Essex Pirates 81 (24,37,59) (Adu 26, Rodrigo 19, Hundert 16)
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 84 (16,34,48) (Minor 31, Wierzbicki 21, Johnson 15)
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders were made to work hard for their 81-84 win at Essex Pirates in Southend on Friday night.
The Riders led only once early in the match before Barry Lamble (pictured) put them ahead for good with just 14 seconds remaining. Bradd Wierzbicki then sealed the win with two free throws to leave coach Rob Paternostro a relieved man.
"It was a great effort by the Pirates," he said. "They were very well coached and had the best tactics of any team we have played this season. They really slowed us down. All credit to my guys though. They made the big plays when it counted."
Pirates had threatened to shock the BBL Cup semi- finalists as they dominated the first three quarters of the match.
A 24-15 first period lead was relinquished to allow Riders to move in front 29-30 midway through the second quarter. By half time Essex were once again on top at 37-34.
After the interval a 13-6 Pirates run stretched out their advantage to 59-48 heading into the final stanza.
Riders gradually eroded the Essex lead to 71-70 with just over two minutes remaining. A 5-0 Pirates burst seemed to finally broken the visitor's resistance but it wasn't to be as a 12-5 burst saw Leicester go in front for good.
P W L Pts
1 Sheffield Sharks 15 12 3 24
2 Newcastle Eagles 13 10 3 20
3 Marshall Milton Keynes Lions 13 9 4 18
4 Cheshire Jets 12 8 4 16
5 Guildford Heat 11 7 4 14
6 Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 13 7 6 14
7 Glasgow Rocks 9 5 4 10
8 Everton Tigers 11 5 6 10
9 Worthing Thunder 13 5 8 10
10 Worcester Wolves 11 3 8 6
11 PAWS London Capital 12 3 9 6
12 Essex Pirates 11 2 9 4
13 Airwave Plymouth Raiders 10 1 9 2
Source: www.bbl.org.uk
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