BBL Championship               

Edinburgh Rocks 88     (22,46,67)       (Gaines 21, Graves 15, Gardner 12)
Derby Storm       73     (13,25,46)       (Kennedy 19, Robinson 18, Griffin 15)

Edinburgh Rocks' 11 match wait for a victory ended at Meadowbank as Kevin Wall's men crushed Derby Storm 88-73 in the BBL Championship, solidifying their grasp on fifth spot in the Northern Conference at the Midlands side's expense. The Scots cruised past the visitors, who have won
only three times to date, Jon Gaines' game-best 21 points merely the high note of an efficient team performance.

"Defensively we were pretty stingy again," said a relieved Wall. "Plus we're not used to closing out games with a 20 point lead but the guys handled it well."

Defeat would have dropped Edinburgh into last place but it never loomed after the first six points of the contest dropped in their favour. Derby - heavily criticised by coach John Spezia after their capitulation to Leopards 24 hours earlier - never came so close again, a further 9-0 run in the
first quarter followed by an impressive 20-4 spurt in the second putting the game well beyond the Storm's reach. 

The home cushion peaked at  52-27 soon after half-time and with Scottish international Campbell Flockhart coming off the Rocks bench for his best offensive game of the campaign, Wall could
gain some relief with a tough festive fixture list on the horizon.
 
 

Sheffield   84     (24,38,59)       (Monaco 19, Scantlebury 18, Phoenix 15)
Leicester Riders          75     (28,47,59)       (Singleton 21, Blalock 19, J Brown 15)

Westfield Sharks Sheffield closed the deficit in the Northern Conference with a 84-75 victory over
Leicester Riders.  Leicester led throughout the first two periods, but tough Sharks defense restricted the Riders to just 12 points in the third period to be tied at 59-59 after three. Sheffield then opened up a lead in the final period which they would never relinquish.  Jeff Monaco led the Sharks scoring with 19 points, while Billy Singleton top scored for the Riders with a game-high 21.

 

Brighton Bears                  88     (21,42,65)       (White 32, Davis 24, Duck 14)
Thames Valley Tigers       79     (13,34,54)       (Jamison 25, Meldrum/Bowman 15)

Brighton Bears moved up to third place in the Southern Conference with a 88-79 victory over Conference rivals Thames Valley Tigers.  Brighton controlled the first half, but the Tigers came back with a 10-3 run in the third to take the score to 54-50.  The Bears made the game safe with a 9-0 tear across the final two periods to take it out to 67-54.  Albert White led all scorers with 32 points, while the Tigers scoring was led by Shawn Jamison with 25.
 
 

BBL Trophy, Group B

Kinder London Towers     69     (16,33,47)       (Myers/Cheung 12, Youngblood 10)
Milton Keynes Lions       73     (22,44,58)       (Siemon 17, Lloyd 13, Alleyne/Kirk 12)

Milton Keynes Lions will finish in top spot in the BBL Trophy Group B after a nail biting 73-69
success over the Kinder London Towers on Sunday night at Crystal Palace.

The Lions looked to be on course for a comfortable victory leading 63-49 early in the final quarter
but the Towers had other ideas rattling off a 16-2 burst to level the game at 65 each. The Lions
however got their noses in front and held on for the crucial win. Lions centre Jason Siemon led all
scorers with 17 points.
 
 

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