London Lions Road into Semi Finals
The London Lions qualified for the semi-finals of the BBL Trophy by gaining revenge on Newcastle Eagles, who had beaten Vince Macaulay’s team in the BBL Cup Final earlier this year, defeating the Eagles 101-85 on Monday evening.
DeAndre Liggins led the home-team with 24 points, nine assists and six boards as they gained revenge for the BBL Cup final defeat. Orlando Parker was on fire in the first half with 18 points - finishing the night with 23 points and nine rebounds. Justin Robinson added 16 points and seven assists while Dirk Williams had 15 points, four rebounds and as many assists.
Parker gave an early indication of the offensive onslaught that was to follow with the first five Lions points, but although the home side led for the majority of the opening quarter, a 14-4 run in the final three minutes saw Eagles go into the first break leading 26-23.
Despite Kevin Ware's big three, the Eagles led for most of the second period, but Parker's triple tied the score at 42 after an incredible defensive play saw the Lions force a shot clock violation with three blocks. That sparked the home side into life as two more triples from Parker and one from Robinson sent the hosts into the locker room with a 51-44 lead.
London started the second half well and a four-point Robinson play saw Lions' lead grow to 59-46 with 7:34 on the clock, but although Williams' three made it a 17-point game, Eagles chipped away to cut the hosts' lead to 79-67 at the final break.
Williams' dunk capped a 6-0 run to open the fourth period forcing an Eagles timeout, and although the visitors twice took the lead down to ten, Robinson's jump shot with 1:41 on the clock made it a 14-point game and effectively ended the game as a contest
The London Lions have now set up a BBL Trophy semi-final tie against Glasgow Rocks to attempt to get to their 2nd final of the season.