London Lions thrashed Liverpool Basketball 78-49 at the Copper Box Arena to move 4-0 and claim their first Super League Basketball (SLB) home win.
London forced 27 turnovers and held Liverpool to 49 points in a dominant defensive display.
The Lions pulled away after half-time, holding Liverpool to nine points in the third quarter before sealing victory.
Thomas Kennedy led the way with 15 points and five rebounds, while Keenan Evans added 11 points, four assists and four steals.
Emilis Zibuda scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds on his professional debut, while Maxwell Lewis and Ethan Price also scored 10 each.
Liverpool kept it close early, trailing London 15-13 after the opening quarter.
Ethan Price hit two early three-pointers, while Keenan Evans found Maxwell Lewis for a lob after an offensive rebound.
The Lions began to pull clear in the second quarter.
Lewis finished a breakaway dunk before professional debutant Zibuda came on and hit a three to extend London’s lead.
Evans hit a corner three from Lewis’s pass as the Lions took a 37-26 lead into half-time.
London’s defence stayed in control after the break.
Kennedy scored after a ball screen from Devante Jones to force a Liverpool timeout, then Lewis answered with a floater.
Zibuda and Kennedy kept making an impact as the Lions ended the third quarter 57-35 ahead.
The Lions finished the job in the fourth quarter.
Zibuda hit another three from Joel Scott’s kick-out pass before Kennedy added a transition putback.
Evans hit from deep, then Zibuda’s steal set up a Kennedy slam as London stretched its lead.
The victory was London’s first SLB meeting with Liverpool and its first SLB home game at the Copper Box Arena.
On his professional debut, Zibuda said: "I felt ecstatic, but also nervous. I mean, I'm a pro and it's great to be on the court and provide for the team any way I can. Just being a London Lion, with all these fans, it's huge and I'm happy."
Head Coach Tautvydas Sabonis said: "What we do every day, our identity is defensive. We've got to crash boards, we've got to play one-on-one, play team defence, and when we do that, we are one heck of a team. Today, leaving a team at 49 points, it's the first time I've ever left a professional team at 49, so that just shows how physical we were today."
London now turns its attention to EuroCup action, travelling to Lithuania to face Šiauliai Basketball in its opening game of the European campaign.
Liverpool's arrival has expanded the SLB to 10 teams for the first time, with each side due to play 36 regular-season games.
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