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Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders gave Worcester Wolves a taste of their own medicine tonight as they defeated the high scoring Wolves 104-99 in a shootout at the OK JSSC......

Rod Wellington returned to the starting five ahead of Terrence Woodyard to join Steve Vear, Joel Burns, Chad McKnight and Carlo White for Riders. Worcester's starters being Chuck Evans, James Life, Skouson Harker, Anthony Paez and Shaun Durant.

The game started out evenly with Riders using the inside duo of McKnight and White while Wolves unsurprisingly fed Paez and James Life who started out ablaze with 10 quick points including two triples giving a quick 6-16 advantage to Worcester. Vear picked up two quick fouls for Riders and Paez and Life punished the home side with some stunning shooting despite Riders switching defenders on them to try and slow them up. Wolves had blew out to a 12-23 lead with 3.37s left but McKnight, Wellington [twice] and an MD Janiska triple on the buzzer against another Life bomb and a Durant stickback made it 20-30 Wolves at the break.

Riders plan of slowing the Wolves running game started to take efect in the second, this coincided with Leicester shooting superbly themselves. A 20-10 blitz from Riders including some great steals and lay in's from MD, a Burns triple, a White slam and a Terrence Woodyard long ranger saw it tied up at 40 all with 4.44 left to the half. Baskets were then traded before consecutive threes from MD and Woodyard were answered in style by two from Life as the game heated right up. Darren Mills announced his entrance with a stunning move to the hole for a converted "and 1" to which he added a great offensive stickback as Riders eased 5 clear at 55-50. MD then split a pair and Paez scampered free on the buzzer for a lay up leaving it 56-52 Riders after a breathless ten minutes that saw the home side drill 36 points home in a great display of shooting.

A Wellington spin move in the block followed by a White jumper had Riders away at 60-52 early in the third but eight from Harker against a McKnight score got Wolves back in at 62-60. Wolves big guy Durant then picked up his fourth personal on an offensive call but Riders White then collected his third foul to earn both men a sit down. MD then made his mark with some great work in the passing lanes leading to steals and lay ins to whip up the crowd. Some great ball movement saw Vear wide open to can a big three to give Riders a 74-66 lead with 1.33 left to spark a Wolves time out.Four from Paez and Life made it 74-70 but 2/2 from Woodyard were then matched by 2/2 from Life who then unaccountably picked up his fourth personal on a dumb offensive call on the buzzer with the score reading 76-72 Riders.

Wolves came out running early in the final quarter with a 2-10 start with Douaine Anderson, six from Paez and a Harker bucket against a floater from Vear as Wolves nosed ahead 78-82. Worse was to follow for Riders as White claimed his fourth foul but this was negated instantly as player/coach Harker fouled out for Wolves with the score 82-84 Wolves [6.55]. Wolves kept a small lead as good work from Durant, Paez and Anderson gave them an 88-91 lead with 5.33 to go. The 3pt lead was then reversed as Riders hit some big shots via White and Wellington plus two great moves to the bucket from JB to give it back to Leicester at 96-93. McKnight then split two at the line and made a great hustle play on the inbounds off Evans to give Riders the ball back. A hurried missed three from Wellington was the answer giving Wolves another chance and 2/2 from Life made it 97-95 with 1.50 left. A superb effort from White as he rebounded his own miss gave Riders a 4pt breather but he was then called for his 5th and final foul on a hotly contested flop under his own bucket as he took the stand on Paez. Life canned both from the stripe but Evans stepped out of bounds on the next play to let Riders off the hook. Unfortunately they couldn't capitalise as a slack Burns pass was collected by Paez to lay in at 99 all  with 42s left! Riders were looking down the barrel now as McKnight was called for an offensive foul but a the refs evened it up straight away as Anderson was called for a very harsh flop as he shot a three in the corner. Vear drained both freebies to make it 101-99 Riders with 17.8s left. Wellington was fouled on the next play and he made 1/2 to make it a one shot game at 102-99 with 11.4s remaining. Harker called a time-out to run a play but Life missed a triple to tie it and Paez then gift wrapped the points to Riders as he thought he was fouled on the rebound only to step out of bounds. Plenty of excess rabbit followed along with a technical foul to give two shots and possession to Riders . Vear missed both but it mattered not as Wolves missed again on the inbounds and McKnight then hit 2/2 to seal a fantastic win for Riders 104-99.

White led the Riders with 25 backed up by McKnight [17] and MD Janiska [15]

Paez and Life hit 55 between them for Wolves but only Harker with 15 could support them.

Teamwork - Check, Ball movement - Check, Hustle - Check, Rebounding - Check, Find the open man - Check, Feed the big guy - Check.

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders finally pulled out a victory after a managing only 1 in the last 16 games as they thrashed a bewildered Sheffield Sharks 78-65 at the John Sandford tonight.

The win was a great triumph for a team which handed in its worst performance of the season last time out against Plymouth, a display which attracted criticism from many quarters but that was banished from everyone's mind as Carlo White led the men in red home wirth a powerhouse display.

Riders started with Steve Vear, Joel Burns, Terrence Woodyard, Chad McKnight and Carlo White and Sharks suited up Alto Virgil, Nathan Niesler, Atiba Lyons James Whyte and Shelby Chaney.

White set the tone for the night with a great spin move to get Riders rolling to which he added a three point play and another inside move with only a Chaney lay in in reply. Darren Mills came off the bench and made a tough lay up but missed the bonus. Rod Wellington also came off the pine with an immediate impact, drilling a jumper followed by a triple. A big fallaway from the energised White made it 20-7 Riders and the crowd were on their feet. Niesler and 2/2 from Justice Graham ended the quarter as Riders took an early 10pt lead at 20-10.

The second stanza saw more of the same as good stuff from Burns and more inside mayhem from White including another three point play off a superb McKnight dish had Riders away at 31-15 with 5.00 remaining. White continued his stellar night with a massive throw down off a Burns missed shot, he then rejected Lyons in some style and fed Wellington to score on the break and Riders were flying at 39-19. A Virgil three was scant encouragement for Sharks as they sloped off to the lockers 40-22 in arrears.

Sharks came out hard in the third with some belated tough D and Riders had a double blow as both McKnight and White picked up foul number three within a minute leaving Coach Ford to look to his bench to give the big guys a breather. Whyte, Lyons and Graham then hit 6 to which Whyte added a three with only a Woodyard triple in between to force Riders in a time out with the LED's reading 43-31. A big offensive Barry Lamble stick back was matched by Wellington who then hit another four to continue his great work as Riders stretched away again at 51-35. Sharks could not get anything going and they then had to watch White bring the house down with a tremendous two handed running jam. He then made 1/2 to close out the quarter 60-42 Riders.

White carried on his one man gang routine as he blocked an attempted Graham shot which saw the game halted as someone had to go and fetch the ball back from behind the bar in the Pump & Tap.......... Sharks saw a chink of light with 8m left as both McKnight and White picked up their 4th personal to send them to the bench. However the hapless northeners still couldn't get either a stop or a score as Lamble and Woodyard kept the board ticking over. Only Ant Virgil seemed able to get to the hole for Sharks but his efforts were too late as another Woodyard bomb eased Riders home with room to spare.

This was a superb team effort from the team tonight with all the players pulling out a performance to make up for last weeks capitulation. Credit to them and Coach Ford for that.

Carlo White [pic above] had a mega stat line of 24pts, 15 boards and 4 blocks in 22mins, Rod Wellington had a big game with 16 while JB added 10. Steve Vear ran the point well with 7pts.

 James Whyte had 15 in vain for the Sharks

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders came up agonisingly short tonight in a thrilling encounter at Worcester University, eventually going down 67-66.

Riders started with MD Janiska, Darren Mills, Terrence Woodyard, Chad McKnight and Carlo White. Wolves went with Chuck Evans, James Life, Anthony Paez, Skouson Harker and Shaun Durant.

Riders came out of the traps with a slashing move to the hole from Darren Mills but Paez laid down a marker with a tough move to tie it up instantly. Riders looked sluggish though and a succession of sloppy passes were punished by a vibrant Wolves outfit with Paez, Life and Durant all hitting after poor passing from Riders. Douaine Anderson slammed one home for Wolves to push them out to an early 13-8 advantage with only Woodyard looking anywhere near for Riders offensively with five of the eight scored. A 14-2 end to the quarter pushed Wolves away at 27-10 with Life and Paez both looking dangerous but they were helped by more dodgy passing from a Riders team that looked like they had just met in the car park beforehand......

The agony continued in the second as a fantastic alley oop from Paez was the highlight of a further 17-6 surge which included Riders big man White collecting his third foul and a trip to the bench to think things over. Chad McKnight then came alive as he hit seven straight, Woodyard added a breakaway dunk and Rod Wellingtom made his sole contribution of the night with a buzzer beating triple to cap a 0-12 burst to end the half with Riders clawing it back to 42-28 and with it a glimmer of light for a possible great escape.

Riders looked a different side after the break as they continued to mount the big comeback, White and McKnight began to dominate inside as they hit home a fine 2-11 run to make it 44-39 with 5.15 left in the stanza. Joel Burns then got hot from outside with successive long rangers to push Riders in front at 46-47 to spark jubilation amongst the large travelling contingent. A Paez\steal and dunk on the final play of the quarter squeaked Wolves back in front at 48-47.

Steve Vear got Riders going in the fourth with a steal and lay in to which White added a power move to give Riders a 3pt advantage. Life had a kind roll on a triple to tie it up again with 6.40 remaining but 2/2 from the line from Mills and another White inside move gave Riders a 4pt gap with 4.54 to go which saw Harker call time out for Wolves. Great work from Paez on the resumption saw him make 1/2 then steal and slam home to make it a 1pt game 54-55 [3.47s] White then hit both from the line for Riders but a tough three point play from Paez made it a 1pt game at 59-60 Riders with 1.59s left. White then made a strong move to the hole for a lay in but he was called for a charge which Life punished with 2/2 from the stripe to give it back to Wolves at 61-60 [1.10s] Mcknight then hit a tough shot but missed the bonus to give it back to Riders [61-62] with 1m to go. Riders then unaccountably left Paez free on the next play for an uncontested slam to give Wolves the 1pt advantage back! White put Riders back in the lead with a tough play inside but Paez again found a way to the hole to put Wolves ahead again.... Riders then suffered a 24sec violation next time down after some tough Wolves "D", Riders fouled Life on the inbounds and he calmly slotted both to give Wolves a 3pt gap with the clock winding down. Burns gambled for Riders as he passed up a contested triple to sneak in for a lay in with 3.8s left but Riders couldn't lay a hand on a Wolves player on the inbound to give Wolves the points in a hard fought game 67-66.

McKnight and White led the charge for Riders with 16 each, Woodyard and Burns had 9 each.

27/01/08

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders pulled off an upset win in the BBL Trophy last night at the JSSC beating high flying Marshall MK Lions 84-79.

Lions came into the game needing a W to progress through to the Semi Finals but came up against a fired up Riders side who came back from an early deficit and scrapped their way to victory to gain a standing ovation from the home support.

Rider started with Steve Vear, Joel Burns, Terrance Woodyard, Chad McKnight and Carlos White [pic above] while Lions went with Terrell Brown, Peter Heizer, Tony Windless, Dru Spinks and Mike New.

Windless got the games opening score with a triple on the shot clock buzzer but White and a Woodyard long ranger got Riders up and running early. Former Rider New seemed intent on taking the game over as he began to kill Riders down low with a variety of moves including an "and 1", two freebies and a post move to give Lions a 7-10 lead. Vear looked intent on stamping his authority on things for Riders and a nice knifing move to the hole followed by a nice dish to White for a stuff that saw him gain confidence which would send him on his way to his best showing in Rider red. Heizer drilled a three but more good offensive work from White saw Riders stay close at 11-13 with 5.42s remaining. A 2-11 Lions run then threatened to blow things open as New, Heizer and Brown all registered and things got worse for Leicester as the threatening White got whistled for his second personal which saw him gain a spell on the pine. New and Shawn Jamison took advantage of White's absence to hit inside and the lead was out to 18-28 with only Burns, Rod Wellington and Vear's 2/2 from the stripe answering for Riders. The quarter ended with the unaccustomed sight of Jamison nailing a pair of free throws to leave the score 23-32 Lions after one.

Barry Lamble hit on the opening play of quarter number two on a nice rearranged dish from an airborne Vear but ex Rider Yorick Williams canned a threeball to announce his entrance to the game which exploded into life thanks to Jamison fouling White, he didn't agree with the call and ran his mouth at the ref who slapped him with a "T" from which Vear hit 1/2 and White scored inside on the inbounds to make it 30-35 Lions with 4.25 remaining. Swarming D from Riders left the Lions jacking up forced shots and a three from the big guy White had Riders three down at 35-38! Woodyard banked in a 15 footer to cut it to a 1pt game and then the inevitable happened as Williams finally boiled over and received a "T" which Vear compounded with two freebies to put Riders one up at 39-38. 4/4 from the line for White and Darren Mills pushed Riders further clear to leave the score 43-38 Riders at the end of a quarter where they outscored Lions 20-6.

McKnight chalked up his first score of the night on the opening play of the third and a great move to the hole by Burns saw Riders away at 47-38. Lions clawed their way back with a triple from the veteran Windless backed up by Kevin Griffin and New again and with White picking up his 3rd foul, the score was 51-45 Riders with 5.31s left. New and Brown got it to a one shot game at 51-49 but a tremendous Woodyard drive and dunk saw him notch a superb "and one" to fire up the already buoyant crowd. More good stuff from Woodyard plus a great running floater from Vear saw Riders up 58-53 with 2.08 to go but Brown, Windless and Williams all hit to tie it at 58 each, Woodyard split a pair but Brown had the final say with a long two on the buzzer to give Lions a 1pt advantage at the quarter break [59-60]

Windless drilled another three to open the final stanza but an 8-0 Rider run with Burns, McKnight and four from the impressive Woodyard going some way to calming the home fans nerves at 67-63. Jamison and a Griffin triple tied it again at 67 but a fantastic turnaround from White plus the bonus had the crowd on their feet, they got even louder as Lions coach Macauley got pinged with a "T" for whingeing from which Vear made 1/2. White again got free down low for two more to make it 73-67 but Windless and a Brown deep one soon cut the gap again. McKnight off a great Vear look hit for Riders but Jamison replied and Coach Ford called time out with Riders up 77-74 with 1.59s left. Williams hit a pair of freebies to cut it to 1pt again but a stunning McKnight "and 1" gave Riders breathing space at 80-76 [1.22s] Lions then had a missed three from Windless and a turnover from Brown who picked out somene in the crowd........

Lions called a t/o but all they could do was foul to stop the clock and 50% accuracy from White, Burns [twice] and Vear saw Riders over the line, a triple from Brown on the buzzer being Lins only made shot in the final minute.

Carlos White was a beast for his 21pts on 7/11 shooting, he also grabbed 8 boards, 3 dishes and 2 blocked shots. Woodyard hit some big shots for 19pts on 7/10 shooting plus 6 rebounds and JB and Chad both stuck at it to claim 13 apiece, Chad's all coming in the second half while Joel also grabbed 8 rebounds. Steve Vear was superb for his 11pts, 10 assists and 9 rebounds, just 1 board away from a coveted triple double in 40mins action......

Mike New had 15 after the first quarter but only 6 thereafter to lead Lions with 21, Brown had 16 4/12 from deep] and Windless 11. Yorick Williams shot a paltry 1/9 from the arc on his return to the JSSC.

19/01/07

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders winless start to 2008 continued with a 90-96 BBL Trophy home defeat to BiG Storage Cheshire Jets.

Riders again got themselves into problems by digging a 20pt hole during the second quarter and they started the final quarter 57-80 in arrears with no hope seemingly of a comback. MD Janiska nailed a three to open the quarter and Jets James Hamilton fouled out to give Riders faint hope. Rod Wellington and Carlo White then hit 3/4 from the stripe and Woodyard hit 3/4 too after being fouled and also making Shawn Myers pay for a technical. White hit inside on the next play and Riders seemed energised with the score 68-85. Riders then went 11-5 but that run was tempered by McKnight and White both fouling out along with Jets Matt Otten leaving Jets with five men standing...... The scoreboard read 79-90 with 2.16s left and Jets problems worsened as Marc Pratt left the floor with an arm injury leaving them a man down. Riders put the press on and Jets were only picking up scraps from the line as Riders got their outside game going courtesy of two Woodyard triples and the deficit was down to 88-95 with 1m left. Riders had four attempts at closing the gap further but Vear [2] , Janiska and Wellington all missed from distance to guarantee Jets the win.

Woodyard led the Riders with 28 with Steve Vear and Rod Wellington both hitting 10pts each. Former Rider Shawn Myers led Jets with 28 personal points.

Updates from Riders trip to Newcastle will be posted here later...............

QUARTER ONE
The Riders in their pristine white kit start with Joel Burns, Terence Woodyard , Chad, Steve Vear and Barry Lamble
The big man gets the first bucket of the game and a couple of early boards as the Eagles start where they left off at Worcester.
Chad gets an inside and uncontested score before Babalabalola gets the Eagles off the mark with a nice lay-up through the middle.
7.00 At 2-4 Riders, enter Bryan Defares who makes his Eagles debut. Not wearing clogs but worryingly the Dutchman looks a bit too relaxed. As is Woodyard who misses two free throws and Lynaard punished Riders down the other end by equalling scores.
Chad gets another inside score from an assist by Lamble who has got Statswoman in right old pickle with such an all action display 6-4 Riders and time out with 4:49 remainingThe Prince Charles Smith ties up the scores and then gives the Eagles the lead before Martin Ford calls a Riders time-out 3:02 remaining and trailing 8-6. Just when the Eagles bad Taste Cru are body poppin their little hearts out, the enjoyment is spoiled courtside as the lights reflect off referee Paul Walton’s aka Al Murray’s shiny dome.
Lamble picks up his second foul much to the relief of the Eagles crowd, might take the wind out of Barry’s sails although nothing much will take the wind out of the little Lithuanian’s sails….
Vear penetrates and explodes with a little running jump shot. The game is officially a “minger” at 8-8 after just under nine minutes. People are crying out for some entertainment and their prayers are answered as the Lambler misses two put backs but is fouled on his third attempt, misses the and-1 and also his free-throw.
This is dire stuff. Has Sam Allardyce been added to the Eagles coaching team? Fab is so upset he brings on the bairns in Wil Spragg and Adam Nielsen, normally saved for the last two minutes.
Everybody in the crowd is counting down to the end of the first quarter, more quickly than the clock in fact - who can blame them? Perhaps the Riders might suit a scrappy game, one that even sees a missed dunk by Darius Defoe - actually a foul and he can only make one free-throw.
It’s a rough wench of a game. 9-8 and for sheer entertainment, Eagles fan Matty The Eagle is here on his STAG NIGHT… and he gets put onto the court and gets the biggest cheer of the night as he joins in the quarter kit dash - the fans go wild - anything but more basketball [as you can see, my Eagles insider rates it so far.......ed]

Q2............
Inspired by Eagles fan Matty (or maybe not as he who was beaten by a couple of six year old girls), Darius Defoe gets the “And-1” as the Eagles storm into a 12-8 lead.
Barry Lamble shoots the three. You have to feel sorry for the group of ladies including Bada’s missus in courtside corporate seats who now need to visit Mars n Spencer for some new knicks after the ball just missed them.
Bryan Defares gets the first points of his Eagles career and then dishes up an assist for Charles Smith who hit’s a three. Riders going to pieces at 17-8
Steve Vear breaks the barren spell with a little jump shot but Defares then gets an “And1” before hitting a three-pointer. Looks a good pick up for Eagles.
15-2 Eagles run.
Riders just can’t cope under intense Eagles pressure although at least Martin Ford didn’t get dressed in the dark this week. Maybe he should have his badaball.com or ridersballonline t-shirt on.
Chad goes strong to the hoop and gets fould and adds to the Riders free-throw woes with just one point but as Riders players lose concentration, Bridgey gets a typically sneaky basket inside 2 seconds.
Chad then throws up a long three early in the next offence which missed by a mile.
6:21 to go 25-11 Eagles.....................

Tough move by Chad McKnight right hand dribble and off the backboard but Stewart replies in kind down the other end of the floor. Burns misses an off balance leftie shot and then Stewart gets fouled as the Riders just can’t contain him. He makes the first… could this be a set of hen’s teeth? It is- Lynard Stewart makes them both before Chad gets another lay-up in on the buzzer.
Stats to come soon….
HT 39-17

Another first half pasting does not look good, more info shortly, could be grim reading...................Riders 8 of 31 from the field OUCH.……..
Delay with the stats due to the lack of a runner who has to go up about 20 flights of stairs to get them from the Eagles office. A victim of excessive t-shirt sales ahead of the Eagels final on Sunday, our pressman’s stats runner is deployed elsewhere. Simply outrageous. They should have more respect for ridersballonline!
We pause for breath and think about whether it can get any worse. It was hideously ugly and when you are confronted with “munterness” you have to look for a personality. However there is nothing. Zilch. Steve Davis comes to mind.
Oh but a bit of light comes at the end of the tunnel - some stats! From a perspiring runner.….
Vear - 3/7 for 6 points, 3 boards an assist, steal and 5 turnovers
Mills - DNP
Jordan - 1 rebound and turnover and 3 fouls in almost 10 minutes
Hopkins - DNP
Lipsey - DNP
Wellington - DNP, MIA?
Janiska - 1 steal and 1 foul in five minutes
Lamble - 2/9 after a sh** hot start, 4 points, 5 boards and NO assists? Are they blind?
Woodyard - 0/3, 5 boards, an assist, a block, a steal in almost 20 minutes
Burns - 0/4 no points 2 boards
McKnight 7 points, just 1` rebound a block and 2 turnovers

Into the third...........Lamble gets ironic cheers as he opens up with a second of two free-throws but the Riders get burned at the other end as Smith drains an open-three.
Woodyard explodes like a Chinese carton in a microwave when you have drunkenly forgotten to put it onto a plate. His explosive move ends with a foul but not shooting. Not shooting? Shocking.
Fab hits another wide open three and Olu Babalabaola dunks soon after as Riders turn it over.
Woodyard explodes again but this time it is a different gravy as a more controlled move allows him to get the score.
Lamble out and Mills in for first time
47-29
Woodyard is really playing now - maybe he looked at the stats sheet at the half - he goes to the hoop and is fouled on a sweet reverse lay-up which he makes but misses the free throw bonus
Smith drains more Eagles points down the other end and does the same on the next offence as December’s Player of The Month shows his hot form.
Just when Riders look to have been drained of all confidence, Mills drives and looks to get fouled but not waiting for the whistle he gets the rebound up and rolling round the rim - it drops and the score is good - Ford gives him a shout of confidence - one he might have preferred some time in the first 20 minutes.
Bridgey gets two free-throws - midway through the third it’s 53-24 Eagles. Defares passing the ball nicely and Eagles fans think about chanting and for some Red Hot Dutch Action but instead the penetration comes from Smith
The Riders performance hit’s a real bum note when they turn it over again - will they score 40 points?
the crowd goes wild - it’s a time out and we have some proper entertainment with more spectator shoot-outs
55-24 4:07
Babalola gets two free-throws before Jordan replies for Riders.
Lynard scores quickly down the other end as McKnight is fouled - all within a few seconds - he makes them both and the game trundles into life….
Babalola looks to have nailed a three and Defares shows he is prepared to offer unscrambled Red Hot Dutch action with a tip rebound as the Riders go and miss again down the other end.
Mills run the point on this offence and dishes to Jordan who misses a lay-up.
Smith continues to score at will as the bairns come on for the Eagles and Woodyard returns after a short breather for the Riders. Lithuanian Magic is served up in the paint as wee Mindy gets a little running shot to go off the backboard.
Eagles miss next time down and Woodyard dishes off to McKnight who is fouled dunking but doesn’t make it - Eagles aren’t giving up anything - Chad makes one foul shot and they get a quick steal but can’t capitalise.
It’s 63-31 and I think Riders are missing Greathouse from the last time I watched them…..
Fab resting his groin for the final - not his voice though.
Big crowd contemplate what they are missing on the television - but an early Zorbas song keeps them happy for a few minutes. Things get so bad that the MC starts announcing Birthday’s, Weddings - maybe the deaths out of the local newspaper would be more cheery.
Janiska missed one of two from the line
It’s 63-32 at the end of three - thank goodness there are just ten minutes left and now it is the turn for the golden half way line shot

Young Wil Spragg gets an early free-throw in before Russel Jordan gets anice tip rebound from a scrappy shot by Chad.
Defoe scores for Eagels then Janiska is fouled but not called.
Josh Lipsey into the game and takes the initiative with a great move to the bucket
Defoe replies for home team and then Defares does so within 2 secondds as Riders turn the ball over
Time out 71-36 8:20 remaining
Double-dribble called. How exciting - Bridgey is on the floor again. This is not just a bad advert for the BBL - it is a reason for us to all go home and pack in.
Nice basket by Woodyard as he shoots from ten feet over Smith.
Mindaugas puts up possibly the worst shot in BBL history and then somehow gets the rebound as it hit’s the arm of young kid Spragg and then he drives baseline and throws it the whole length of the half back over into hbis own court for the turnover.
Lynard Stewart scores at the opposite end and so does Charles Smith as the Eagles relentless tide.
To his credit Janiska replies with a little score to bounce back from his previous nightmare.
Woodyard is fouled after a score by Babalolaand goes to the line for two shots.
There is just five minutes left of this and I thank my blessings that I have my health. That is something. Although after Terrence misses the first - I am tempted to pull my hair out - actually it is falling out naturally through the stress of having to type up a report on this absolute pile of Brazilian World Footballer of the Year from AC Milan.
BOOM - Shaq goes to work inside for the first time this half and gets a nice score with a hook shot and then Lipsey nails a long, long three.
Can Riders add some respectability to the scoreline? Some dignity would be my first suggestion.
Lovely pass by Janiska to Mills who sums up why he is not better than he should be with a stunning athletic move to the hoop only to miss the lay-up above the rim.
Eagles now extracting some urine like an efficient BUPA catheter - as Babalola makes a three off some flashy passing. Eagles toying with Riders and its not good
Shaq strikes back and it is 80-47 with 2:10 left.
Mills then scores way high off the glass as they look to break the magic 50 barrier.
Defares has to get used to referring in the BBL as he fouls Mills on the halfd way line - puts his hand up to acknowledge and stops - it aint called and Mills continues and gets fouled at the hoop - he misses both free-throws
Dear oh dear
Emile Hopkins gets a score from a Lithuanian pass - well it is an airball of horrendous proportions but still - Riders get to the BIG 50 in the final 30 seconds
Babalola scores free throws down the other end and this waste of two hours of my life is almost at an end.
Aaron Nielsen Eagles kid scores but fouls Janiska who makes just one of two.
For some inexplicable reason the Riders trap with 15 seconds left and start fouling before the quote of the year as game MC calls time out “for a poke in the eye” on one of the players
Nielsen drains another two to the delight of the crowd and Janiska takes advantage of the Eagles players having hands on hips in final three seconds with a dribble and long three on the buzzer.

Stats [look away now]

 
8/21 FREE THROW 1/11 THREE POINT AND 24/65 FROM FIELD
 
Vear 6 pts 4 rp 2 assists 5 turnovers
Mills 4 pts 3 r 2 assists 2 turnovers
Jordan 4 pts 5 board 1 turnover
Hopkins 4 pts 4 rebounds 2 turnvovers
Lipsey 4 points 1 assist 4 turnvoers
Janiska 9 pts 2 rebounds 1 assist 1 turnover
Lamble 9 points 5 boards
Woodyard 7 points 5 rebounds 1 assist 1 turnover
Burns 3 rebounds
McKnight 10 points 2 rebounds 3 turnovers

Eagles

Smith 20
Defares 15
Babalola 15
Defoe 12
Stewart 11
Bridgey 7
Flournoy 3
Nielsen 3
Spragg 1
NO HYATT

My thanks to Paul Nilsen for the fantastic updates despite a few technical issues, please visit Paul's excellent www.badaball.com site for some great British B Ball entertainment!!
 

Riders lost a well contested game 104-88 in Newcastle last night, Chad McKnight leading the way with 21pts, Kyle Greathouse went 4/6 from deep and 3/3 from the line for his 15pts, Lamble, Woodyard and Burns also contributed well, JB also claiming 5 offensive boards in a fine display. The coach arrived back in Leicester at 2.45am so a lie in will be the key to a good performance against Everton tonight!

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders slid to another home defeat with a lacklustre showing against BiG Storage Cheshire Jets going down 80-93.

Coach Ford handed starts to Joel Burns and Barry Lamble at the expense of MD Janiska and Rod Wellington, Kyle Greathouse, Terrence Woodyard and Chad McKnight completed the starting five for Riders. Jets started TJ Walker, Richard Murphy, Jayson Obazuye, Shawn Myers and James Hamilton.

Hamilton got Jets off to a flyer with a threeball but unconverted and converted three point plays from Greathouse and Lamble saw Riders into an early lead. Obazuye got hot with 6 straight including a nice slam but Riders tied it up at 9 courtesy of McKnight going 1/2 and another three point play from the excellent Lamble. A 6-17 run from Jets had Leicester in early trouble as Murphy hit consecutive triples and Obazuye hit from inside and out to give Jets the initiative at 15-26 with 2m left. Greathouse and a long ranger from MD against a slam from Myers made it 20-28 Jets at the buzzer.

A 2-15 Jets burst at the beginning of the second had Riders reeling at 22-43 with Marc Pratt hitting 8 straight including two bombs, the only joy for Riders coming from a Janiska coast to coast lay in. Lamble then tipped in a Woodyard miss and converted a nice turnaround J to continue his good personal performance but this was the only real respite for Riders as Jets kept the lead pretty constant throughout the quarter, the only bonus for Leicester being Jets inability to make pairs at the line. Play of the game came with 0.7 ticks left on the board, Jets had endline possession which saw Walker lob the ball up for Shawn Myers who ghosted in from around the free throw line and took off for a mega slam which belied his veteran status! Jets leaving the floor 30-51 to the good.

Riders came out and tried to chip away at the deficit with JB and McKnight hitting and the hitherto out of sorts Woodyard finally getting free from TJ Walker to hit a three point play and a short jumper. Greathouse then made a couple of nice assists to pick out Burns and Rod Wellington and suddenly the gap had dropped to 13 with 4m to go. Riders had further chances to get closer but they were having a n ightmare from long range with Greathouse, Woodyard and Janiska all misfiring badly. A trademark tough lay in from TJ Walker ended the quarter with Jets holding a 49-65 lead.

MD hit from deep and slightly closer to give Riders a good start to the final stanza but Myers matched it exactly with 5 of his own.The gap was down to 11 at 59-70 after Walker picked up his fourth foul as MD attacked the rim, Janiska making 1/2. Myers then made a contentious three point play to ease Jets fears and four straight from Matt Otten extinguished any chance of an unlikely Riders come from behind win. McKnight fouled out with still 4.30 to go and Myers and Walker kept Riders at arms length to ease home despite a late Rider rally to cut it to nine at 75-84 [2.40s left] after good work from Woodyard and Janiska. Murphy then hit a dagger three and Obazuye, Pratt and Otten saw Jets home to a fully deserved 80-93 win.

Janiska led Riders with 19 while Wellington, Burns and the impressive Lamble all had 12 apiece with Barry also claiming an impressive 15 boards, 9 on the offensive end!. Both Woodyard and Greathouse had shooting nights to quickly forget, to quote Greathouse afterwards "It just wouldn't go in....." Terrence had 9pts and 9 boards while Kyle had 6pts and three assists.

Former Rider Shawn Myers was awesome for his 25pts including three big time jams, he also claimed 12 rebounds. Obazuye was tough to stop with 21 and Murphy hit some heartbreakers in his 11.

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders were outclassed by reigning league champions Guildford Heat in a one sided affair at the JSSC last night.

Riders started with Kyle Greathouse, MD Janiska, Rod Wellington, Terrence Woodyard and Chad McKnight while Heat started John May, Danny Gilbert, Mike Martin, Tony Dorsey and John Nottley.

The first quarter was a competitive affair with Janiska getting Riders off and running with a jump shot to which Heat replied with a Martin triple and two freebies from Dorsey. Chad McKnight canned a long ranger of his own on an emotional night for himself and Rod Wellington who unfortunately picked up 2 quick whistles to earn an early visit to the pine. Kyle Greathouse hit on a nice move to the basket but Dorsey was causing problems down low, scoring and getting some veteran calls in his favour. His turn around jumper making it 7 all after 3 minutes. Gilbert drained a three to push Heat into the lead but a nice dish from Russell Jordan to McKnight saw the ex Heat star make a nice lay in. More good work from Gilbert and Martin was replied by a three from Greathouse which Woodyard matched with one of his own to give Riders a 15-13 lead. Gilbert canned his second triple of the quarter and on the next trip down Jordan was mugged by John Nottley as he slashed to the hoop, the neck high challenge amazingly not being called unsportsmanlike but Jordan picked himself up to make 1/2 from the line. A nice turn around J from Barry Lamble kept Riders in front at 18-17 but a 7-2 run to end the quarter from Guildford including five from James Jones against a nice buzzer beater from Woodyard saw the LED's read 20-24 Heat after one.

Heat came out gunning 3-11 in the second with Gilbert, Dorsey and Nottley prominent with only a Woodyard triple in reply. Riders replied with a 7-0 run of their own with Janiska making two nice moves and McKnight getting inside and also making 1/2 from the line after Nottley was called for an unsportsmanlike which seemed strange as contact seemed minimal compared to his attack on Jordan earlier. Heat still had the lead at 30-35 but great hustle from Jones saw him convert a three point play and Dorsey hit again inside but missed the bonus. He went to work again inside but was blocked superbly by the athletic Woodyard who was promptly fouled down the other end by Dorsey, Terrence made both freebies [32-40] and buckets for Martin and Joel Burns off the bench left the score 34-42 Heat at the half.

Two sloppy turnovers from Riders saw them start the third poorly and this set the tone for the rest of the game. Heat started 6-18 to stretch away at 40-53 and Martin Ford had seen enough calling time out with 5.32 to play. More sloppy Riders play over the next four minutes including some poor shot selection and turnovers saw the lead balloon to 20 at 50-70 with Gilbert, Perry Lawson and Martin all contributing with Greathouse and McKnight trying to keep Riders in it. Chad McKnight then picked up his fourth foul and the game was up for Riders, the only bright spot being a great Lamble block on Gilbert as he powered to the hole to end the quarter with Heat up 50-71.

The fourth quarter was a non event save for the admirable Jordan trying his hardest inside for Riders. He had a three point play and a couple of trips to the line but Heat through Nottley, Dorsey and Martin kept the Surrey outfit way clear at 56-81. Coach Ford ran the bench as Emile Hopkins and James Cornell got rare court time to finish the game off. Barry Lamble kept plugging away with 6pts in the last two minutes but Nottley had the final bucket to leave the final score 67-94 Heat.

Riders achilles heel came back to haunt them tonight. Rebounds. Heat had second shot after second shot and Riders could hardly buy an offensive board all night...... Was the big guy in the grey tracksuit behind our bench a clue i wonder??

Chad McKnight led the scoring with 14, Kyle Greathouse had 12 while the hard trying Russell Jordan had 11 along with Terrence Woodyard who could only register a single free throw in the second half as Heat keyed in on him.

Hopefully we can rebound today in the Cup. [Pun was intended....]

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders snapped a four game losing skid with a composed performance in the North West on Sunday evening beating the hometown BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 86-93.

Riders started with Greathouse, Janiska, Wellington, Woodyard and McKnight while Jets went with Walker,Otten, Obazuye, Hamilton and Myers.

Riders seemed pumped for this one and got off to an absolute flyer by leading 2-11 after only 2.30s with Terrence Woodyard connecting from inside and out and Rod Wellington going to work inside with great authority with Jets only registering 2/4 free throws from James Hamilton. More inside play from Wellington and a long ranger from Mindaugas Janiska with only a Hamilton three coming by way of reply had Riders away with it at 5-16 with 6m to play. An 13-5 Jets run got things nearer parity at 18-21 and prompted Coach Ford into a time out to talk things over with 1.56s remaining. Joel Burns canned a three on the next play on a nice Greathouse dish but the increasingly influential former Rider Shawn Myers and Matt Otten with a three point play kept Jets close at the break trailing 23-27.

Jets tied things up at 27 all with four quick points from Myers and Jayson Obazuaye to open the second quarter, Darren Mills hit a tough runner in the lane to give Riders the advantage again but Otten tied it again at 29. Obazuye then hit five straight to give Jets their first lead but MD and Josh Lipsey hit back straight away for Riders. Obazuye and Myers again hit for Jets to give them a four point adavntage but MD again and another Woodyard three kept Riders close. Chad McKnight then hit his only bucket of the half , Wellington split a pair at the line as did Myers to leave the score 43-42 Jets at the half.

Chad McKnight came out firing in the third despite being in pain from a finger injury and drained consecutive threes to which Wellington hit 1/2 freebies against a Myers deuce to give Riders a 4pt lead at 45-49. The scores were knotted at 51 with baskets for Obazuye[2] and Hamilton ranged against a Woodyard power move inside but Shawn Myers then drilled a three and was fouled in the process, he missed the extra shot but Woodyard fancied his chances and he too was fouled on a three but missed the shot, but did make 2/3 from the line. Hamilton hit 2/2 from the line giving Jets a five point lead at 58-53 but McKnight and Woodyard both hit from deep with only a Hamilton free throw coming the other way to tie things again at 59! Russell Jordan's influence on the game was rising as he clamped down on the threat of Myers and he also hit 2/2 from the line as Riders ended the quarter with a one point lead at 65-66.

Joel Burns hit a jumper on the opening play of the final quarter to which McKnight swished another all string three and Riders eked out a lead at 65-71. Obazuye got Jets going with a tough lay in but another McKnight bucket and two free throws from Janiska were replied by Myers with two and 1/2 from the line. He was being made to work hard to even get the ball though as Jordan really started to put the clamps on defensively. Riders then had a quick 2-6 run to push themselves away at 72-81 and TJ Walker called time out to try and halt the Jets slide. He must have talked to himself in the break as he came out and hit 1/2 freebies plus a trademark knifing lay in to cut it to 6 at 75-81. Terrence Woodyard then effectively won it for Riders with a tough inside move and then on the defensive end he claimed a great steal and got down the other end to hit a long three! He and the team knew it was game over as Woodyard ran back with his arms aloft and the Riders bench were off their feet! Walker came right back though with a tough three point play but Janiska matched him with a fantastc defensive rebound and a coast to coast lay up in traffic which gave him an "and one" opportunity of his own which he drilled confidently. That made it 80-89 Riders with under 2m to play and Jets could only try and stop the clock but MD was faultless with 4/4 from the line to round off a fine personal performance. Obazuye tried to cut the deficit but Riders always had enough in hand to close out the game to gain a much deserved win 86-93.

Woodyard was peerless with 26pts and 10 rebs on 9/14 shooting, MD was superb with 19pts and some nerveless shooting down the stretch, Chad McKnight had 16 big second half points to end with 18pts and 12 boards, Wellington worked hard for 11, JB had a handy 10pts, Jordan had 5pts to go with some great defensive on danger man Myers, Millsy and Lipsey had 2pts apiece. Kyle Greathouse had a quiet performance points wise but dished out 7 assists and grabbed 4 boards whilst sharing point duties with Janiska.  Barry Lamble was again not suited up but was Chad McKnight's personal first aider after his finger and cramp problems! Riders hit 11 triples thanks to 4 each from Woodyard and McKnight, 2 from JB and 1 from Janiska.

Marshall Milton Keynes Lions broke the hearts of Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders tonight with a come from behind 74-77 victory at the JSSC tonight.

Riders started off hot from outside with Rod Wellington hitting on consecutive trips sandwiching an unfortunate Terrence Woodyard tip into his own net and a Dru Spinks bucket, Wellington then grabbed a great steal and made a lay up to which Kyle Greathouse added another triple which left the Lions reeling at 11-2 with 7.10 remaining. Their woes continued as even though Chad McKnight missed two free shots, Woodyard snared the offensive rebound and was fouled, he made 1/2 and then hit a triple on the next offense to make it 15-4 with 6.14s left to play in the first. Shawn Jamison got open inside for two and the returning Yorick Williams hit a banked two but McKnight and another all string threeball from the ultra impressive Woodyard pushed Riders away again. Good work from Darren Mills and Wellington against another Williams deuce and a Jamison score had Riders 12 clear at 24-12 with 1.58s to go. Williams was then fouled while attempting a triple but proceeded to miss all three foul shots! McKnight tipped in at the other end and two's from Woodyard and Joel Burns kept the cushion healthy with Terrell Brown closing out the first with two freebies leaving the score 28-16 to a rampant Riders.

Tony Windless set about redressing the balance with 6 straight to open the second stanza for the Lions to bring them back 28-22 down but a Janiska bomb stopped the mini run. Jamison then split a pair at the line but a fired up Russell Jordan entered the game and hit with his first shot to make it a ten point game at 33-23 Riders. A three and a deuce from McKnight pushed Riders further away at 38-23 with 4.29s left. More great stuff from the energetic Jordan kept Riders in front despite a 4-10 finish to the half  from the Lions to make the score 46-33 Riders at the half.

Riders hit the opening five points of the third quarter to stretch away at 51-35 and things looked cut and dried as interestingly Riders out rebounded Lions 33-17 in the first half and things looked dire for MK. They then turned things around with three straight threes from Heizer, Brown and Williams to make it a seven point game at 51-44. Woodyard then made a great spin move to the hole for two and Jordan tipped in for two more but a 14-0 Lions run including 4/4 foul shots from Brown, a three from Yorick and inside moves from Mike New [2] and Spinks gave kept Lions their first lead at 55-57.  Woodyard soon gave the kead back to Riders with another sweet three to end the quarter and give Riders a solitary point lead at 58-57.

Janiska made a great three point play to open the final quarter with a big defensive board and a coast to coast run to lay in and tuck away the freebie. Jamison then picked up his fourth foul and Woodyard rubbed it in with another long ranger to which Heizer replied with a deuce [64-59] but five straight from Yorick Williams including the game tieing three made it 64 each with 7.22 left. Jamison then picked up his 5th to leave the floor with Riders fans giving him the usual send off..... New hit a trademark running hook to nudge Lions ahead 64-66 but the superb Woodyard came roaring back with a great move inside fro two t tie it again at 66! Four from New against 2/2 freebies from Burns left it 68-70 with 3.29s to go. A crucial 6-0 tear from veterans New and Windless seemingly pushed Lions out of reach at 68-76 with 1.49s to play but gutsy play from McKnight and four from JB got Riders back in it at 74-76 with 52s remaining. Lions then had their old sweats to thank for guiding them to the win..... A Brown miss was boarded by Windless who fed Mike New, his shot rimmed out but Heizer claimed the crucial rebound. McKnight fouled him with 03.2s left to place Heizer on the line, he made 1/2 but Riders blew the inbounds play as McKnight could only pick out Brown and the game was up for Leicester.

Terrence Woodyard had a stellar game and didn't deserve to be on the losing side as he finished with 21pts and a stack of rebounds plus a couple of blocks, the banged up Chad McKnight had 13, Wellington hit 12, JB 9, Jordan had 8, Janiska 6, Greathouse 3 and Mills had 2. Barry Lamble was out injured.

A gutsy effort from Riders tonight who didn't deserve to lose, fair plat to the Lions whose canny veterans pulled it out for them in the end with former Rider Mike New in particular doing untold damage in the fourth quarter.

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks claimed a smash and grab raid in the final minute to steal the win 77-79.

Riders started with Greathouse, Janiska, Wellington, Woodyard and McKnight. Rocks went with Yanders, Hampton, Joseph, Davis and Wohlers.

Rocks came out firing from the arc with Joseph and Yanders both hitting from long range to which Moritz Wohlers added a pair of freebies. Riders hit back with 7 straight including an early triple from Greathouse and deuces from Janiska and McKnight. Rocks went 11-4 with Yanders hitting again from the arc backed up by Wohlers and Joseph. Terrence Woodyard canned a long ranger and a jump shot to get Riders going again but they still trailed 18-24 with 2m to go in the quarter. Rocks again stretched away with Hampton going backdoor twice in succession to gain easy lay ins to leave the scoreboard reading 22-30 at the break.

Woodyard slammed home a putback dunk to fire up the JSSC crowd to start the second and good work off the bench from Joel Burns and Russell Jordan got Riders back in the game and the gap reduced to three at 31-34 with 5.19s to go on the back of another Kyle Greathouse three pointer. Rob Yanders hit his fifth three from five attempts[!] but Rod Wellington and another Greathouse triple kept the gap at three points 36-39 with 2.24 remaining. Rocks player coach Sterling Davis then had two three point plays converting one and missing the second plus a lay up to hit 7 straight for the Scots to which Darren Mills and Greathouse again replied with deuces make it 40-46 Rocks at the half.

Chad McKnight picked up his third foul on the opening play of the third stanza but this only spurred the Riders on as a long three from Woodyard, deuces from Wellington and MD and a mega alley-oop play which saw Greathouse find Woodyard high in the air saw Riders grab the initiative at 49-46. Janiska then drove to bucket and picked out Greathouse for a baseline jumper to which he then added another deuce but Rocks didn't panic though and another three from the in form Yanders plus four from Joseph saw the Rocks fight back to tie it at 53 all with 4.07s left. Two McKnight charity shots plus1/2 from JB nosed Riders back in front and they increased the advantage after Bilal Clarence upset Neil Wilkinson and earned himself a "T" which Woodyard punished with 2 shots. JB then hit a tough three point play, McKnight got free inside and Riders had an eight point cushion at 63-55. Davis and a three point play from Hampton got Rocks back in at 63-60 but good work from Jordan and Mills pushed Riders away again at 67-60 going into the final quarter.

Riders got the gap out to 73-64 with McKnight hitting from deep and a little closer in and Rocks seemed to be in real trouble as Joseph fouled out with 5.25s still to play. This was quickly cancelled out as McKnight too got an early bath with his fifth personal to even things up. Rocks really stepped up the D though and Great play from Wohlers and Hampton saw the scores tied again at 73. Hampton then got himself a "T" for taking a flop which saw Jordan hit both freebies but Yanders tied it up again at 75 with 2.16s to go. Riders were then given another golden chance to get away as Sterling Davis picked up an unsportsmanlike foul but the usually deadly Burns could only make 1/2 from the line. Another lifeline was extended to Leicester when Gareth Murray picked up a Tech and this time Greathouse could only make 50% from the line making it 77-75 Riders with 1.08 left.This would prove to be Riders final score of the game as Rocks then got level after some great Hampton hustle saw him grab a Davis airballed three and climb high to put it back to tie things up again! Rod Wellington then got called for another unsportsmanlike foul but Hampton could only make 1/2 to sneak Rocks ahead 77-78 with 17.1s left. Riders then turned it over but Yanders got hammered to put him on the line where he too sunk 1/2 to edge Rocks 2two clear at 77-79. Coach Ford called a time out to run a play to win it for Leicester with 11s left. Janiska brought the ball up and pulled up for a triple, if it dropped he would have been the hero but unfortunately for the Lithuanian it rimmed out much to the disgust of Ford who it seemed had asked for something else duting the time out. Riders had to foul to stop the clock and put Clarence on the line. Amazingly he choked the pair and Riders had 6s to rescue it but Wellington's dribble and halfway line heave for three never lokked like making it and the Rocks celebrated a spectacular win.

Kyle Greathouse led the way for Riders with his best offensive display of the season with 16pts, Chad McKnight hit 15 despite being hampered throughout with foul trouble while Terrence Woodyard had 14 plus double figure rebounds too.

The very impressive Rob Yanders had 23 including six triples, Maurice Hampton added 18 and player coach Sterling Davis chipped in 16.

Coach Ford and the players must be wondering how they dropped this one and hopefully they will react in a positive fashion as they are not far away from clicking into a pretty useful outfit, although the rebounding situation will be giving Coach Ford sleepless nights.

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders hopes of three straight road wins were dashed last night at the University of Worcester as the home town Wolves got their frist win of the season.

Wolves showed their intent from the off with an Anthony Paez triple to which Skouson Harker added a jumper while Riders registered with two Rod Wellington freebies. Riders seemed intent on shooting threeballs early but this backfired badly as Woodyard, Janiska and McKnight all drew iron on consecutive trips down the floor. Finally Kyle Greathouse managed to convert a longranger and Woodyard got free inside to get himself going ranged against two's from Shaun Durant and Chuck Evans which left Riders down 9-7 with 7.17s remaining. Paez then got hot with six straight with only a Wellington jumper in reply, scores were then traded until some sloppy Riders play led to four more Paez points including a steal and breakaway slam which saw the lead swell to 26-16 with 3.30s to go. Riders three point gunners then hit the target as Joel Burns hit straight off the pine and Woodyard also canned a long bomb to cut it to four at 26-22.The increasingly impressive Paez then hit four freebies, Durant got free inside and Janiska ran the clock down and hit a two on the buzzer to leave the score 32-24 Wolves after one.

Into the second and Riders introduced Barry Lamble to try and gain parity on the glass and he cancelled out a Paez score with one of his own. Coach Ford was trying his hardest to slow up Paez and he finally stuck Wellington on him to try and quell his scoring, this worked as he hit only 6pts in the quarter as against 17 in the opening stanza. Riders spread their scoring around with Lamble, Woodyard and Wellington all successful with Durant the main aggressor as Paez was now blanketed by Wellington. Greathouse canned a triple to make it 44-37 with 2.22s remaining but Durant and two Paez charity shots against four from Wellington who was Riders only consistant offensive threat at this point. The half time scoreboard read 50-43 Wolves.

I'd imagine Coach Ford made a few strongly worded statements at the break as Riders came out with a point to prove and reeled off a 4-16 run with Wellington, Lamble and triples from Greathouse and Woodyard giving them the lead at 54-55. The bad news was Wellington picking up foul number four and leaving the floor..... Paez breathed a sigh of relief and promptly hit consecutive three point plays, the final one giving Wolves the lead back at 62-61 with 2.09 left on the clock. Five straight from Wolves pushed them away again but two Darren Mills freebies  left the score 67-63 into the final quarter.

Barry Lamble came out strong with some nice inside moves  to hit 7 early for Leicester, unfortunately Paez, Harker and consecutive 3's from the previously awry Hallgrimson pushed Wolves away again at 78-72 with 7.05s left. A hammer blow then hit Leicester as Wellington fouled out after a display which should have been rewarded with a better ending for him. Another three from Michael Gayle and and two's from Mallon and Paez again eased Wolves clear at 83-76 with 5.12s to go. The previously invisible Chad McKnight finally got going inside and hit from the floor and the line plus Mills got a putback to make it 86-81 with 1.41s left. Woodyard cut it to three as Harker fouled out but three straight poor plays from Darren Mills sealed Riders fate. He first tried an ambitious scoop up finger roll which drew air, he then fouled Chuck Evans who hit the freebies and then he jacked up a wild three which wasn't the best option available. Poor Mills was inconsolable as Coach Ford took him to one side to deliver a few words of wisdom as Evans hit four more freebies as Riders tried to stop the clock the final score was 92-85 Wolves.

It would be wrong to blame Darren for the defeat though as more senior players didn't exactly set the world on fire and the saying "you win as a team and lose as a team" should be the case here. Shot selection and execution will no doubt be the topic in training this week.

Paez lit it up for Wolves with 36 from all areas on the floor, Riders were led by Wellington with 17, Woodyard claimed 16 and the impressive Lamble scored 13 off the bench.

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders were given a harsh lesson in shooting last night as Newcastle Eagles put on a superb display of long range bombing backed up by a tough inside game too.

Riders hit the opening bucket through Janiska but Jeremy Hyatt [who normally cannot hit a cow's backside with a banjo at JSCC] hit two quick triples to signal a portent of things to come. Eagles had the luxury of leaving GB point Richard Midgley out of the starting five but he entered with 5 minutes to go and hit a long three which Kyle Greathouse matched for Riders to make it 13-19 Eagles. A great Joel Burns move to the hole gained him a converted three point play which Charles Smith answered with a short jumper but Riders then hit five straight with a Chad McKnight long ranger plus a Rod Wellington bucket to tie things up at 21 all with 1.26 to go. Eagles then hit seven of their own to close out the quarter through Defoe, Flournoy and Sherlock to leave it 21-28 Eagles after one.

The second quarter saw the lead hover around the seven point marker and bulge at eleven before Riders hit an 8 zip run to really narrow the gap at 38-41 with good work from Wellington, McKnight and a faltering Terrence Woodyard who left his outside woes for a moment with a strong putback dunk. Olu Babalola stopped the run with a big three pointer, Woodyard hit again but four from the very impressive Midgley led Eagles to the locker rooms up 40-48.

A Charles Smith deuce opened the third for Eagles but MD hit a triple which Fab replicated at the other end. Woodyard's tough night continued with 0/4 from the line which Eagles punished with an 18-4 run with Andrew Bridge prominent plus more long range pain supplied by Babalola, Hyatt and Bridge plus the unstoppable inside presence of Lynard Stewart making it 49-71 and game over...... Midgely continued to hurt Riders with his accuracy and passing with only Rod Wellington an offensive threat for Riders who went into the final quarter down 61-85

Into the fourth, Riders cut it to 20 on the back of a long ranger from Greathouse and another inside move from Wellington but Eagles comfortably kept Riders at arms length while running their bench. Barry Lamble hit 6 in the quarter and Woodyard hit five straight at the end in a marked contrast to his earlier shooting efforts which were awry to say the least. The final score was 80-99 Eagles which didn't really reflect the gulf in class and more importantly, budget and resources.

Scorers to follow..........

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders broke a 12 year opening night hoodoo as they trounced Team Birmingham Panthers 101-79 at a packed John Sandford Centre tonight.

Riders started with MD Janiska [above], Joel Burns, Russell Jordan, Rod Wellington and Barry Lamble as Martin Ford eased his new Americans in gently over the course of the game.  A 7-0 Riders burst opened things with 2's for MD, Jordan and a Wellington bomb with Panthers then getting on the board through Missere. A further four points from MD and Wellington with 6.53 remaining saw Riders up 11-2. Chad McKnight checked in with a quick deuce which Joel Burns matched as Riders threatened to run riot early. Adam Williams and Cam Wright then hit 5 as Panthers searched for a foothold but MD and McKnight from the line made it 19-9 Riders. A further 7-0 Riders run including an MD triple, two freebies from Emile Hopkins and a JB lay in on a nice Terrance Woodyard dish made it 26-9 Riders and the JSSC was rocking! Wellington and Burns again hit for Leicester before 4 from Williams Opeme and a Rob Paternostro freebie made it 30-14 at the break.

MD hit from long range to start the second but Panthers suddenly decided to start playing defence and and with Cam Wright heating up from outside and Neil Wilkinson caning his new whistle with a flurry of technicals for MD, Missere, Paternostro and MD again[!] the score was 39-29. Russell Jordan then calmed things with some strong play but Adam Williams and Missere again kept Panthers in it at 44-39 with two mins left in the half. Kyle Greathouse then picked up a "T" from the unbelievably touchy MIG's and Lekan Popoola hit four freebies to make things really interesting but a great Wellington buzzer beater made it 49-42 Riders at the half.

Long range shooting was prominent in the third as Popoola and Sandell sandwiched one from McKnight. Four from Wellington and Burns against another 2 from Sandell made it 56-50 Leicester. Panthers then got on a mini run with 5 from Irrea and Williams which Riders could only reply with two Wellington freebies as the offence started to misfire slightly which led Coach Ford to call time out with the score 58-55 with 3.20 to go. Lamble hit on the restart but Sandell drilled another defiant three ball to keep Riders honest. The new Leicester Americans then announced their arrival with threes for both Woodyard and Greathouse answered only by a Paternostro lay in to make it 69-60 Leicester with one quarter to go.

The athletic Woodyard tipped in to get Riders going in the final stanza and five from McKnight and JB against four freebies from Paternostro and Williams made it 76-64 Riders. The long bombs then began to rain on Panthers as Woodyard, McKnight [2] and JB all torched the net from distance with a solitary Wright triple coming the other way as it went threeball crazy with the onlooking Brian Dux applauding his mate McKnight from the end line! Another from JB made it 88-69 and game over  as the Panthers could not recover from the onslaught. MD then made a stunning move with a block and a coast to coast lay in to fire up the already jubilant crowd.  Wellington hit seven to nudge Riders over the ton with only the game Popoola answering back for the Brummies. The final score reading 101-79 Riders.

MD Janiska was named MVP with 23pts, seven assists and 5 steals, a great debut [Labas, aciu!!! - Hello and thanks in Lithuanian!]. He was ably assisted by JB and Wellington [18] with McKnight [17]  and young Russell Jordan [10] also impressing. Terrence Woodyard and Kyle Greathouse both got into the game as it wore on with Woodyard in particular looking very smooth on the wing.

Coach Ford can be pleased with a good performance from his new team which can only improve as it gels.

Panthers had 15 from Popoola and 14 from former Rider Adam Williams but they were under manned and under prepared really as the start of the season seems to have come three weeks early for them.

A vastly undermanned Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders performed heroically at the Northgate Arena tonight eventually going down by a single point with 5s left to BiG Storage Cheshire Jets.

Coach Martin Ford was without his 3 American signings whereas TJ Walker had a pretty full roster to pick from with only Chris Brown missing from his full squad. Riders started with Joel Burns, Janiskas "MD" Mindaugas, Russell Judd[?], new signing Roderick Wellington and Barry Lamble. Jets went with Walker, Jayson Obazuye, Marc Pratt, Gianni Costantiello and James Hamilton.

Italian Costantiello got open for a lay up to open the scoring but Riders hit back with Wellington opening his Rider account with 3/3 from the line after being fouled. This set the tone for the opening stanza as baskets were exchanged with Wellington prominent and Obazuye also looking good. Jets opened the first lead of the night at 14-8 with Pratt and the impressive Obazuye to the fore. Mindaugas was 0-3 from deep at this stage as Riders looked for a foothold. Youngster Emile Hopkins came off the bench and hit four quick points along with two more for the fired up Wellington had the score 16-14 Jets.A 6-0 run with four for Obazuye and a bucket off the bench for Duppra[?] gave Jets an eight point lead which was stretched to nine [27-18] at the break despite another great move from the athletic Hopkins for Riders.

Riders went to the arc in an attempt to get back in it with "MD" stripping Walker at half court and unleashing an all string pull up triple which was matched by JB to open the second before Pratt and Walker hit four to steady Cheshire before an 8-0 Rider run had them in front at 31-32 on another long ranger from MD. Five more from Obazuye were matched by another threeball from MD who was really heating up after a sticky start. Jets then held leads of two, four and six ponts before Wellington went to work again to make it a three point game at 45-42 Jets. The dark cloud for a small Riders outfit was Lamble picking up foul number four on the stroke of halftime.

Hopkins came in for Lamble at the start of the third but Obazuye was again hot with six and Pratt also hit two against scores from Wellington and Judd[?] to make it 55-49 Jets. That became 57-50 thanks to a Duppra freebie before five from MD including a banked three[!] and more great work from Wellington inside made it 59-57 Jets.Riders finished with five from Burns to make it 63-62 Jets at the end of three/

Wellington was on his way to an MVP performance with 5 plus Judd[?] hit two to give Riders the lead at 63-67 plus Pratt fouled out for Jets. An Obazuye three followed by a JB lay in made it 66-71 and time out Jets! it had the appropiate effect with seven straight to make it 73-71 Jets but Burns again torched a three to nose Riders in front by one 73-74 The free throw line was where it was going to be won or lost and so it proved as Riders started to misfire with MD and Wellington both missing chances. A Lamble putback put Riders up 75-77 before Hamilton and Walker gave Jets a one point lead 79-78. Burns got free inside for two to push Leicester in front again and MD made 1/2 from the line to make it 79-81 Riders. A Duppra freebie made it 80-81 Riders but Lamble was hammered by Walker at the halfcourt to put the big man on the line, unforrtunately his missed both and Jets got the rebound, Walker out letting to Duppra for the winner fromclose range. Riders had one last chance but MD's shot was blocked by Hamilton.

All in all, a terrific performance by Leicester, led by Rod Wellington who starred on debut with 29 points, MD had 18, Joel Burns hit 17 with Hopkins, Lamble and Judd[?] combining for 17 between them.

Obazuye hit 28 for the Jets who had a hell of a fright...........

Coach Martin Ford had this to say after the game "I thought our guys left everything on the floor out there tonight, we had a guy on the line with 14secs left to put us up 3 but Chester nicked it. We had no set plays or any structured offense or defense and considering we were 3 big hitters down and Chester were only missing one shows how well we did, our guys should hopefully be in Monday night/Tuesday morning and they will train Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The work permits have been lodged, the agent at the other end has to do his bit now. "

www.ridersballonline.com says: A performance that bodes well for the season ahead, Riders were undersized and lacking in experience against the Jets veterans but the youngsters in Hopkins, Judd[?] and Curtis showed glimpses of their talent. Rod Wellington was immense and will be a great pick up, he has been made captain and will be a steadying influence on the team. MD will be a massive hit once he is on the end of some set plays and will be a threat from range. Bring on Brum!

Riders closed out their final regular season home game with a workmanlike victory against basement boys Worcester, although Wolves kept Riders honest throughout the final margin of 87-78 was a fair reflection of the game.

A slow start came from both sides with Riders sharing the early scoring around to take an 11-6 lead after 5 minutes, scores from Del Herriman, a Rob Paternostro triple and deuces from Terrance McGee, Drew Alleyne and Yorick Williams nosing the boys in red ahead. Solomon Sheard hit 4 early inside for Wolves as they attempted to keep with Leicester. Darren Mills and Barry Lamble both hit off the bench with Alleyne hitting 1/2 freebies with only an Andy Harper threeball registering for Wolves as Riders led 15-9 with 3.29 left in the first. James Noel then hit four for Wolves inside plus two freebies from Harper helped Worcester close the gap but another Paternostro long ranger kept Riders ahead 23-17 at the break.

Riders came out strong with seven straight from McGee [3] and buckets for Herriman and Alleyne but Noel and Tom Perkes quickly replied for Worcester. Alleyne and a three point play from the impressive Herriman stretched Riders out to a 35-23 advantage with 5 minutes left. Tom Perkes then lost his cool after being whistled for a foul, his extra rabbit to referee Lawes resulting in a technical foul which the cool handed Yorick Williams punished with 4 all string free throws which Drew Alleyne added a deuce to to make it 41-25 Riders. Wolves then mounted a mini fightback with a 13-7 run to the break with Noel and Sergio Rodriguez to the fore. Riders headed for the locker rooms with a 48-35 half time lead.

Wolves obviously had a pep talk at the break and came out 7-2 with Sheard proving a menace inside, a Paternostro technical didn't help Riders cause and the gap was down to 6 at 54-48. Riders steaded the ship though with McGee, Alleyne and Lamble hitting 6 between them with only a Noel reply making it 60-50. Tit for tat scores followed with the score being 67-56 with a minute left but four from Sheard and a freebie from Noel closed out the quarter making it 67-61.

Wolves started the final quarter hot and made it a three point game[69-66] with a three from Matt Collins and another inside move from Sheard against a McGee jumper for Riders. Yorick then hit 6 in a row with Alleyne adding a three point play to calm the large crowd's nerves. Sheard and Noel tried in vain to stem the tide but Riders eased home down the stretch with a plethora of freebies as Wolves tried desperately to stop the clock. Sheard and Perkes fouled out and Herriman and Paternostro guided Riders home from the line with some steady shooting as Wolves ran dry on offense.

Del Herriman hit the final field goal of the season to make it 89-78 final and a guaranteed play off berth which is some achievement given the off field distractions this season.

Drew Alleyne led the scoring again with 21 backed up by Terrance McGee and Del Herriman with 15 apiece.

www.ridersballonline.com says: A low key but resolute performance by Riders saw them into the play offs as Worcester proved dogged opponents tonight. Drew Alleyne continued his fine recent form, Terrance McGee had a struggle offensively as he couldn't buy a call from the refs all night but still hit 15. Mr Reliable Del Herriman had a productive night with 15 points and some big rebounds and Rob Paternostro was effective from long range early to get Riders rolling.

Well done to the team for securing a play off berth, now can we pull off a shock an get an upset on the road in the post season????

This was probably one of the best if not THE best performances by Riders tonight at the John Sandford. They pulled off yet another big, big win over one of the BBL superpowers, this time it was last seasons clean sweepers the Newcastle Eagles which slid on the Barry Lamble inspired banana skin as Riders took the points with an 86-84 victory.

Riders started pretty slowly as early tough D from Eagles saw them ease out to a 6-10 advantage with the immaculate Tony Dorsey proving a real handful for Del Herriman and Drew Alleyne inside. More great work from Dorsey, Shawan Robinson and Jerry Hyatt took Eagles out to 11-19 with Darren Mills hitting 4 early points to keep Riders in it. Alleyne, Terrance McGee and a rare bomb from the impressive Mills saw Riders make inroads at the break finishing the quarter 18-24 down.

Riders came out and immediately cut it to a three point game at 21-24 but Robinson and Darius Defoe edged Eagles away again before four from Alleyne and McGee made it 25-29. Baskets were then exchanged as the scoreboard read 30-37 Eagles. Yorick Williams then started to fire for Leicester and Barry Lamble came off the bench with a vengeance with 6 quick points and some great D on the previously hot Dorsey. Stand in point guard Fab Flournoy then treated everyone to a couple of beautifully cooked, light and fluffy turnovers and Riders were back in it at 36-39. Riders were rolling now as Dorsey found himself backing down on Kareem Abdul Lamble who rejected his jumper in fine style which energised the crowd and good foul shooting from McGee and Williams had Riders into the lead at 42-41 with a minute to go. Defoe gave Eagles the lead back but it was shortlived as the crafty Rob Paternostro ran the clock down and hit a classic runner on the buzzer to send Riders in 1 up and in good spirits at the break.

Drew Alleyne hit the opening score of the third, Yorick hit a triple and 1/2 Alleyne foul shots were only answered by a Robinson lay in and a jumper as Riders sneaked away 50-47. The lead then swapped hands as baskets were traded and Riders held a tenous 57-56 lead. An 8-0 Eagles burst with five from Robinson and three from Dorsey pushed Eagles out to a 64-57 lead which Riders quickly cut into with an 8-4 tear with Paternostro again sneaking to the hole twice plus McGee hit a jumper too leaving the score 65-68 Eagles on the buzzer.

Drew Alleyne came out like a man possessed and hit 8 in a 10-2  Riders burst to start the final stanza with the impressive Lamble hitting the other deuce which Hyatt could only reply with a solitary bucket for the Eagles. Riders had the lead 75-70 and the JSSC was rocking! More good offence from Leicester had the lead out to 83-76 with Wilt The Stilt Lamble proving unstoppable inside and McGee was also adding good support from the back court. Eagles had one more comback in them and a 7-0 run with 2 mins left got the score back to 83-80 Riders. Del Herriman then fouled out for Riders but Flournoy could only make 1/2 from the line and McGee then found Lamble inside again for another lay in to make it 85-81 with 30 secs to go. An all string Hyatt three made it a one point game with 8 secs left but Riders were guided home by Rob Paternostro who hit 1/2 foul shots to seal a terrific 86-84 Riders victory with no time left for a final Eagles shot.

Drw Alleyne was an animal inside for his 25pts, Terrance McGee chipped in 17 and the superb Barry Lamble hit a career high 16pts in a display he can be proud of.

Dorsey led the Eagles with 21pts, 11 of which came in the first quarter.

www.ridersballonline.com says: What a great game! Riders thoroughly deserved the W tonight in a game that Barry Lamble will remember for a long time. A superb personal performance from the back up centre gained him 16pts and the winning field goal to boot as he only missed two shots all night [i think!]. Drew Alleyne continued his stunning current form and was unstoppable down low while Terrance McGee was a steadying influence at the point. Darren Mills was a spark from the bench and he got Riders going after a slow start. Well done fellas, just don't throw the good work away now and drop it against Worcester next week.....!!

Riders eased past a depleted but plucky Chester Jets with a composed team performance,.

Riders started slowly and they failed to trouble the scorers for 3 minutes until Terrance McGee hit a triple, unfortunately Jets had already hit 8pts of their own with Louis McCullough starting well. McGee hit his three ball after a Karl Brown time out and further long rangers from Yorick Williams and Rob Paternostro got Riders moving offensively, Drew Alleyne was proving tough to stop inside and Riders took an early 15-12 lead despite McGee picking up 2 quick fouls. More good work came from Darren Mills and Adam Williams off the bench as Riders took the first stanza 21-16.

The lead stayed constant through the early minutes of the second with Singleton prominent inside for Jets but Alleyne and Del Herriman were firing well for Leicester. Riders seized a 37-30 advantage on the back of a McGee long ranger and a three point play from the dominant Alleyne. McCullough and Alto Virgil kept Jets in it though as the teams left the court at half time with Riders up 5 at 43-38.

Jets went to the arc in the third with the talented McCullough hitting three straight early but Riders held their nerve with Williams [5], a Del Herriman spin move and another three point play from the powerful Alleyne keeping their noses in front at 53-47. Herriman was an animal on the glass for Leicester throughout and his hard nosed display against his former team set up a Riders rampage as the lead ballooned to 66-51 with Paternostro, Herriman, Yorick and a McGee bomb all contributing. A further 9-0 Riders run with Mills, Herriman, Williams and McGee all hitting from a variety of ranges stunning the tiring Jets into submission with an excellent Adam Williams tip in on the buzzer making it 77-57 Riders.

Riders kept their feet on the gas to take it out to 82-61 in the fourth before a 5-10 Jets reply briefly raised their hopes at 87-71. Riders regained the initiative though with McGee and the hugely impressive Barry Lamble to the forefront before Drew Alleyne emphatically finished the scoring with a slam to make it Riders 94-77 Jets final.

Riders spread the scoring well with Yorick Wiliams leading the way with 24, Drew Alleyne was unstoppable inside with 20 while Terrance McGee hit 18 and also dished out double figure assists. Another double double came from Del Herriman who hit 14pts and grabbed a stack of rebounds. Barry Lamble boarded well and had 6pts, Rob Paternostro had 5 points in a quiet outing while Adam Williams and Darren Mills provided great spark off the pine.

www.ridersballonline.com says: A comfortable win over a short-handed 6 man Jets outfit was just the tonic after last weekend's double defeats. My man of the match would go to Del Herriman who was a force at both ends ably backed up by Drew Alleyne. The back court functioned well with good shot selection and passing from McGee while Yorick was hot from the arc too. Barry Lamble deserves credit too for his ever improving displays. An away win tomorow would go down a treat!

Riders came within 3.6secs of toppling another of the BBL form sides at the John Sandford on Saturday. Another spirited team effort so nearly resulted in an upset result but ultimately it was not to be..........

Riders started rather shakily and were soon down 7-12 as good work from Jeff Bonds and Blake Shelton left Riders looking for an early foothold in the game. Bonds and Shelton continued their good start through the first with only Terrance McGee and 5/6 free throws from Drew Alleyne keeping Riders close. Barry Lamble provided a good spark off the bench as Del Herriman picked up two quick fouls and Lamble's four points plus some good rebounding made the score 21-25 at the break.

It was the Alleyne and Herriman show at both ends for Leicester in the second as a good start to the period gave Riders their first lead at 30-29, Riders kept their good work going with McGee starting to find his range despite having various Sharks draped over him and a fine period of play from McGee, Darren Mills and Lamble saw Riders go in at the half time break 10 up at 49-39.

Sharks came out with Pete Scantlebury's half time "advice" ringing in their ears as 9 straight points were quickly registered with Atiba Lyons proving a handful but an amazing long three from the hitherto quiet Yorick Williams and more great work from the impressive Lamble saw Riders regain their composure to lead 56-50. Sharks then hit six straight and the unfortunate Lamble picked up his fourth which signalled a spell on the pine.More good work though from the emerging Del Heriman and a Williams three point play saw Riders hold a 63-59 lead which led to a Sharks time out which had the desired effect as the impressive Bonds and Shelton tied it up at 63 all at the quarter break.

A cheeky Paternostro three point play opened the 4th stanza but Riders were then hit with Herriman's 4th personal foul which could have been fatal. However, a 9-1 Riders run had the lead out to 80-71 with a great Paternostro assist finding McGee loitering on the arc for a big triple being the highlight. Sharks called timeout to steady the ship but Bonds was quickly whistled for his fourth foul and Blake Shelton picked up a facial injury going after a rebound with Darren Mills with 4.47 left. An unsavoury spat between Steddy Baker and Paternostro led to an unsportsmanlike call on RP and a surprising ejection for Baker which only served to pump up the Sharks..... Further refereeing interjections saw Bonds foul out on a double foul call with Yorick Williams as the score read 85-79 Riders. Eddie Cage then started to play big for once and attacked the hole well with only Herriman proving effective for Riders at this point. Paternostro then picked up his fifth to leave the game and more good work from Cage saw the gap close to two at 87-85. Todd Cauthorn was the next to foul out but the previously immaculate Herriman missed both charity shots, this gave Sharks a chance of the lead but Shelton badly airballed a three on the next trip down with Atiba Lyons fouling out for Sharks shortly after. Adam Williams hit 1/2 from the line to ease Riders three clear at 88-85 but Sharks had the last offence for a last shot at glory. Riders almost stole the ball through Mills and then Yorick Williams but with 3.6s left it resulted in a sideline possession for Sharks who somehow got Shelton free outside, McGee tried to crash through the screen but couldn't make it and Shelton swished a pressure three ball on the buzzer! 88 all and overtime.....

With Sharks three starters down the smart money was on Leicester in O/T but Sharks got out of the traps quickly and when former Rider Joel Burns hit a big three from the corner it was Goodnight Irene for the weary Riders as that made it 90-96 and no way back seemingly...Riders then got it back to 94-97 through McGee and Alleyne and they had possession which could have tied or closed the gap further, unfortunately McGee and Mills got a touch carried away and an unwise alley oop attempt from McGee to Mills saw a fast break chance go begging and the game was up. Alleyne was then called for a harsh 4th foul which he compounded with a "T" to leave the game,  all of which left Eddie Cage to seal it from the line with 4/4, Sharks eventually running out 94-101 winners........

Alleyne led Leicester with 21, Del Herriman was superb with 20 points and 13 boards and Terrance McGee had to work hard for his 20pts and 10 assists. The excellent Blake Shelton hit 28 for Sharks, backed up by Bonds with 23 and Cage with 21.

www.ridersballonline.com says: So close for Riders with another gutsy performance against a top team. The excellent Herriman and Alleyne didn't deserve to be on the losing side, along with the fast improving Lamble. McGee was closely shadowed but still managed 20pts while a subdued Yorick Williams failed to fire all evening really, although his "D" on dangerman Bonds didn't go unnoticed.

Blake Shelton defied a bloody nose to drag Sharks over the line, could this be a defining game in Sharks season........?

As for the refereeing performances, the less said the better. Some shockingly bad calls both ways which left both sets of fans rubbing their eyes at times.........

Riders gained quick revenge over the Lions with a resounding 104 -90 win at the JSSC tonight with Terrance McGee again giving another terrific display with 39pts to guide Riders home.

Rides jumped out to an early 10-7 lead on the back of good shooting from Williams, McGee and Alleyne and a further 12-1 run had the lead out to 22-8 with good work from Del Herriman, Rob Paternostro, McGee and Alleyne again which forced MK coach Tom Hancock into an early time out. Unfortunately for him, McGee hit another triple on the re-start but the impressive Mike New and Tony Windless hit for MK to get them into double figures. 2/3 freebies from McGee saw Riders to the break 27-16 to the good.

Early in the second, Riders had stretched it out to 33-18 with four freebies from Alleyne and McGee and two inside from Herriman. Yorick Williams then saw the red mist descend after being called for a questionable offensive foul, he received a technical from Neil Wilkinson, that only served to fire him up even more so he got another which led to an inevitable disqualification and exclusive first call on the hot water.........six charity shots was the upshot for the Lions of which Robert Youngblood made five and suddenly the Lions had a sniff at 39-28. Riders re-grouped and kept their composure however with McGee, Alleyne, another Paternostro long ranger and a superb reverse lay in from Adam Williams taking the lead out to 50-34 at the half. Lions looked as though their overtime exertions last night in Newcastle were catching up with them with only the admirable New showing anything like the required effort.

Robert Youngblood hit a deuce to open the third but a triple from Darren Mills and two each from Alleyne and Herriman plus another three ball from McGee had Riders clear at 62-40, Lions again relying on New for their points. A 9-2 run from Lions briefly threatened a comeback with a three point play from veteran Baker, Youngblood, Jamison and Windless also hitting inside making it 64-49. Baskets were then exchanged with Riders leading 70-53 with McGee prominent again and the lead was stretched out to 77-61 at the break with Adam Williams getting involved well off the bench.

Terrell Brown hit five and Peter Heizer two in a 7-0 start to the fourth for Lions but every time they threatened a comeback Riders found a score and McGee landed another three to steady the ship at 80-68. Darren Mills then followed Yorick to the showers with his fifth foul after some back chat earned him a tech which 'Blood punished with two foul shots, Heizer hit again to make it a ten point game at 72-82 but McGee, Adam Williams and Del Herriman again pushed Riders out to a 91-77 lead with 4.23 left. A 10-5 Lions run including three from the underused Griffin and three foul shots from Brown got it down to 9 at 96-87. Riders got the next four from the line through McGee and Herriman and the hundred came up. Lions then had to stop the clock but Riders were strong from the line to ease away again and take it 104-90. Lions troubles led to the unfamiliar sight of Shawn Jamison jacking up a three which amazingly reached the rim, just.......

www.ridersballonline.com says: A great win tonight but it could have been thrown away by indiscipline, the team rallied round after Yorick's disqualification and really pulled together. Adam Williams and Barry Lamble both seeing extended minutes, Del Herriman was awesome at both ends against much bigger players, Alleyne was his usual dominant self and Terrance McGee really epitomised everything this Riders team is about, he refused to lose and guided his team home with some classy shooting and reliable foul shooting.

McGee ended with 39 big points, Alleyne had 16 and a good offensive performance came from Rob Paternostro with 14. Robert Youngblood and Mike New were the only plus points fro MK with 24 and 14 respectively.

The three previous games between these two sides were won by United by a combined total of four points, Riders changed all that with a terrific display of long range shooting to blow United away 107-70.

Terrance McGee set the tone from the off with consecutive triples and quickly hit four more points to give Riders an early 10-6 lead. More great work from a fired up McGee saw him hit a three point play as well to grab 13 first quarter points, Rob Paternostro also hit from deep as did Yorick Williams as Riders went to the arc to torch United early. Only some good work from Tarick Johnson and LaTaryl Williams kept United in it at 23-16 at the quarter break.

McGee continued the long range assault with two more to start the second, Yorick hit five and a Delme Herriman free throw saw the lead bulge to 35-18. Johnson continued to be the only threat for United with five of his own which was added to by a Laurent Irish deuce and the score was 39-27 Riders. McGee was still in the zone though and a three point play plus Tarick Johnson picking up his 3rd foul meant more trouble for United as Alleyne hit inside, Yorick hit 2/3 freebies and McGee hit another jumper to end the half with 24 personal and Riders well clear 51-35.

Into the third and McGee opened with 2/3 freebies which Alleyne added to with a tough inside move. Enter Yorick Williams who hit four consecutive long rangers and the crowd were on their feet. With no-one able to back up Johnson, Riders stretched away and the lead ballooned to 67-42, the only worry for Riders was Del Herriman's foul trouble [4]. McGee was still feeling it as he hit the 30pt mark with two free throws which took the score out to 82-58 at the interlude. United were buried at this point and would have been even further behind but for Johnson's shooting.

Yorick got Riders away in the final stanza with two, LaTaryl Williams marked his debut by fouling out for United but a great stick back by Herriman and charity shots from Alleyne and McGee kept Riders out of reach. Adam Williams made an immediate impact off the bench with a three point play which McGee backed up with more dead eyed shooting and the score was 95-66 with Riders in cruise control. United then lost debutant Haif and the gallant Johnson to the bench with five fouls each and Riders bench coasted home with Lamble and Pearson combing well for easy scores, Lamble brought up the hundred and he also hit the last six for Leicester to round off an emphatic display.

McGee had 37, Yorick Willliams claimed 24 and Drew Alleyne 14 with everyone else contributing well. Tarick Johnson led United with 27 but it was a one man show.

www.ridersballonline.com says: What a display of shooting by the team tonight, the result was never in question and we avenged those narrow defeats to United in some fashion. If only we could have grabbed two points from Worcester..............

Leicester Riders pulled a stunt tonight that any long term Rider fan will not be too surprised about, they lost to bottom club Worcester after beating league leaders Guildford a week earlier........ How many times has this happened over the years??

Riders came out slowly in the first and some sloppy shooting combined with slack defence meant that Worcester opened up a  19-8 lead with 5 minutes left in the quarter, only two long rangers from Yorick Williams and an Alleyne dunk registering for Leicester. Terrance McGee was having a nightmare offensively and with Alleyne picking up a "T" the omens were not looking good. Worcester continued to cash in on some more matador defence with Solomon Sheard prominent inside and the first quarter score ended at 30-17 Worcester.

Into the second and things got worse as a solitary Alleyne inside move was countered by buckets from Wolves' Harper[3] and two each from Sheard and Rodriguez made the score 37-19 and prompted a time-out from KB to try and spark the Riders offensively.... McGee came out determined and attacked the rim as his outside shots were not dropping, he claimed a three point play which was followed by a Lamble slam and another from the energetic Mills, McGee hit three more and the score was 41-29 and Riders were starting to roll. A 12-4 Leicester run to half time with four from McGee, two from Yorick, a tip in from Lamble and four from Alleyne against four from Sheard gave Riders a boost into the locker room with the half time score 45-41 Wolves.

The third was a tight affair with baskets traded with Sheard and Noel prominent for Worcester and the emerging McGee starting to fire for Riders, Riders took their first lead at 52-54 with two McGee freebies but eight in a row from Worcester with Perkes and James Noel hitting some tough shots made it 60-54. Riders then needed consecutive bombs from Yorick Williams to tie it at 60 all at the break.

Alleyne hit the opening score of the fourth but Matt Collins got the hot hand for Worcester hitting a three and Perkes hit inside sandwiching a McGee bucket to give Wolves the lead back at 65-64. Alleyne tied it up again with 1/2 from the line, Collins hit another three which McGee answered in triplicate, Wolves got four from Collins and Perkes. Yorick hit two but two freebies from the dangerous Harper gave Wolves a four point lead at 74-70. Riders were starting to misfire badly now but Sheard missed two freebies [again] to raise hopes which were quickly extinguished by a dagger three from Harper which took the lead out to 77-70 with 1.30 left and Riders looked done for..... Lamble then got to the line, he hit the first and bricked the second but alert work from Yorick saw him tip in Lamble's missed freebie, Riders stole the inbound and Rob Paternostro hit a long ranger to make it 77-76. That was that though for Leicester as Worcester made the game safe from the line with the reliable pairing of Perkes and Harper seeing them home.

Perkes and Sheard led the Wolves with 18 apiece with Yorick Williams [24] and Terrance McGee [22] leading Riders scoring.

www.ridersballonline says: Two sloppy quarters did for Riders in the end, a slack first stanza and some off target shooting in the fourth made it a night to forget for the large turn out of Riders fans. The game was there for the taking but a lack of killer instinct put paid to our chances, as against last week's heroics where the shots dropped......... Next weeks's game against London United now becomes even bigger, make sure you get down to the JSSC and cheer on the Riders!

What a game!

Riders unseated the league leading Poujoulat Heat Guildford with a stunning 4th quarter long range assault which swept them over the line in some style.

Riders gave Barry Lamble a start and he celebrated with the opening bucket, two Chris Brown scores sandwiched a Terrance McGee long ranger as Riders started confidently and good work off the bench from Del Herriman helped Riders out to an early 17-11 lead which had Paul James calling time out for the Heat. Drew Alleyne hit a pair of freebies and Yorick Williams one to give Riders a 20-16 lead after one quarter.

Adam Williams entered the fray for Riders and immediately registered with a tough lay in, but the unsung Dean Williams was keeping Heat close with some hard nosed play at both ends, the teams were exchanging freebies as the refs decided fans had paid ten pounds to watch them and not the players.....the score was 31-27 to Riders after thr free throw flurry and more good work inside from Alleyne and another triple from McGee had Riders out to a 36-32 lead. The teams traded scores to half time, four from McGee and Alleyne against 6 from Dean Williams, Brian Dux and Mike Martin left the half time score 40-38 to Riders.

Heat came out strong in the third and four from Williams and Dux gave them the lead at 40-42 but a three from Yorick and good inside moves from Alleyne and Adam Wlliams shoved Riders ahead again at 47-46. Heat struck back through five from Dux and a Mike Martin bucket to lead again at 51-53, a McGee three sandwiched  four from Dan Gilbert and Dan Wardrope, Dux then hit four and McGee got a harsh whistle to pick up his fourth foul and a trip to the bench. Riders looked to be struggling and only good long range work from Rob Paternostro and Yorick Williams kept Riders in touch at the break, 65-69 down as Dux was starting to warm up for Guildford.

Alleyne came out strong in the 4th with a tough inside move which was tempered by Herriman picking up his fourth. It didn't hurt Leicester though as a stunning piece of work by Darren Mills had the crowd on their feet to acclaim his putback dunk off a missed shot, a Drew Alleyne rejection led to a McGee threeball which was followed by a Yorick steal and lay in which gave Riders a 76-71 lead and the volume was getting higher..... Yorick then picked up his fourth personal and Heat got 4pts from skipper Martin to get them back in it at 76-75. The game was then taken over by McGee who got the hot hand in some style hitting 2 threes, Yorick added a deuce which was answered by a banked three from Wellington to make it 86-82 Riders. Darren Mills was doing a sterling job keeping Dux quiet as Alleyne claimed another rejection and McGee drained another triple, 2 Dean Williams freebies were all Heat could add as McGee hit his 5th three of the quarter, Alleyne blocked again and hit 1/2 from the line as Gilbert fouled out for the Heat. Riders had it in the bag and the desperate Heat started jacking up prayers which weren't answered and Riders coasted home 93-84.

McGee finished with 32 after a stunning display of heart, passion and great shooting, Alleyne had 19pts and a dominant defensive display while Yorick Williams endured a tough nights shooting for 18pts. Dux lead the Heat with 22 while Dean Williams scrapped all the way for his 21pts.

www.ridersballonline.com says: What a great team display by the Riders, McGee was awesome while Alleyne was a beast inside. well done to all concerned!

Close but no cigar..........

A stunning fightback from the Riders almost culminated in a memorable win against the league leading Poujolat Heat Guildford.

From the off a pumped up Mike Martin gave Heat an early advantage with 6 quick points, ably assisted by Chris Brown inside with 4 as Riders could only pick up freebies from Drew Alleyne and a triple from Yorick Williams as Heat looked to put the game away early. The lead continued to grow as a three point play from the impressive Martin and a Brian Dux three ball pushed it out to 14-26 and more agony for Riders fans quickly followed as a Chad McKnight jam and a three point play from the effective Dux saw the first quarter end at 16-33.

The second started with McKnight picking up two quick fouls but Alleyne could only make 2/4 from the line, Yorick hit a triple to make it 23-39 but with Terrance McGee struggling to find his stroke and Shawn Myers picking up 3 fouls the Heat lead grew to 26-41 which was compounded by a harsh unsportsmanlike call on Rob Paternostro which led to an and 1 for Martin and possession for the Heat which resulted in a trademark runner from Dux and the lead ballooned to 20 at 26-46. 5 from Rod Wellington and Dean Williams against 2 from Alleyne and made the score 38-55 with 41 secs left. 2 freebies from an improving McGee plus a half court heave which rimmed out left the half time score 40-55 to Guildford.

Riders hit the first score of the third with a Del Herriman stick back which McGee followed with a three pointer which trimmed the lead to ten, another McGee triple was answered by 2 inside from Martin. Yet another McGee long ranger made it a 9pt lead at 48-57 but four from Dean Williams and Chris Brown crept the score out to 52-61. Heat then extended the score out to 54-69 with good work from Gilbert and and Williams. More great work from the unsung Williams and skipper Martin shot the lead out to 20 again at 54-74 and a Shawn Myers offensive foul saw the lead grow to 56-79 with 2 from McKnight.

McKnight picked up his 4th foul very early in the 4th as great work at both ends by Alleyne with a score and a block saw the Riders spark into life. A Kabir Abu score  made it 56-81 but a Yorick three and an Alleyne tip in got it back to 20 at 61-81, Dux hit two but Yorick replied with a massive triple from the Carpet Right car park and the crowd came to life. The euphoria was tempered by McGee's fourth personal but this didn't halt the Riders scoring as 6 from Alleyne, Yorick and Paternostro made it 74-87 and prompted a time out from a concerned Paul James.

Out of the time out Mike Martin missed a pair of freebies, Yorick made a tough and 1 followed by another triple and the Heat were cooking up a crumble recipe as McKnight was called for his fifth foul which McGee compounded with a three ball which made it 83-87. Brown then missed two foul shots and Yorick drained another long ranger off a great assist from McGee to make it 86-87! Riders had a chance to take the lead with 22 ticks left but McGee's shot drew iron and the clock only had 1.5 secs left. McGee fouled out with 27pts and there was still time for Dean Williams to miss 2 foul shots but Riders had ran out of time with Yorick not getting his shot away. The fourth quarter charge from the Riders was awesome to behold, they outscored Guildford 30-8 but just came up agonizingly short

Terrance McGee had 27pts, 4 rebs, 3 assists and 3 steals, Yorick Williams had 23pts, 6 boards inc 6/10 3pt, Drew Alleyne has 20 pts 18 rebounds and 2 blocks, Del Herriman claimed 6pts and 8 boards, Rob Paternostro netted 6pts with 5 dishes while Shawn Myers and Barry Lamble had 2 apiece and Darren Mills grabbed 5 rebounds.

www.ridersballonline.com says: Phew! What an amazing effort to come back twice from a twenty point deficit and just fail. Yorick and McGee were money from the arc in the second half and the only negative for me was the dis-interested display from Shawn Myers which was surprising, also if we could just stop digging ourselves into big holes we would be a lot better off  too........

Riders seem to have found a new bogey team.........

Up 50-39 at half time away at London United, all seemed good. However a stunning 28-10 third quarter blitz by United led by England International guard Tarick Johnson put Riders on the skids and the game looked like it was slipping away.

Into the 4th Riders hit back and grabbed the lead back at 78-82 with three minutes left. Unfortunately that was that for Riders offensively as United closed out 8-3 to grab their second consecutive 1pt win over the Riders and put a crucial 4pts between the two teams in the table.

Riders were led by Yorick Williams with 29pts and the returning Shawn Myers had 15.

United had Tarick Johnson's 33pts to thank for guiding them home.

www.ridersballonline.com says: We really owe United one now, the next game against them is now a must win really if we want to start climbing the table. Bring on the Heat!

A great performance on our home floor saw Riders easily brush aside the Scottish Rocks 73-58. Drew Alleyne was Riders top man with a brutish inside display notching 24pts and also grabbing 12 boards, he also found time for a couple of mega blocks too. Terrance McGee chipped in with 17pts and 9 assists while Yorick Williams was colossal at both ends in an all action display. Riders led by 10 [42-32] at half time and pulled away in the second half to record a timely win. Riders were missing forward Shawn Myers with a toe injury which also kept him out of the defeat at Newcastle too.

www.ridersballonline.com says: Top display by Drew Alleyne and defensively Yorick Williams was awesome, also Terrance McGee hit some big shots and made some neat assists. Hopefully Shawn Myers will be back soon as both Alleyne and Paternostro picked up fresh knocks........

Riders fought hard in the North East but eventually went down by 5, 101-96 to the defending champions Newcastle Eagles. In a close game, Riders level pegged throughout and briefly led in the third at 55-58 and only trailed by 1 at the 3q break. Newcastle stretched it out to 10 at 96-86 on some fine long range work from Shawan Robinson but Riders dug in and despite tough shots from Yorick Williams and Delme Herriman, they slipped to defeat.

Riders slipped up again at home in a pulsating game against Kularoos Plymouth Raiders. Having dug themselves a 15-36 1st quarter hole with Plymouth hitting everything in sight, Riders spent the rest of the game playing catch-up. 

Yorick Williams keyed an 11-2 run in the 2nd quarter which helped narrow the deficit to 51-36 at the half. Riders stepped up the D in the third, Carlton Aaron [15 and 10 in 1st qtr] in particular finding his way to the hole blocked by a sterling alternate defensive display from Drew Alleyne and Barry Lamble. Terrance McGee also started to hit and with Rob Paternostro's spark off the bench also firing up the crowd, the big comeback was on. At the end of the 3rd it was down to 6 at 61-67.

Raiders got their second wind however with Gaylon Moore and DeAntoine Beasley combining for a 10-0 run the gap swelled to 83-72 and Riders seemed to have ran out of gas. It was not the case however, a Shawn Myers, Barry Lamble and most notably Terrance McGee helped spark a 13-4 tear which brought Riders within 2 at 85-87 with 18s left. Riders needed to stop the clock though and Gavin Love made his freebies to squeak Plymouth home 88-92.

www.ridersballonline says a fine effort from the team to pull back a big deficit but a better start would surely have brought a vital win? Also, recognition should go to Barry Lamble who battled admirably with Carlton Aaron, sure he didn't stop him every time but he would have gained valuable experience for the rest of the season.

Scorers listed in fixtures/results page!

Riders progressed into the Trophy semi finals for the second consecutive season with a professional performance at London United. Riders needed to avoid a seven point defeat to advance and they safely pulled it off , losing by just 1pt, 78-77.

It took Riders until the third quarter to really get going as this was their first outing in 20 days, they trailed 24-17 after quarter 1, again by 41-32 at the half but a strong third period saw Riders tie it up at 54 all on a Terrance McGee triple. United looked to put Riders away in the 4th quarter but canny play by vets Herriman and McGee saw United's ploy of an extra overtime period fail as Tarick Johnson eventually hit the final hoop with 38 ticks left on the clock. Riders didn't want an extra 5 minutes and despite United's best efforts to get Riders to tie it, coach Karl Brown was happy to take the 1 point defeat and wait for Wednesday's semi final draw.

Scoring details can be found on the fixtures/results page.

The draw for the semi's will see Leicester, Plymouth, Guildford and Sheffield go into the hat.