Worcester Wolves had a weekend to forget as Plymouth University Raiders ended their unbeaten run in the BBL Championship and then 24 hours later, Leicester Riders dumped the Wolves out of the BBL Cup.
The Wolves took a perfect 6-0 record into the Championship clash against a Plymouth side missing leading scorer Donald Robinson, but it didn’t matter as Trevor Setty stepped up with 27 points to help Raiders to a 74-71 win.
Worcester had gone into the fourth period with a 57-45 lead, but the Raiders found their long distance touch and outscored the home side, 29-14.
“We knew going in it was going to be the toughest test of the year and I think that alone was a big motivation for the guys,” said Raiders’ coach Jay Marriott.
“I think the really good thing was that there was never really a moment during the week where the guys were down on themselves with missing Donald [Robinson].
“His injury is a huge loss to what we’re trying to do but credit to Donald himself, he just rallied around everyone, telling them that they are good enough to step up to the plate and fill his void.”
If losing their 100% record wasn’t bad enough Leicester then booked their spot in the BBL Cup semi-finals at Worcester’s expense on Saturday, and moved a step closer to retaining one of the three trophies they won last season.
It was a repeat of the previous evening as the Wolves led for long periods but were undone by a poor fourth quarter. This time the Riders outscored Worcester 25-12 to record a 74-62 victory, Anthony Downing leading the way with a season-high 22 points.
The other BBL Cup tie at the weekend saw One Health Sharks Sheffield set up a quarter-final tie with Durham Wildcats after Friday’s 90-63 win over the London Lions. Mike Tuck led the way for Sheffield with 21 points and he was the key man again on Sunday with 19 points as the Sharks returned to Championship action with a 72-66 win at the Cheshire Phoenix.
Cheshire, led by Victor Moses’ double-double of 24 points and 17 rebounds along with 22 points from Rod Middleton, battled the Sharks all the way but could not get closer than four points in the final minutes.
Elsewhere in the Championship, Glasgow Rocks ended their four-game losing streak with a 100-86 victory over the Manchester Giants.
Rocks’ Chez Marks led a balanced scoring attack with 21 points and Daniel Northern had a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds in a game that the Glasgow side never trailed. Giants’ David Aliu led all scorers with 24 points.
Finally, Leicester Riders moved level with Sheffield and Worcester at the top of the BBL Championship after they beat Durham Wildcats 75-58 on Sunday.
The Wildcats were the better side in the first half, leading 37-29 at the break, but a devastating 32-11 third quarter from the visiting Riders turned the game around.
Anthony Downing had another good outing for the Riders with 21 points while team-mate Rashad Hassan led all scorers with 23 points.
