Sat 20th January: London United take another close win against Leicester Riders..

Saturday 20th January, 2007

BBL CHAMPIONSHIP

London United 86-85 Leicester Riders  

QUARTERSCORES:

24-20, 39-50, 67-60, 86-85

GAME TOP SCORERS:

London United

(Tarick Johnson 33, Chris Haslam 13, Marlin Capers 12, Kaleston Woods 11, Marcus Knight 10, Laurent Irish 6,

Junior Williams 1, Albert Margai DNP, Sam Stiller DNP)

Leicester Riders (Yorick Williams 29, Shawn Myers 15, Andrew Alleyne 14)

London United registered their 3rd consecutive home win with a nail-biting 1pt victory over Leicester Riders at SPACe last Saturday evening. Just like last week, (defeat at Scottish Rocks followed by victory over MK Lions) United bounced back from the long trip to the North East and a heavy defeat to Newcastle Eagles to dispose of their Midlands opponents with another gutsy team performance in which 5 players hit double figures to snatch victory in the final seconds of the match.

A scrappy first quarter saw United take the honours as Tarick Johnson (match high scorer v Eagles the previous night with 23pts) continued his excellent form and drained 11 in the period, supported by Chris Haslam (6pts). For Riders, Yorrick Williams hit 10pts but United took a first period lead thanks to a late burst triggered by an "and 1" from Marcus Knight.

However, the second period was all Leicester. Having been blown apart in the 2nd stanza at Newcastle, Myers and Williams put together a 15pt mid-quarter run and a similar scenario looked likely before Marlin Capers and Laurent Irish stepped up limit the damage leaving London 39-50 in deficit at half time.

A reinvigorated United came out hard in the third, inspired by the introduction of Kaliston Woods off the bench. Swarming London defence dried up the 3pt threat from Williams and McGee as United put together a 7pt rip including a trey from Woods to close the gap to just 1pt. Williams kept Leicester in front from the free-throw line before the unstoppable Johnson combined with Capers and Knight to put together another impressive run capped by another trey from Woods. Johnson and Haslam pushed the lead to 9pts before Alleyne hit 2pts inside on the buzzer and a chance for Riders to re-group going into the final period. An 18pt swing now saw United lead 67-60.

Inevitably in this topsy-turvy encounter, the break came at the right time for Riders and the wrong time for Utd as Leicester regained the initiative early in the 4th. Alleyne, Mills and Paternostro reduced the lead to just 1pt by the third minute with only Irish able to move the United score forward. From here, both sides traded baskets with Johnson and Woods scoring from the perimeter for London whilst Myers and Alleyn dominated inside for Leicester. Going into the final 2 minutes and with Marlin Capers picking up his 5th disqualifying foul, Williams found his outside shooting form to hit a big trey to give Riders a glimmer of daylight and an 85-79 lead. Marcus Knight replied immediately and excellent United defence prevented a Riders score. Johnson hit a huge 3 on the next offence to bring London to within 1pt. Leicester counter with McGee driving to basket and drawing a foul. Crucially and uncharacteristically, McGee missed both free-throws to give United possession for the final play of the match and just 16secs on the clock.

With less than 10 secs remaining, Johnson drove to basket only to be stopped by Myers and Alleyne. Critically, United were given the inbounds as Coaches Garbelotto and Stiller called time out with just 5secs on the clock to set the final offence of the match, London still down by 1pt. From the restart, Riders doubled up on Johnson who looked to roll off a Chris Haslam screen. This left Kali Woods free and Junior Williams found him at the top of the key. Woods drove into the paint and sunk the lay-up. Riders still managed to get a final shot away but this rimmed out for Woods to claim his third defencive rebound and secure London another single point victory over Leicester.

The post-match stats bore out the close score, showing nothing between the teams, except in one crucial area. Whilst United took 15 points from the 18 free throws on offer, Leicester could only drain 16 from 25. In three encounters this season, only 4pts separate London and Leicester, with United taking the honours on each occasion.

For United, Tarick Johnson hit another match-high 33pts (56pts in the weekend). The GB International also pulled down 9 boards to cap another outstanding performance. But once again, this was no one-man show from United. In a real team effort, Chris Haslam, Marlin Capers, Kali Woods and Marcus Knight all made double-figure contributions, stepping up at critical stages of the match. Laurent Irish also hit 6 vital points while Junior Williams put in another solid defencive performance and running the point and battling through his continuing injury problems.

London United travel to 2nd place Sheffield Sharks on Friday followed by a home encounter with Scottish Rocks at SPACe this coming Saturday 27/1/07 starting at 7:45pm. London United will be looking for their fourth consecutive home win.

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