 3 points and 5 rebounds on his highly anticipated debut.
At one point the Phoenix led by as many as 34 points as the Chester-based side extended their winning streak to six games.
After their last-gasp defeat in the previous week, Sheffield Sharks finally got back to winning ways, ending a four-game losing run with a 71-52 defeat of Leeds Force in Friday’s Yorkshire derby.
Nick Lewis paced the Sharks with 19 points, while Leeds’ James McCann led all scorers with 23.
“It was a great win for us,” said Sharks’ Mike Tuck, who scored 15 points.
“I thought we did a solid job on the defensive end and had a good overall team effort.
“Nice to finally get that monkey off our back and this win helps us build some momentum going into next week’s BBL Cup Semi- final.”
The Sharks’ opponents in the cup, Newcastle Eagles, also enjoyed a derby win with a 99-83 win over Durham Wildcats, Scott Martin leading the Eagles with 23 points while team-mate Andrew Thomson had 21.
Durham had a better outcome on Sunday as they romped to a 101-57 victory over Surrey United. Despite a game-high 23 points from United’s Anthony Downing, Surrey struggled offensively against Durham.
Sam Martin and Panos Mayindombe both had 19 points to pace the Wildcats, who climbed to seventh in the standings.
Worcester Wolves got back to winning ways with a narrow 95-88 win at Plymouth Raiders. Wolves’ Robert Thurman led the way with a double-double of 25 points and 14 rebounds, while Raiders’ Brent Benson also scored 25 points.
Finally, it was not a good weekend for the Manchester Giants who lost two close back-to-back games.
On Saturday it was a 72-67 defeat at Bristol Flyers, who won their first game after losing four on the bounce. The short-handed Flyers needed a big game from someone and they got it from Alif Bland, who finished with 20 points, 17 rebounds and 4 blocks.
Another big performance was the Giants’ undoing on Sunday as BBL veteran Zaire Taylor poured in 30 points to help his London Lions to an 87-79 win in Manchester. Taylor finished one rebound shy of a double-double but his haul was enough for the Lions to win their third straight game.
