London Towers are the Southern Conference champions after ensuring the title with a 107-95 defeat of Leopards on the final day of the regular season. The result means the Essex side fell to fourth place and into a play-off opener against Newcastle. Milton Keynes moved up to third by virtue of their head to head series and will meet Edinburgh.

Kinder London Towers 107 (26,52,78) (Myers 38, Eppehimer 21, White 14)
DG London Leopards Kool Kats 95 (24,43,65) (Alderson 20, Brown/Robinson 17)

Kinder London Towers claimed their third successive BBL Championship Southern Conference title with a 107-95 success over Leopards Kool Kats on Sunday evening. Following a relatively even first quarter, Leopards took charge with a 9-0 tear to lead 35-31. However, Towers' three guard offence got going and they hit 15 points without reply to lead 52-41 and never trailed again. Leopards cut the gap to five points at 65-60 in the third, before Towers hit 14
points in a row to lead 79-60. Although Leopards enjoyed 9-3 and 5-0 final quarter runs, they could not catch the Towers. Rico Alderson led Leopards' scoring with 20 personal points, but Towers' guard Terrell Myers led all scorers with 38 points.
 

Chester Jets 105 (31,64,90) (McCord 28, Davis 18, Thomas 15)
Leicester Riders 82 (11,29,54) (Johnson 19, Singleton/New 16)

Chester Jets celebrated their BBL Championship Northern Conference title with a 105-82 success at home to Leicester Riders on Sunday evening. A packed Northgate Arena, that included Liverpool and England footballer Emile Heskey, saw Jets dominate from tip to buzzer. They began with the first 12 points of the game and led 31-11 at the end of the first quarter. Riders cut the deficit with a 7-2 tear in the second, before Jets responded with an 11-2 run to help them to a 64-29 half-time advantage. Jets extended their lead to 90-54 by the end of the third quarter, before both teams gave their bench players a run out. James Hamilton was
back in action after an ankle injury, but team-mate John McCord led all scorers with 28 points.
 

Edinburgh Rocks 105 (24,54,76) (Graves 21, Huntley 16, Berry/Gaines 15)
Derby Storm 66 (15,27,47) (Griffin 15, Kennedy 14, Peterson/Robinson 11)

Edinburgh Rocks celebrated their play-off qualification with a 105-66 success over a woeful Derby Storm in their final home game of the season on Sunday evening. Following an even start to the game, Rocks out-scored Derby 19-4 either side of the first/second quarter break and later hit a 16-2 run to lead 49-23. The second half was much closer, but the damage was already done by then, as Derby trailed 76-47 heading into the final quarter. A 7-0 burst from Rocks in the fourth extended the lead out to 88-52 and Derby could find no response. Brendan Graves was the game's top scorer with 21 points for Edinburgh; Kevin Griffin added 15 for Derby.

"To win in such a commanding way was good for us," said coach Kevin Wall. "It sends out the right message." This was Derby's largest reverse in a campaign in which they won just three Championship ties.
 

Westfield Sharks Sheffield 97 (24,54,73) (Cauthorn 22, Phoenix 18, Stewart 17)
Newcastle Eagles 100 (22,51,73) (Walker 35, Hyatt 28, Leak 18)

Newcastle Eagles just edged a typically close Northern Conference encounter with Westfield Sharks Sheffield on Sunday, to claim a 100-97 victory. Graham Dotchin hit a crucial three pointer with one second remaining to win the game for the visiting Eagles, following a tense final quarter. Earlier, Eagles had led 18-12 in the first quarter following six unanswered points, before Sharks responded with a 10-2 burst to help them to a 24-22 first quarter lead. Runs of 8-0 and 7-2 from the Sharks in the second quarter, countered by a 7-2 burst from Eagles saw Sharks lead 54-51 at half-time. The game remained just as close in the third with nothing between the sides at 73-73 heading into the final quarter. Eagles looked to have taken control
at 92-86 with three minutes to go, before Sharks hit eight points in a row to set up the exciting finale. Todd Cauthorn scored 22 points for Sheffield, but TJ Walker led all scorers with 35 for Newcastle.
 

Brighton Bears 95 (19,50,70) (White 26, Duck 23, Davis 17)
Pertemps Bullets Birmingham 84 (33,52, 72) (Bailey 23, Johnson 17, Garcia 16)

Brighton Bears defeated Pertemps Bullets Birmingham 95-84 on Sunday evening, but just missed out on the BBL Championship Southern conference title as other results failed to go their way. The Conference runners-up had to come from behind to beat Bullets, as they trailed 33-19 after the first quarter. Bears came back into the game with the first seven points of the second quarter, but Brant Bailey later hit eight in a row to put Bullets 49-38 ahead. Bears got back to within a point at 48-49 following a 10-0 burst and kept with Bullets during an even third quarter. Bears tied the score at 78-78, before enjoying an 8-2 run, spear-headed by six points from Randy Duck, to lead 86-80 and the home side then closed out the game with the last
seven points of the game to make the result safe. Albert White top scored for Brighton with 26 points, Brant Bailey added 23 for Birmingham.
 

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