Thames Valley Tigers advance
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Mark Woods at Wembley Thames Valley Tigers will bid to overcome Peugeot Birmingham Bullets in the 1998 Budweiser Championship Final. The Bracknell side outlasted 1997 winners Exide London Towers in a scrappy semi-final, eventually running out 78-71 winners. Neither side found any chemistry in a dull opening half, with the Londoners having the more promising 13-6 start. With guard Casey Arena in deep foul trouble early on in the second quarter, Towers guards Paul Deppisch and Tamir Berkovitch took advantage from three point range for a 32-24 advantage. A Tiger run of 7-2 close the gap to 34-31 at half time and they took the lead with a 10-5 start to the third period. Taking the first nine points of the fourth quarter, Paul James' team held their opponents scoreless for four minutes, but failed to break clear. Towers rallied to 64-64 with 3.03 left but a further 8-2 spurt sent the momentum back to Tigers and after Holley led a 6-0 run, a runaway lay up from John McCord as time ran out sealed Tigers' passage to Sunday's showdown. Veteran Holley led from the front for 28 points and 14 rebounds, teaming with McCord who had 29.
SCORERS Lon : Lewis 22, Austin 16 TVT : McCord 29, Holley 28
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