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Haribo London Towers got just the start they wanted to their Euroleague campaign on Wednesday night, pulling off an impressive 86-61 victory over Frankfurt Skyliners at Crystal Palace.
In a match which the hosts led from start to finish, it was forward Kendrick Warren who came up big on the offensive end, notching a game-best 21 points
With Tom Wideman off to an early scoring start, a 10-0 run from Nick Nurse's men took them quickly clear in the first quarter before Frankfurt hit back with seven unanswered points.
Warren's three point play took Towers into a 21-14 lead at the close of the period and despite some nervous mistakes which the visitors converted, they retained the advantage, Steve Bucknall's seven consecutive points a major factor as the BBL outfit entered half-time up 43-33.
However the Germans - who shot poorly in the first 20 minutes -enjoyed a productive spell upon the re-start, scoring ten unanswered points before Nurse's time out stopped the rot. Point guard Eric Taylor hit five in a row to re-open a cushion for the hosts and although Wideman picked up his fourth foul, London's lead increased to 14 at the outset of the final period and they were not to be caught.
"We really buckled down and played the best defense we've played all season," praised Nurse. "If we do that, it's tough to lose. Everyone contributed at the offense end too. (Frankfurt) are a capable side and the game could have gone either way but we played so well."
Nurse also was effusive over Warren's contribution,
"Kendrick is a great player. We've got more out of him than we expected . He just took it round the big German players. He did a great job."
Elsewhere in the same group, PAOK were taken to overtime by Verona before pulling off a 97-94 win in Thessalonika, while Barcelona took a 77-85 victory on the road in Yugoslavia over Buducnost.
In Group B, Wallonia beat St. Petersburg 80-68, Cibona overcame Tau Ceramica 62-60 and AEK Athens won 78-77 over Kinder Bologna.
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