Glasgow Rocks advanced to the BBL Cup quarter-finals on Sunday with a hard-fought 82-77 victory over Leeds Force.

Gareth Murray top scored with 21 points, while GB team-mate Kieron Achara pulled down 19 rebounds to go with nine points.

And, head coach Sterling Davis was pleased to progress, although he would have liked his team to have executed better on offence.

“I’m happy we got the win, but we could have played a lot better,” he admitted. “We did a decent job on the defensive end, but the issue was putting the ball in the basket. It was important for us to get the win in a close game. It builds character and I felt we needed something like that.”

London Lions produced a clinical display as they overcame the challenge of Plymouth Raiders with ease in a 105-79 victory that saw the home side drain 17 efforts from downtown.

Alex Owumi went 9-of-13 from beyond the arc as he poured in 32 points with Rashad Hassan putting up 28 points, while Zaire Taylor finished with 16 points and 12 assists to cap a strong night from the trio.

Cheshire Phoenix completed the Last Eight lineup in the BBL Cup as they claimed an 97-82 victory away at Manchester Giants behind 25 points from Jamell Anderson.

Meanwhile, in league action, Newcastle Eagles moved clear at the top on Friday night with a 97-69 success against Surrey Scorchers – led by Deondre Parks’ 17 points with GB guard Joe Hart netting eight points on debut.

However, Leicester Riders joined their rivals at the summit two days later when they too defeated Surrey as Tyler Bernardini scored 19 points in the 88-70 success to help his side improve to a 4-0 start.

There was also a second league win for Sheffield Sharks as they recorded an 80-67 triumph at home to Manchester Giants. Tony Wroblicky top scored with 21 points with Kyle Odister adding 20.