London Lions sink Plymouth Raiders in BBL

Alex Owumi shoots for London Lions at Plymouth (pic Graham Hodges) (Image: Archant)

A dominant fourth-quarter performance spared the blushes of the London Lions and gave them another road win in Plymouth last night.

The game started late and was disjointed due to a lack of a game clock and only one shot clock working in the venue.

Yet between them, Rashad Hassan and Zaire Taylor put away 48 points, with Hassan again agonisingly close to his double-double (25 points, eight rebounds).

The first quarter saw the Raiders strong on defence with the Lions struggling to muscle in and often being pressured into taking shots from behind the arc.

Unlike in Wednesday’s game against Surrey at the Copper Box, the shots were not falling for Lions, who went into the quarter break down by two points.

But the tempo soon started picking up and less than two minutes later, Jamal Williams got one of his 11 rebounds and stormed up the court to help the Lions lead by two.

The lead changed hands throughout the rest of the second quarter, before things took a somewhat farcical turn.

With the seconds ticking down Alex Owumi rebounded the ball and started moving up the court, but with the shot clock off and no game clock available in the venue, Owumi was left to guess how long he had with the ball.

Owumi guessed wrong as the time expired and the Lions howls of protest fell on deaf ears, setting the atmosphere for the second half, which was a tense affair, seeing Plymouth’s Corletto pick up an unsportsmanlike foul early on.

It was only this that stopped the Lions being down by more as the third quarter progressed.

Twice it was left to Owumi to bring the score back for the Lions with a shot from behind the arc.

The fourth quarter was a far better affair for the Lions and coach Nigel Lloyd will be pleased that his side showed real fight in not just getting back into the game but dominating it and going on to win by a comfortable margin.

Stronger defence and success from behind the arc did it for the Lions, as Kai Williams started the three-point party and was joined by his brother Jamal, with Owumi and Taylor both getting two.

Two final lay-ups from Andre Lockhart saw the Lions romp home to a spirited, hard fought 20-point victory.

The Lions are next in league action at the Copper Box on Sunday, November 13 as they take on Newcastle who will be looking for revenge after a stunning victory for the Lions at Sport Central earlier in the season.

Tip off is at 4pm, with Lions in BBL Cup quarter-final action at Leicester a day earlier.