Leicester Riders set up to a BBL Championship semi-final meeting with London Towers next Saturday, advancing courtesy of a 90-71 defeat of Chester Jets on Monday at the Skydome. 

Robbie Peers - named BBL Coach of the Year - has worked wonders with his five plus one man rotation all season but with three of his starters failing to finish the match, the uni-ball Trophy victors fell away in the final quarter to allow the Cup holders to sweep past. 

"Would I bet against our guys right now?" asked Riders coach Billy Mims, who spent the final minutes leading his club's support in cheering as the 25-1 Championship underdogs finished with a 21-2 blasting.

"We're winning now because of pride and passion. We can take all the knocks.. we maybe didn't finish as high in the league as we wanted but we're the National Cup champions and we're still dancing."

That won't be the case for Chester's James Hamilton, at least not for a while, after the former Towers forward hobbled off court after coming down on his ankle early in the final quarter. 

He had helped the Jets come back from a 22-13 deficit at the close of the first quarter, entering the interval just 41-38 in arrears despite the dominant defence contributed by Billy Singleton.

Hamilton - scorer of a game-best 24 points - put Chester into the lead at 52-51 with 2:48 left in the third period but it was to be his side's final moment in front.

With Karl Brown and Larry Johnson sparking Leicester defensively, the turnover tally for both teams crept up but Mims' men capitalised with greater regularity, Brown converting a steal to take a 60-55 cushion into the last period.

A further 10-0 run from Leicester 15 points in front but with Hamilton gone, the game seemed in their grasp.

No so however, Duane Clemens and Loren Meyer gunning down the Riders with 13 unanswered points to make it 70-68 with five minutes left.

However Meyer - the BBL Player of the Year - walked off the court for perhaps the final time in Britain shortly afterward, his 12 points and 6 rebounds showing before fouling out one of his lowest in a tremendous season.

With Pero Cameron, who scored 19, also failing to complete the 40 minutes, Leicester romped clear, a 15-0 run ensuring their progressed into the penultimate stage.

"We just picked up the tempo," stated Brown. "Turnovers played a part but we just played well as a team. I think we were in control whether James or Meyer was in there or not. We just stuck to our game plan."

Purnell Perry led a balanced Riders attack with 18, Malcolm Leak adding 17.