Sunday December 18th Birmingham Bullets 88 (25, 48, 64) Noray Properties London Towers 69 (17, 36, 55) At 6pm when this game had tipped off it had all seemed so perfect for Robbie Peers side. Leicester had beaten Milton Keynes, allowing the Towers to hold their destiny in their own hands as to whether or not they would be qualifying for the BBL Trophy semi finals. However, in their final game before Christmas they produced a choke job that left them stuffed like the proverbial festive turkey. London started with a five minus Chez Marks, of Sullivan Phillips, Robert Sargeant, Lynard Stewart, Lijah Perkins and Quincy Wadley, playing in his final game for the Towers before returning to the USA for knee surgery. Birmingham lined up with Skouson Harker, Jeff Bonds, Matt Kemper, Dino Tanner and Barry Lamble. Harker won the tip but could only find Lynard Stewart who led the Towers first attack which was successful. By the time Birmingham had troubled the scorers it was 8 - 0 with all the Towers points coming from Stewart and Perkins as the other three Towers players finding a rhythm hard to come by. Skouson Harker then responded with the first two for the Bullets before an and one play from Perkins extended the lead to 11 - 2. That was as good as it was to get for the Towers as they fell to pieces from that point onwards. Harker helped himself to four more points extending the cutting the lead to 11 - 6 before Kemper drained a three to cut the lead to two at 11 - 9. A Towers time out could not stop the rot and the first period buzzer came with the London side down by eight at 25 - 17. The Bullets began the second period with the ball and grabbed another three pointer to extend their lead into double figures as the wheels dropped off the Towers wagon with alarming regularity. Jeff Bonds began the period with a three to extend the lead to 11 points and put the Towers on their way out of the trophy before Harker and Kemper added threes of their own to put the Towers into real trouble. At the other end of the court, Lynard Stewart and Lijah Perkins were the only two to really shine contributing over one third of their sides points. To add insult to injury for the Towers, Sullivan Phillips back running the point was called for a carrying violation by referee Steve Lawes. Eventually when the buzzer sounded to bring about the half time interval the Towers were down by 12 points at 48 - 36 and looking to be going out of the trophy in the most frustrating circumstances. The third period saw more of the same as the Towers looked to try to haul the defecit back. However, turnovers were proving more than costly, allowing Birmingham the opportunity to pull away when the Towers did make an impression on the lead. Phillips' own personal nightmare with turnovers continued as he went on his merry way to 10 alone and by the time the buzzer sounded it was Birmingham by 9 at 64 - 55. After receiving a rocket from Coach Robbie Peers during the period break, the Towers attempted a fightback to save their trophy hopes from going down the tubes and for three minutes they carried out a 5 - 0 run to cut the lead to just four at 64 - 60. It was then after another missed shot from the Bullets that the Towers shot themselves in the foot. Sullivan Phillips and Robert Sargeant coming together to produce another turnover on a silly no-look pass which really ended any resistance the visitors had and any real chance went up in smoke as Harker nailed a wide open three pointer to take the lead to seven and leave the Towers chasing the game again. The visitors would manage only another 9 points in the period as the home side pulled away adding to their basket difference in the vain hope that Teeside would hold the Scottish Rocks to under a 29 point win and eventually running out 19 point winners at 88 - 69 and leaving the Towers out of the group when they were in such a strong position in the group before tip off. Report from Jack Yoemanson |
Saturday December 17th Noray Properties London Towers 84 (24, 40, 58) Milton Keynes Lions 69 (20, 33, 52) Noray Properties London Towers werre victorious over the Milton Keynes Lions with a 15 point win over Milton Keynes Lions, at the Crystal Palace NSC. The starting five for Towers were Quincy Wadley, Lijah Perkins, Lynard Stewart, Rob Sargeant and Sullivan Phillips. Towers were without Niki Arinze, who is recovering from a shoulder injury and Chez Marks. Towers got the first possession and score of the game from Lynard Stewart who scored the first 4 points for Towers. Towers went on to take the early advantage going on a 12 - 2 burst to lead by 8 at 16 - 11. Junior Williams brought the Lions back in touch with a three, but Rob Sargeant responded with a massive three pointer for the London side to keep up the pressure. Lions came back at the end of the quarter with some strong three point shooting to finish the period just 4 points behind. Only 11 points were scored in the first five minutes of the second quarter including a strong three from Quincy Wadley as Towers kept a narro advantage. Another three from Quincy beating the shot clock buzzer put the Towers up by 7 at 38 - 31, At the end of the half, it was the London Towers by 7. Towers got the scoring underway in the third quarter and kept the advantage going up by 10 at one point at 50 - 40. Towers had some strong play at both ends with a one handed dunk from Lynard Stewart and a tremendous block from Sullivan Phillips. At the end of the quarter, it was Towers by 6. Lions had possession at the start of the final stanza, but it was a three from Sullivan Phillips that opened the scoring for Towers. Towers stretched the lead out to 10 again at 66 - 56. Lions scored on their next play then Towers missed the score on theirs, then a block from Sulli going into a one handed slam from Rob Sargeant put the advantage back to 10. Towers then moved out to 16 at 76 - 60 with a three from Quincy Wadley. Both sides put on their younger players inside the final minute as the Towers went on to win by 15. Report by Phil Redman |
Saturday December 11th DMU Leicester Riders 79 (22, 37, 53, 75) Noray Properties London Towers 83 (16, 39, 65, 75) After their cup final defeat six days previously, Robbie Peers’ side were looking to get back to winning ways in a crucial trophy game which they had to win to have any hope of staying alive in the competition. It may have taken them an extra 5 minutes to carry out the job, but they did eventually, leaving their fate in the hands of Leicester and themselves to determine if they will go to yet another semi final. The Towers started with a five of Chez Marks, Quincy Wadley, Robert Sargeant, Sullivan Phillips and Lynard Stewart whilst Leicester ran with Tony Holley, Steve Bucknall, Anthony McHenry, Ryan Huntley and Robert Reed. Reed won the tip giving Leicester the first offence of the game which Reed was to convert over Sargeant, giving the Riders a lead of 2 - 0, Reed then came to the fore at the defensive end with a block on Sargeant before adding another two to his tally. Lynard Stewart grabbed the first points of the night for Robbie Peers’ side before Reed made it six personal and six for the Riders with another inside two. Reed was to have 18 of his 20 points by the end of the first period alone which helped the riders to a 20 - 5 lead when Robbie Peers called time out. It was then that Peers' side began to fight back as the lead was trimmed down to just six at the end of the half on the back of 11 of the final 13 points of the period, leaving Leicester 22 - 16 to the good at the end of one. The possession arrow pointed the way of the Towers at the start of the second period and they were to cut the lead furthermore through Lynard Stewart. The period was to ebb and flow as both sides traded baskets from inside and at the line as the officials made their mark on the game spending most of it baffling coaches, players and supporters of both sides with decisions. Reed who had scored 18 in the first was limited to just two points this period as Lynard Stewart worked him hard at both ends. The Towers were to get themselves into the half time period with a lead of just two points at 39 - 37. The third period saw the Towers have their period of dominance beginning with an 18 - 3 run to give them a lead at 57 - 43 allowing the Towers fans to start thinking that they might just be winning the game with a degree of comfort as Stewart went on his merry way joined in the scoring stakes by Lijah Perkins, Marks and Wadley. They ended the period with a 10 point lead at 63 - 53 with Robert Reed contributing no points in that period. If the third period had seen the Towers have a period of sustained dominance then the fourth saw the wheels ripped from the wagon in a big way. Anthony McHenry began the final period with a three, cutting the lead to just seven before Huntley and Holley made scores to cut the lead even more, beginning to make the Towers sweat as they only managed six points in the first eight minutes of the period. Former Tower Steve Bucknall then drained a three of his own to cut the lead to just one at 71 - 70 and Tony Holley added two foul shots to drag Leicester back into the lead at 72 – 71. However, on the next possession, Quincy Wadley scored at the end of the buzzer to give the Towers the lead. Sullivan Phillips was then to make a lay-up leaving Karl Brown's side needing a three to tie the game and force overtime. After a Brown timeout, the Towers defence picked up the recognised three point threats the Riders possessed in Bucknall, Huntley and Burns. However, they didn't reckon on Tony Holley stepping up to drain the shot, tying the ball game at 75 - 75 with just 11 seconds to go. It was therefore left to Quincy Wadley to try to win the ball game for his side which he couldn't manage throwing up an off balance jumper on the buzzer. So overtime it was. Overtime was to be a tense affair as neither side managed more than two points in three minutes of the period. With 1.47 left, Anthony McHenry made a dunk to hand his side the lead before Wadley air-balled at the other end, thankfully for Wadley and the Towers Lijah Perkins was on hand to put the ball back to tie things back up yet again. After another Riders miss Lynard Stewart contributed his 31st and 32nd points respectively giving London an 81 - 79 advantage. He was in action at the defensive end, stealing the ball from Tony Holley, leaving Wadley with another shot to put his side further in front. However, he was to miss and Chez Marks could only fumble the ball out of bounds. As in regulation, Leicester were left needing one shot to save the game which they couldn't find as Wadley came up trumps to strip Holley and eventually iced the game with two free throws to give the Towers a deserved four point win which keeps their hopes of making the trophy semi finals alive (more about that in a minute or two!), and another much needed win to boost morale after the defeat the week before. Lynard Stewart was to be game MVP with 32 points and 13 boards, Chez Marks had 19, Quincy Wadley 11 on 4 - 18 shooting whilst Sullivan Phillips again impressed with 10 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. The Towers final game in the trophy is at Birmingham next Sunday at 6pm where they are in with a chance of making the semis. However, there are all manner of permutations for determining the group winner. Assuming Milton Keynes beat the Leopards on Wednesday night four sides will be tied on 2 - 1 records with Leicester facing Milton Keynes at 4pm on Sunday at Bletchley. Currently in the best runner up spot is Brighton with a basket difference of +36, which needs to be beaten to qualify in the best runner up spot. The two winners of Sunday's games will then determine the winner of the group. Assuming Birmingham and Milton Keynes win the games then Birmingham will qualify. Should Birmingham and Leicester win, then Leicester will go through. Should London and Milton Keynes win, then Milton Keynes will go through at the expense of the Towers. Finally if London and Leicester win then Towers will make the semi finals, this being the obvious optimum for Towers fans. However, failure to win the group does not necessarily mean non-qualification. Currently Birmingham have a difference of +43 so should they win, they will be in pole position to go through from the group. If Leicester make second they have to beat Milton Keynes by 11 points, London have to beat Birmingham by 17 should they come second and Milton Keynes need to beat the Leopards and Riders by 32. Obviously that still doesn't guarantee qualification, as the Scottish Rocks and Newcastle have to sort their group. So in theory if the Towers are runners up there could be a delay until Tuesday the 20th to find out who will join Guildford, the Midlands group winner and the Northern winner in the semi finals. Obviously the only result Towers followers will hope for is a Towers and Leicester win. However, before that the Towers have to face Milton Keynes on Saturday night at 7pm at Crystal Palace. Report by Jack Yoemanson |
Sunday December 4th Springfield Honda Newcastle Eagles 83 (22, 41, 58) Noray Properties London Towers 69 (17, 36, 50) Eagles led for much of the game and were fastest out of the traps, scoring nine of the opening 11 points. Towers battled their way back into the match, bagging the following ten points to lead 12 - 9. An Andrew Bridge three pointer started Eagles off on another tear later in the quarter as Newcastle retook the lead and finished the first stanza 22-17 to the good. Quincy Wadley sunk his second three pointer of the game early in the second quarter as Towers took the lead at 23 - 22. Eagles response was immediate and their 6 - 0 run gave them an advantage that they would not surrender. Lynard Stewart and Niki Arinze shouldered the scoring burden for Towers in the third, but their efforts were not enough as a TJ Walker inspired Eagles stretched their lead into double figures, leading by as many as 14 points at 58-44. A late Towers rally cut the deficit to eight points at 58-50 at the close of the quarter. They began the fourth as they finished the third, taking the score to as close as five points at 60 - 55. Towers could not maintain the momentum however, as Eagles bagged seven in a row to lead 71 - 57. Quincy Wadley’s seventh three pointer of the game at the close was mere consolation for Towers. Report from the BBL |
Friday December 2nd Milton Keynes Lions 78 (16, 36, 54) Noray Properties London Towers 107 (22, 53, 84) The last time these two sides met was what Robbie Peers described as "the lowest point" in his tenure at the club and left him demanding results from his roster. Of course the next game for the Towers was a BBL cup game where they produced the performance that Peers had demanded. This time Milton Keynes provided the opposition for the Towers just two days before the BBL Cup Final. Towers began the game with a starting five of Chez Marks, Quincy Wadley, Lynard Stewart, Rob Sargeant and new signing Lijah Perkins, who had only signed that day for the club. Niki Arinze did suit up however but was not risked during the game with a view to the Cup Final and he would not be needed as the Towers handed out a 29 point hammering to lay the ghost of games past to rest. Sargeant beat Shawn Jamison to the tip and the Towers were straight on the board as the Lions defence fell apart allowing Stewart an uncontested two points. The Towers were to build on this lead locking down most of Milton Keynes' offence for the period, despite having trailed 11 - 4 at one point. By the time the buzzer went, the Towers were six to the good leading 22 - 16. The first period had been eventful as far as the Towers were concerned as the game ebbed and flowed. However Wadley and Marks were to take the game away from Milton Keynes in the second with an astonishing display of long range shooting going 8 - 8 between them to give the Towers a lead that they would never relinquish. Wadley would score 18 of his game high 29 in the period as the Towers big three of Marks, Wadley and Stewart took the Lions apart and giving the Towers a 17 point half time lead which would only grow and grow at 53 - 36. If the second period had been poor for Milton Keynes the third would turn into a total shambles as Marks and Wadley continued their two man march towards the league points making shots from inside and out. When they were missing, Lynard Stewart and Rob Sargeant were cleaning up inside. Whilst the Towers however were going about their business, Shawn Jamison was the only Lion to show any fight at all going on to finish with 33 points and 22 rebounds. By the time the third period buzzer came the Towers had extended their lead to 30 points at 84 - 54 and knew the game was safe. The fourth quarter saw the Towers take their foot slightly from the gas as Gareth Laws and Sam Betts both saw over three minutes of action and even a late flurry from Ishua Benjamin and Junior Williams couldn't bring Milton Keynes any closer than 25 points and it was left to Betts to grab the final two points on the buzzer to finish the game at 107 - 78 in the Capital sides favour. The fact that the Towers had won this game so impressively was perhaps not a surprise but that they had done it minus one of their star players in Niki Arinze and with Lijah Perkins only arriving on the day of the game. However, it does not also show the fact that Milton Keynes were dire on this occasion with only Jamison showing any resistance to the Towers steamroller. Quincy Wadley led the Towers with 29 Points, 5 Rebounds and 5 Assists. Chez Marks grabbed 28 points and 8 rebounds. Lynard Stewart 24 and 9, Sullivan Phillips contributed 12 Points, 9 Rebounds and 7 assists. Rob Sargeant had 8 points and 4 boards and Lijah Perkins contributed 4 points and 4 rebounds on his debut. Report by Jack Yoemanson |
Sunday November 27th TCS Chester Jets 76 (22, 34, 55) Noray Properties London Towers 79 (18, 43, 53) One week before the BBL cup final and the Niki Arinze jinx has struck again! Two years ago Arinze was to wreck his knee the week before the cup final whilst playing for the Scottish Rocks, perhaps ironically against the Towers leaving the Rocks immensely short for the final. Now as a Tower he was to come away with a dislocated shoulder in an innocuous looking clash with Billy Singleton. Robbie Peers was able to welcome back Quincy Wadley after his enforced layoff from action due to a knee injury. However, he stuck with the starting five he used during Wadley’s enforced absence. The game was also to mark a turning point for Chester as the final piece of their Jetwash jigsaw Calvin Davis had left the club in midweek due to injury. Jets were to start with Phillip Gilbert, Shawn Myers, John Simpson, Jamal Brown and Singleton. The Towers were to win the tip but turned the ball over on the very first possession as referee Will Jones called Sullivan Phillips for a push off before he'd even reached the halfway line. Jets were to waste their opening possession allowing the Towers to take a 2 - 0 lead, which would be extended to 8 - 0 with 7 minutes to go. Jets had made their intentions clear from the beginning of the game that they would camp on the three - point arc and shoot for most of the night. First Brown and then Myers would connect to make it 8 - 6 as the Towers struggled offensively. Eventually the teams would trade baskets as the home side finished the period four points to the good at 22 - 18. The beginning of the second period was delayed slightly as the officials noticed a number of holes straight down the middle of the court. These had appeared from a fencing match, which was played in the arena directly before the basketball game. Chester had the ball at the beginning of the second period and drew a foul on the first play of which one shot was converted. Then over the next few minutes the wheels were to come off the Chester wagon in a big way as the Towers stepped up both at the offensive end and defensive end. A 14 - 1 run took the Towers clear before the Jets finally stopped the rot predictably through a three point shot from point guard Phillip Gilbert. A 25 - 12 period took the Towers into the half time period nine points to the good at 43 - 34. Particularly impressive in the first half was Robert Sargeant who took Singleton out of the game totally. The third period was a turnaround again from the home side as they took the Towers out of their stride in a big way holding them to just 10 points in the period whilst scoring 21 of their own. The major turning point came with just over 6 minutes gone in the period when Arinze drove into the lane on Billy Singleton who clashed with him sending Arinze crashing to the ground. The Towers player would stay down for a good 30 seconds and a Lynard Stewart turnover was to finally stop play to allow him to be treated. After a couple of minute’s treatment, he was helped to his feet and back to the Towers bench where he was iced and wrapped in cling film. It is believed that the shoulder popped out and popped straight back in again. This again left the Towers with just five genuine starters who were to play the remaining 15 minutes of the game without change. The period ended with Chester two points to the good at 55 - 53. The fourth period saw the Towers dig in deep and hang about with the Jets trading baskets all the way as the lead see-sawed back and forth until with 3 minutes to go the sides were tied at 70 - 70. It was then that Quincy Wadley was to step up and nail a sweet three from the corner to give the Towers the lead at 73 - 70. Again the sides were to trade baskets until at 77 - 73 Phillip Gilbert was to drain his fifth three pointer of the night to cut the lead to just one at 77 - 76. The Towers then had to try and see out the remaining 11 seconds without turning the ball over. Chester were to foul to stop the clock which they did sending Chez Marks to the line with the chance to make it 79 - 76. Marks duly obliged with the two shots leaving Chester 7.1 seconds to get a shot off to take the game into overtime. Shawn Myers was left with the shot, which rimmed out and went out of bounds as the clock ran out to leave the Towers victorious in yet another thriller this season. Chez Marks led the Towers with 22 points, Lynard Stewart contributed 18 points and 5 boards, Quincy Wadley 11, Niki Arinze 9 and Sullivan Phillips 7 Points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. However game MVP was Robert Sargeant with 12 points and 9 rebounds and a cracking defensive job on Billy Singleton throughout the game. Towers next game is away to Milton Keynes on Friday night at 7:30pm before heading into their biggest game in three years against Newcastle in the BBL cup final at Birmingham’s NIA at 4:30pm. Report by Jack Yoemanson |
Saturday November 19th Noray Properties London Towers 63 (24, 33, 55) Scottish Phoenix Honda Record Rocks 68 (15, 34, 45) Noray Properties London Towers went down again to the Scottish Rocks by 5 points at Crystal Palace NSC this evening. The starting five for Towers were Chez Marks, Lynard Stewart, Niki Arinze, Rob Sargeant and Sullivan Phillips. Towers were once again without Quincy Wadley, who is still recovering from injury and hopes to return against Chester next Sunday. Towers won the tip and scored the first points with a layup from Lynard Stewart. Rocks got the early advantage but a three from Chez Marks put Towers in front. Towers then went on a 13 - 2 run to lead by 7 at 20 - 9. Towers then consolidated their lead with a two handed slam from Rob Sargeant, closing the quarter ahead by 9. Rocks came out firing in the second period, going on a 6 - 2 run to close the gap to 5 at 26 - 21. They got to within 1 a couple of plays later at 28 - 27 then took the lead at 33 - 34. And that was the score at the end of the second quarter. Rocks scored first in the third quarter pushing their advantage to 4. Rob Sargeant put in a one handed slam then Chez Marks levelled the score, stole the ball and put Towers back in front from the three throw line. Towers were now on a 10 point run to take a 6 point lead at 43 - 37. Towers had a long possession at the end of the quarter culminating in a buzzer beating score from Niki Arinze and the ejection of Rocks' coach Steve Swanson who protested vigorously about the call. At the end of period, Towers were ahead by 10. Rocks got the first score of the final quarter with a three pointer starting a 10 point run to get back to within 1 at 56 - 55. Chez Marks ended the run with a three then an intentional foul was called on Rob Sargeant. Rocks levelled at 61 - 61 then Julius Joseph put them ahead with a three. With 47 seconds to play, Rob Sargeant picked up his fourth foul and Towers were down by 5. With just three points separating the sides, Chez Marks missed the three and possession went to the Rocks, going on to win by 5. Chez Marks was the high scorer for Towers with 15 points whist Julius Joseph was the game high scorer with 15. Report by Phil Redman |
Sunday November 13th Milton Keynes Lions 79 (27, 42, 57) Noray Properties London Towers 74 (23, 42, 59) After five games without defeat Robbie Peers bought his team to Bletchley eager to avenge a 17 point mauling only two weeks previously, a game which Peers described as his “lowest point” and for 37 minutes it appeared that he may have gotten the result he desired but it was to fall away in the final three minutes as the Towers failed to kill the game off and slipped to a narrow five point defeat sending their league record back down below .500. Towers again lined up without the injured Quincy Wadley and started with a five of Sullivan Phillips, Niki Arinze, Rob Sargeant, Lynard Stewart and Chez Marks whilst MK started with Ishua Benjamin, Junior Williams, Shawn Jamison, Robert Youngblood and Pierre-Henry Fontaine. Despite Jamison making six of his sides first eight points it was Peers side led by 8 from Lynard Stewart who held the lead at 11-8 half way through the first period. Whilst the sides were trading blows Fonatine was having what could at best be described as a nightmare game making a total hash of a wide open dunk and going 0-6 from behind the arc in the period. Fontaine was evenutally replaced by Kevin Griffin who made two three's of his own to give his side a 27-23 lead at the period break. The Towers got the second period underway with six straight points to give them a 29-27 lead before former Towers captain Robert Youngblood tied the affair at 29 with a pair of free throws. Both sides were to trade blows before Lynard Stewart was to find two massive dunks to give his side back a four point lead, with the officials having a less than impressive game right at the end of the period the game took a sudden twist which sent Robbie Peers, his bench and the Towers supporters into uproar, off a Marks missed shot the ball was rebounded and all of a sudden the game clock just stopped at 0.6 on the clock and remained stopped as Fonatine made no mistake with his dunk, after nearly two minutes of deliberating the officials came to the decision of wiping the basket from the scores leaving the two sides tied at 42-42 at the half. Lions began the third with a 6-0 run of their own but over the next four minutes the Towers were to assert their authority on the game with first a Sargeant dunk and then three consecutive Marks treys gave them a 59-20 lead and forced Nigel Lloyd to call time out and discuss his problems with his troops. Whatever was said in the time out worked as the Towers were held scoreless for close on three minutes during an MK 7-0 run cutting the defecit right down to just two at the end of the third period at 59-57 Towers. The fourth period was where the wheels began to fall off the Towers wagon as Ishua Benjamin helped himself to five points in a row before beginning perhaps the game winning nine minute period where Marks was lucky to touch the ball let alone score. At 69-64 and with 90 seconds to go Marks was able to help himself to 4 in a hurry and cut the lead to one however Benjamin was to nail a huge three followed by the dagger blow from Youngblood from behind the arc and it was game over leaving Jamison to dunk the final play and send the Lions fans into raptures in what had been an immense atmosphere created by both sets of supporters. Marks was again MVP with his 24 point performance and had he not been shut down so well by Benjamin the result may have been so different, Niki Arinze had 18 and Lynard Stewart who was also closed right down had 13. Sullivan Phillips had 11 and Rob Sargeant 8, Milton Keynes were led by Ishua Benjamin with 27, Shawn Jamison with 20 and Robert Youngblood with 11. Towers next entertain the Scottish Rocks on Saturday night at 7pm, their next away game is on 27th November when they travel to Peers' old club Chester and then to Milton Keynes on December 2nd which is now back on. Report by Jack Yoemanson |
Saturday November 12th Noray Properties London Towers 78 ( 26, 36, 59) Genesis Brighton Bears 58 (11, 25, 41) Noray Properties London Towers scored a powerful victory over old rivals Brighton Bears in the BBL Championship, winning by 20 points at Crystal Palace NSC this evening. Towers were without Quincy Wadley for the game, who is recovering from injury. The starting five for Towers were Chez Marks, Lynard Stewart, Niki Arinze, Rob Sargeant and Sullivan Phillips. Towers won the tip but the Bears got the first points with a three from Terrance McGee. They went on to go ahead by 2 at 4 - 6 with another trey from Yorrick Williams which inspired Towers to go on an 8 point run to lead by 6. Towers continued to keep their advantage getting ahead by 10, then a big three from Chez Marks put them up by 13 at 24 - 11. At the end of the first, it was Towers by 15. Brighton Bears' coach, Nick Nurse, was called for a technical during the break, Chez Marks converting both shots to make the score 28 - 11. The Bears began to chip away at the tiring Towers lead, but at the end of the second, it was Towers by 11. Brighton got the scoring underway in the third, then got called for an unsportsmanlike foul on Lynard Stewart under the basket. Chez Marks was fouled attempting a three and scored all the free shots. Chez then put up another three and a lay up as Towers went on a 10 - 2 run to go ahead by 19 at 48 - 29. Sullivan Phillips scored a three as Towers continued to press, leading by 21 at one stage, finishing the quarter ahead by 18. With 5.42 left in the game, Bears had three players on four fouls and Towers were still ahead by 19. Dermaija Stewart fouled out with 4.03 to play then a technical was called on Steve Parrillon on the next play to put yet another Bears player on four fouls. Yorrick Williams fouled out with 3.25 left as Towers went on to win by 20. Chez Marks was the game high top scorer for Towers with 20 points. Report by Phil Redman |
Sunday November 6th Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 88 (31, 54, 76) Noray Properties London Towers 96 (23, 48, 68) Survival of the Fittest, a phrase which can be used in many ways to describe many things, if the tag was to be attached to any one BBL game this season it would be this as both sides played their third game in four days and for the Towers their sixth game in 10 days. The fixture list had sent Plymouth to Glasgow and Newcastle respectively before their game against a Towers side who had dispatched Sheffield and the Essex & Herts Leopards with relative ease in the preceeding days. For the Raiders the game in Glasgow provided a hammer blow as Gavin Love damaged his ankle forcing him to spend the game sat on the bench on crutches watching his side perform a spectacular choke job in the fourth quarter as the previous three sides to have faced the Towers managed. Robbie Peers elected to start with Chez Marks, Niki Arinze, Sullivan Phillips, Robert Sargeant and Lynard Stewart whilst Plymouth started DeAntoine Beasley, Alistair Gall, Gaylon Moore, Carlton Aaron and Andrew Lasker. Aaron beat Rob Sargeant to the tip allowing the Raiders a first bite of the cherry which they took to great effect as Beasley drained a three from outside to give the Raiders a lead they would take another 33 minutes to relinquish. Lynard Stewart was fouled on both of the Towers first possessions sending him to the line where he managed one of four but did send aron to the bench on two fouls within two minutes where he was replaced by Lawren Ramos. For most of the quarter the Raiders were content to move the ball around and take three point shots which they managed to great effect. Gaylon Moore was also effective inside as he caused Arinze no end of problems. Eventually the buzzer came to the Towers rescue as they gave up 30 points in the period for the second sunday in a row finishing 8 down at 23-31. Towers collected the ball at the beginning of the second period and Chez Marks found a hole in the defence to go all the way to the hole and cut the lead to six, a turnover by Lasker followed up by a put back slam from Lynard Stewart cut the lead to just four and forced Gary Stronach to call time out and try to stop the rot. Lasker was the man to do so as he nailed yet another long range bomb to take the lead back to seven. It was then that Quincy Wadley was to end up in a heap on the floor appearing to twist his injured knee which sent him to the bench to be attended to by the physio and first aiders. For most of the period baskets were traded however the referee's were to endear themselves to the travelling supporters when Chez Marks was called for a foul on Lawren Ramos right on the buzzer at half time which would have taken the lead out to eight at half time, however Ramos was to come up short on the first and then not even get the rim on the second leaving the Raiders six to the good at the half 54-48. The main topic of conversation at the half way point was how similar to the cup semi final this game was, giving up 30 in the first period, down six at half time, however the thought of coming back was not as strong as the week before as the third period began with yet another Raiders score. Again quite frighteningly as had happened the week before the score fluctuated between four and eight points in the Raiders favour as the Towers supporters began to feel that the game was slipping from their grasp as Arinze's woes continued from everywhere, his only field goal of the night coming from a Marks assist after choosing not to launch a three. The quarter break came with the Raiders 76-68 to the good and looking comfortable for the two points. If the third period had been fluctuating the fourth became a near massacre as for the fourth game on the trot the Towers placed their foot to the floor and came out the stronger this time beginning a 20-4 tear over 7 minutes taking them from 8 down to 11 up. Wadley was to begin the run with a massive three and it was another three from him which finally gave the Londoners their first lead since 7-6 in the fourth minute of the game. With 1:13 left in the game Robbie Peers decided to take a time out to set his play as the Raiders looked to foul to stop the clock, the plan was executed to perfection as Wadley found Marks who collected the foul, however it was not without a heart in the mouth moment as Marks nearly dropped then bounced the ball out of bounds, The two shots would take the Towers to a six point lead and it was left to Sullivan Phillips to close out the victory from the line giving the Towers a victory that had again never seemed on the cards for three periods. Chez Marks again led the Towers scoring with 26 points, a figure matched by the impressive Lasker for Plymouth, Lynard Stewart managed 22 points and a bucketful of rebounds, Sullivan Phillips managed 17, Rob Sargeant 8 and Niki Arinze 5. MVP for the game however was Quincy Wadley who managed 18 points having insisted on continuing to play despite the clear problems he is suffering with his knee. Towers next host Brighton on Saturday night at 7pm before a date at Milton Keynes on Sunday at 4pm. The Towers games at Milton Keynes on the 2nd December and at home to Leicester on the 3rd have been cancelled due to the Towers appearance in the BBL Cup Final at Birmingham on the 4th. Don't forget that the cup final day provides 3 games including the EBL Women's cup final at Midday, the EBL Cup final of Sheffield/Reading v Leopards or Worcester at 2:15, and then the big one of Towers v Eagles for the cup at 4:30pm, throw in the Scottish Rockettes cheerleaders and Foxy the Plymouth mascot and you have a cracking day's basketball at Birmingham, its one not to be missed as the Towers try and bring home the Trophy. Report by Jack Yoemanson |
Saturday November 5th Noray Properties London Towers 87 (19, 45, 64) Essex & Herts Leopards 53 (16, 38, 42) Noray Properties London Towers scored a powerful victory over old rivals, the Essex & Herts Leopards in the BBL trophy, winning by 20 points at Crystal Palace NSC this evening. The starting five for Towers were Chez Marks, Lynard Stewart, Niki rinze, Rob Sargeant and Sullivan Phillips. Leopards won the tip but first score went to Towers with a slam dunk from Chez Marks who scored the first 5 points of the game. With not much separating the two sides, Chez Marks put up a long three to take Towers out to a 3 point lead with 3.03 to play in the quarter. Earlier, Leopards had earlier got themselves ahead by 1 and would have gone further ahead had it not been for a fantastic block from Sullivan Phillips. Leopards crept ahead again with just over a minute left, but Towers held them off to finish the quarter ahead by 3. Baskets were evenly traded at the start of the second with Towers leading by 3 and then Leopards by 5 at 26 - 31 despite a three from Quincy Wadley on the previous play. Chez Marks started a 17 - 7 run for Towers to close the quarter including a monster jam and several other points from Niki Arinze to give Towers a 7 point advantage at the end of the half. Towers came out strong for the second half, getting the first points of the third quarter with a 2 pointer from Rob Sargeant who scored the first 4. Chez Marks then put up a three to take the Towers out to a 14 point lead at 52 - 38. This was part of a quarter long 19 - 4 run which included an alley oop from Lynard Stewart to Niki Arinze and a three from Quincy Wadley to take Towers out to a 22 point lead at the end of the third. Lynard Stewart was called for an unsportsmanlike at the start of the third and Quincy Wadley picked up his fourth foul on the very next play as Leopards scored the first 4 points of the fourth. Back to back threes from Rob Sargeant and Quincy Wadley as part of a 9 - 1 run put the Towers out to 26 ahead at 73 - 47. Chez Marks followed this up with an NBA length three on the next Towers possession. Towers then went on an 10 point run with another three from Chez followed by a slam. Zayne nade his Towers debut with just under three minutes left in the game and Towers 33 points ahead. Jerome Longville scored the final points for Towers with a three, as Towers went on to win by 34 points. Chez Marks was once again the game high top scorer for Towers with 27 points. Report by Phil Redman |
Thursday November 3rd Noray Properties London Towers 87 (21, 42, 58) Westfield Sharks Sheffield 73 (22, 36, 47) Noray Properties London Towers followed their dramatic BBL Cup semi final victory with a fine win over the Sheffield Sharks, winning by 20 points at Crystal Palace NSC this evening. The starting five for Towers were Chez Marks, Lynard Stewart, Niki rinze, Rob Sargeant and Sullivan Phillips. Sharks won the tip, but Towers scored the first 4 points gong on a 10 - 3 burst which included a spectucular slam from Lynard Stewart to take the early lead. Sharks came back with some strong three point shooting to get within 1 at 12 - 11. Towers pushed ahead again by 4, but Sharks scored just before the buzzer to lead by 1 at the end of the first quarter. Niki Arinze started the second quarter with a slam for Towers, but another three from the Sharks put them ahead again. Towers then went on a 10 - 2 tear to lead by 7 at the time out, with 5.44 left in the half. A great dunk from Chez Marks continued the run, until Windle put up another trey to close the gap again. Towers closed the half with a 5 point tear, to finish the second quarter ahead by 6. Chez Marks opened the scoring in the third quarter with a three to keep the advantage for Towers. Sullivan Phillips was called for his fourth foul whilst moving backwards with his hands int the air with 4.22 left to play. Quincy Wadley responded with a three to put Towers up by 10 at 55 - 45. At the end of the quarter, Towers were ahead by 11. It was first blood again to Towers with Niki Arinze scoring the first 4 points of the fourth, the second 2 with a dunk after a spectacular steal from Quincy Wadley. Chez Marks put in another high flying dunk to take the score out to 66 - 49, then was fouled by Windle with an unsportsmanlike under the basket on the very next play. Sharks' Cauthorn fouled out with 6.15 left to play with an unsportsmanlike against Lynard Stewart, again under the basket. Towers going on to win by 14. Chez Marks was once again the game high top scorer for Towers with 30 points. Report by Phil Redman |
Sunday October 30th Noray Properties London Towers 106 (21, 45, 70, 90) Scottish Phoenix Honda Record Rocks 97 (34, 52, 77, 90) “Its very important to the organisation and also to myself that the club win a trophy this year”. That comment came from Robbie Peers at the start of the BBL season and today he stands just 40 minutes away from fulfilling that promise after his Towers saw off the Scottish Rocks in the most dramatic fashion possible after a comeback, which had never appeared on the cards during the first quarter. The Towers started with Sullivan Phillips, Chez Marks, Robert Sargeant, Niki Arinze and Lynard Stewart whilst the Scottish Rocks were to begin with Rob Yanders, Germayne Forbes, Frank Bennett, Jean Francois and Julius Joseph. Rob Yanders was to begin the scoring with five straight points including a deep three to give the Rocks a lead of 5 - 0 before Lynard Stewart got the Londoners off and running with a lay-up inside. It was then that disaster struck for the Towers as the Rocks reeled off a 9 - 0 run to open up a 14 - 2 lead and it was to get worse as the lead grew and grew and grew up to as much as 18 half way through the first. A jump ball handed the ball to the Towers with just three seconds to go in the period but Sullivan Phillips could not connect on his shot. The buzzer eventually came with the Scots 34 - 21 to the good with Quincy Wadley the only Tower to shine, being in double figures at the end of the period. The second period was the beginning of the fightback from Peers’ side as they began to chip away at the lead with Lynard Stewart and Wadley continuing their work. Stewart was then to begin the change with a huge dunk on Frank Bennett, which was then followed up with some comments to Bennett, and the Towers were up for the fight. The officials were not helping the Londoners with some bizarre calls in particular from Neil Wilkinson. Germayne Forbes was to finish the quarter with a shot off the glass to give the Rocks a 7 point lead at half time of 52 - 45. The third period saw the Towers continue to hang around the Rocks getting the lead down to one on a couple of occasions, but seeing the Rocks pull away. Julius Joseph was then to be called for a technical foul for touching the ball after a basket. Chez Marks was to make the resulting free throws before Wadley nailed another huge trey on the possession to tie the ball game and leave the small but vocal band of Towers fans believing that they could maybe just do the unthinkable. The same set of supporters were then left fuming as Wilkinson called Arinze for an unsportsmanlike foul when Yanders was closer to Sunderland than the basket. A 7 point lead for the Rocks was the result at the end of the third with a score of 77 - 70. Towers gained the first two scores of the final period to cut the lead to four and as Lynard Stewart went to throw the ball down to cut the lead to two he was crudely cut down by Jean Francois, however no unsportsmanlike was forthcoming leaving Stewart at the line where he made one of two. All the time Chez Marks had quietly made his way from 0 points at half time to 14 via a couple of three pointers and he was to make another to finally hand the Towers a deserved lead at 82 - 81. It was soon to be four as Wadley nailed a trey of his own. However, the Scots were to hang around and with 36 seconds on the clock the scores were tied with the ball in Sullivan Phillips hand to give the Towers a chance to hold their own destiny in their hands. What was to happen would leave every Towers supporter with their heart in their mouths as no shot was forthcoming and the buzzer sounded to hand the Rocks the ball with 16.3 seconds on the clock and one shot separating the Scots from their third cup final on the trot. Phillips was to make amends in a big way after his turnover by forcing Rob Yanders to throw up an off balance shot which drew iron forcing the sides into an extra five minute overtime period. Towers had possession of the ball for the extra period, allowing them to test the old adage of who scores first in OT wins the game. It was Lynard Stewart who was to make the first score going past Bennett to give his side a 92 - 90 lead and his rebound at the other end combined with a pass to Marks made it four. The lead was to fluctuate between 2 and 4 for a good 3 minutes before Quincy Wadley was left alone in the corner to drive a dagger right into Scottish hearts giving the Towers a 7 point lead and leaving the Rocks no way back. A three from Yanders cut the lead to four before Joseph fouled out with a foul on Stewart sending him to the line for two. All Towers fans had their hearts in their mouths as Stewart took the first shot… All string, cue more worry over the second……… all string and the Towers fans could finally believe they were in the final. Marks was to finish the game with a lay-up off a Stewart assist leaving the small but vocal Towers fans dancing in the aisles in Newcastle as they made their first final since David Lindstrom was in charge. Quincy Wadley was to lead all scorers with 28 points, Chez Marks had 19 all in the second half. Sullivan Phillips had 18 including 2 of 2 three pointers and 9 rebounds, Niki Arinze contributed a double double of 13 points and 10 boards. However, game MVP was Lynard Stewart with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists. The Towers now go to the BBL Cup final on Sunday 4th December 2005 at 4:30pm where they will meet the Newcastle Eagles who overcame the Chester Jets. Highlights of both games will be on UKTV Sport this coming Saturday (5th November) at 6:30pm. Towers fans next chance to see their cup final heroes is this Thursday night as they entertain the Sheffield Sharks at 7:30pm. Report by Jack Yoemanson |
Saturday October 29th Noray Properties London Towers 58 (22, 32, 41) Milton Keynes Lions 75 (20, 39, 57) Noray Properties London Towers went dowb for the second time this week to Milton Keynes Lions, losing by 17 points at Crystal Palace NSC this evening. The starting five for Towers were Chez Marks, Lynard Stewart, Niki Arinze, Quincy Wadley and Sullivan Phillips. Lions won the tip tip but Towers were first to score with a layup from Lynard Stewart. Towers then pushed ahead into a narrow lead, helped along by 2 slam dunks again from Stewart. Quincy Wadley put up a three to give Towers a 5 point lead at 15 - 10. Towers twice pushed their advantage to 8 points, but the Lions came back to get back within 2 by the end of the first quarter. With just over 3 minutes played of the second period, Lions got ahead by 1 point. A Quincy Wadley three however, put Towers back ahead. Lions then went on a 10 point run to lead by 10 at 27 - 37. The run finally ended with a lay up from Quincy Wadley. Towers crept back to within 5 helped by another Wadley three, but the first half ended with the Towers adrift by 7. Lions scored the first 6 points of the second half before Chez Marks ended their run with a three pointer. With 4.14 left to play in the third quarter, Towers were adrift by 13. At the end of the quarter, Lions lead had increased to 16. With 16 points to make up Towers started the fourth quarter well with a long three from Quincy Wadley followed by a stop and another trey from Chez Marks. However, the Lions responded with an 8 point run to lead by 18 at 47 - 65. With 2.31 left to play, the referees called a double technical on Quincy Wadley and Lion's coach Nigel Lloyd. Gareth Laws pulled back some points with a three, but despite Sam Betts and Jerome Longville coming on for the last 40 seconds, Towers were unable to save the game, losing by 17. Report by Phil Redman |
Thursday October 27th Noray Properties London Towers 70 (22, 38, 59) Scottish Phoenix Honda Record Rocks 91 (27, 47, 67) Noray Properties London Towers lost out again to the Scottish Rocks, going down by 21 points at Crystal Palace NSC this evening. The starting five for Towers were Chez Marks, Lynard Stewart, Niki Arinze, Rob Sargeant and Sullivan Phillips. Towers won the tip, scored the first points and took a narrow advantage before Rocks got ahead by 2. A three from Chez Marks put Towers ahead again but Rocks came straight back with the next 4 points. Another Chez Marks three with just under 2 minutes to play got Towers ahead again at 20 - 18. However, the Rocks then went on a 9 - 2 run including threes from Rob Yanders and Julius Joseph to lead by 5 at the end of the first. Rocks scored first in the second quarter going out to a 11 point lead at 26 - 37 despite a strong three from Sullivan Phillips. Towers started to pull back, getting to within 5 points at 38 - 43, but the Rocks managed to pull away again to finish the half ahead by 9. Towers scored first in the third quarter, but once again, it was the Rocks getting away to a 12 point point lead at 42 - 54. Towers came back however, with a steal and dunk from Lynard Stewart and another long trey from Chez Marks to get within 6 at 48 - 54. Later, a 7 - 2 run got them to within 4 at 59 - 63 before some bad luck with the calls made it Rocks by 8 at the end of the quarter. The Rocks got the final quarter off with a three and held Towers off despite a pair of threes from Phillips and Wadley. With 2.51 left in the game, Towers were adrift by 13 at 67 - 80. With 2.03 left to play Quincy Wadley was called for an unsportsmanlike and Rocks were ahead by 17. A 14 - 1 run finished the quarter for the Rocks taking them out to a 21 point win. Report by Phil Redman |
Saturday October 22nd DMU Leicester Riders 65 (19,35,52) Noray Properties London Towers 70 (17,38,55) The month of May no doubt left Robbie Peers scratching his head as to who at the BBL he'd offended as the fixture list threw up a tough start for his team. However, none quite as tough as this one. Having disposed of Plymouth on the opening night, narrowly losing to Brighton on the following evening before again narrowly losing to the Scottish Rocks and progressing in the BBL cup by beating Milton Keynes, tonight the list sent his Towers side to the East Midlands to face a rejuvenated Leicester Riders side. The Londoners received a welcome piece of news that Ryan Huntley would be unfit to play in the game having suffered a knee injury. Peers also gave a debut to new signing Quincy Wadley, int o replace Nate Johnson. However, there was no place in the starting line up for Wadley as Robbie Peers chose to start Sullivan Phillips instead. It was the Towers who bagged the first four points of the game, all coming from the hands of Lynard Stewart before Anthony McHenry nailed a three pointer in the start of a 9 - 2 run for the home side, to give them a lead of 9 - 6. Tony Holley then nailed six straight points for the Riders to give them a 4 point lead at 17 - 13. The Towers would finish the second period the stronger to finish down 19 - 17. A 9 - 2 run from the Towers began the second period giving them a 26 - 21 lead before former Tower Steve Bucknall trimmed the gap to 34 - 33 in the Towers favour. Eventually the Towers would again finish the stronger side and lead at the half time break with a lead of 38 - 35. Wadley would make his first two free throws for the club and provide some assists. The half was not to finish without controversy, as Robert Reed was lucky to only be called for a foul when his elbow seemed to connect with the face of Lynard Stewart. The third period saw the Towers get the lead up to six before Daniel Sandell came to the fore with seven points in the period to give the Riders a narrow 1 point lead at 52 - 51. The final four points of the quarter went to the Towers to give them a three point lead at 55 - 52. The fourth quarter was to ebb and flow between the teams. A running hook from Bucknall gave the Riders back the lead at 58 - 57 before game MVP Chez Marks nailed a long range bomb from a good 30 feet. With 5:30 to go the previously quiet McHenry was to leave a message no-one would forget as he took off from the free throw line, flew over Stewart & Arinze before throwing the ball down with such a force the backer moved a good two feet, that would tie the game at 60 before Robert Sargeant grabbed six points without reply to give the Towers a 68 - 62 lead with 2:14 to go, however it was a lead the Towers would never relinquish. With 1:39 left Rob Sargeant was unlucky to be called for an unsportsmanlike foul on McHenry, when the same call at the other end was ruled a normal foul. McHenry would go one from two at the line before being called for a charge on the possession to foul him out of the game. At 68 - 63 and with 53 seconds left and the Towers needing to run the clock, Chez Marks decided he would run the ball out of bounds at the other end and provide the Riders with a chance to close the gap. The home side just could not buy a basket however with Reed and Holley missing four shots in a row between them. When they did finally make a layup through Reed there were only 20 seconds left and Riders would surely have to foul. However it would take 17 seconds for the foul to come leaving the previously perfect Chez Marks two shots to finish the game which he duly made to give the Towers a 70-65 win over the side top of the league. Chez Marks led the way again for the Towers with 20 points and 7 assists, Rob Sargeant contributed 14, Lynard Stewart 13, Sullivan Phillips 12, Niki Arinze 5 and Quincy Wadley 6. Former Tower Steve Bucknall had 8 points, 8 Rebounds and 10 Assists. The Towers now embark on a farcical run of three games in four days as the host the Scottish Rocks on Thursday night at 7:30pm before a trophy game with Milton Keynes on Saturday at 7pm, and finally a reunion with the Scots on Sunday in Newcastle for the cup semi final at 3pm, highlights of that game will be shown on UKTV Sport on the 5th November, when the Towers host age old rivals the Essex & Herts Leopards. Report by Jack Yoemanson |
Sunday October 16th Scottish Phoenix Honda Record Rocks 80 (14, 39, 55) Noray Properties London Towers 74 (17, 40, 59) Having dumped Milton Keynes out of the BBL cup at the quarterfinal stage on Saturday night, the fixture list conspired to send Robbie Peers and his team on the longest road trip of the season the following day. Towers arrived in Glasgow to take on the team with the longest name in the BBL, the Scottish Phoenix Honda Record Rocks (and you thought Noray Properties London Towers was a mouthful!) who had recruited a new team from scratch again having picked up Rob Yanders from Sheffield, Frank Bennet from Newcastle and a couple of England players in Germayne Forbes and Julius Joseph. Robbie Peers chose not to risk Nate Johnson who had been struggling with a groin injury throughout the weekend, instead bringing Sullivan Phillips back into the starting line up along with Chez Marks, Robert Sargeant, Lynard Stewart and former Rock Niki Arinze. It was Lynard Stewart who beat Bennet to the tip and Towers had the first offence of the game, which they failed to convert. Rocks also missed their first offence and with over 2 and a half minutes of the quarter gone, the scorers had not been troubled. It was the Scottish side that picked up the first points of the game through a Julius Joseph jumper, which was instantly replied to by Marks driving to the basket. Towers were then left fuming as an officiating error reared its head again. Rocks Jean Francois slid out of court still gripping the ball but to the sheer bafflement of the Towers bench and supporters was awarded possession back! With 4:36 on the clock and the score at 4 - 2 to the Rocks, Robbie Peers called his first time out and his team came out firing, rattling off 8 straight to take a 10-4 lead. Rocks were to reply with a 10 - 0 run of their own and take a 14 - 10 lead back. However Peers side were to respond with the latest and last blank run of the period at 7 - 0 to finish up 17 - 14. However the quarter was not to end without controversy. On their last possession of the period Towers committed a 24 second clock violation with the shot in the air. The clock however did not stop prompting Steve Swanson to launch into a tirade at the officials even choosing to burn a time out to continue his aberration of the two officials. After the minutes ear bashing 0.8 of a second was added onto the clock- not a lot considering the Rocks didn't make it past half court even. Towers got the second period underway and immediately hit a 3 through that man Marks again to take the lead to 6 at 20 - 14. Both sides traded blows throughout the period as Towers continued to pound the weak side of the Rocks non-existent defence- exploited in particular by Marks and Arinze. All throughout Rob Sargeant however, was experiencing what could only be described as an injury induced nightmare. By the time the half time buzzer came and Germayne Forbes had hit 4/4 from 3-point land the Rocks were back to just one point at 40 - 39. Rocks began proceedings after the break and scored a three from Joseph with their first possession to make it 42 - 40. The London side however, were not about to be broken by the blow and Nate Johnson replied with one of his own from deep to give his side back the lead. It was towards the end of the period however, that the Towers began to assert themselves on the team from North of the Border. A two from Arinze was followed up by a foolish turnover from the home side who passed the ball straight into the hands of Arinze for another easy layup to finish the quarter with the visitors 4 points to the good at 59 - 55. The fourth period however saw the exertions of the previous evenings game and the traveling up to Glasgow finally catch up with them as the Rocks bagged the opening six points of the period to take a lead they would eventually never surrender. Marks, Arinze and Johnson tried to keep their team in the hunt for the two precious BBL points which would have taken them to a 2 - 2 record. However, it was just not to be. Sargeant's own personal horror story continued as he ended with 2 points and little else for his bravery playing through a pain barrier that no-one but he could imagine. The rocks were to eventually take an 80 - 71 lead and finally nail the lid closed on their visitors before Nate Johnson nailed a three on the last possession of the game to cut the deficit to just six points and a performance to be proud of. The Towers were led by an MVP performance from Chez Marks with 27 points, Niki Arinze had 22 and Lynard Stewart 15 points and 8 boards, Sullivan Phillips had 5 points, 7 boards and 9 assists, Nate Johnson managed just three points and the cruelly hampered Sargeant managed 2 points and 4 boards in 29 minutes. The Towers can be immensely proud of their performance at this game, with Marks, Stewart, Arinze, Johnson, and in particular Sargeant carrying crippling injuries to be within six of the supposed favourites for the league title is an immense achievement. When they get all their players fit the Towers will be a match for anyone in the league and a piece of silverware is certainly not beyond the realms of possibility. The Towers travel to Leicester on Saturday night for a 7:30 tip against Karl Brown's rejuvenated Riders side before gaining a swift chance for revenge against the Rocks on the 27th October. Towers cup semi final has now been moved from either the 5/6 November to being on Sunday the 30th October at Newcastle's Metro Radio Arena. This change won't affect the club too much- the team were scheduled to play the Eagles on this date anyway. Should you not be able to make it to the semi the game will be shown live on UKTV. Report by Jack Yoemanson |
Saturday October 15th Noray Properties London Towers 81 (19, 42, 59) Milton Keynes Lions 66 (12, 35, 46) Noray Properties London Towers went through to the final four of the BBL Trophy with a 15 point win over Milton Keynes Lions, at a warmer even than usual evening at the Crystal Palace NSC "sauna". The starting five for Towers were Nate Johnson, Chez Marks, Lynard Stewart, Niki Arinze and Rob Sargeant. Towers won the tip but were called for the offensive on their first and second play, so it was the Lions who got the first score. Last season's MVP Sullivan Phillips came on for Towers with just under 4 minutes gone and Towers ahead by 3. A slam dunk from Niki Arinze started the Towers off on a 9 - 2 run to finish a very tight first quarter ahead by 7. A three from Chez Marks and one from Nate Johnson helped Towers to stretch their advantage, but Lions were soon back in touch at 29 - 24. Towers were able to hold on however, to finish the half still ahead by 7. Milton Keynes' Kevin Griffin picked up his fourth foul right at the start of the third as Towers scored the first 6 points of the quarter. Chez Marks took Towers out to 51 - 39 with a three then another from Nate Johnson took them out to a 13 point lead. Lions came back to within 10, but the final score of the quarter was a dunk from Sullivan Phillips to take Towers back out to lead by 13 at the end of the third. Strong defence from the Towers and a three from Sullivan Phillips, helped them keep the edge as a 7 - 2 tear put them out to a 14 point lead with just under 5 minutes left to play. Lions' Benjamin fouled out with just 12 seconds left and Towers ahead by 14, going on to win by 15 at 81 - 66. Chez Marks was the game high top scorer for Towers with 21 points. Report by Phil Redman |
Sunday October 9th Noray Properties London Towers 80 (22, 48,
71) Guildford Heat 82 (19, 43, 60) Noray Properties London Towers suffered a narrow 2 point loss to the Guildford Heat, at Crystal Palace NSC this afternoon. The starting five for Towers were Nate Johnson, Chez Marks, Lynard Stewart, Niki Arinze and Rob Sargeant. Guildford got first possession, but Towers scored first with a layup from Lynard Stewart who got the first 4 points for Towers. Rob Sargeant put in a dunk to take the Towers out to a 3 point lead. However, the Heat came right back to go into a 2 point lead at 11 - 13. Another dunk from Rob got the Towers back on level terms. Nate Johnson put up a trey as part of a 9 - 4 run from Towers, to finish the quarter ahead by three. It was Niki Arinze who got the scoring going for Towers at the start of the second. Heat responded with a three but back came Chez Marks with a three and a dunk to put the score out to 29 - 22. Nate Johnson put up another long three and the end of a 9 - 2 run by Towers and with 7.44 to play, Towers were up by 7. Towers couldn't break away however, despite another three from Nate, and at the end of the half, were ahead by 5. Heat started the scoring in the third scoring the first 5 points of the quarter to level the game at 48 each. Heat's Michael Martin picked up his fouth foul with just over 7 minutes to play. Lynard Stewart dunked to go 56 - 52 as Towers went on a 9 point tear to lead by 11 at 67 - 56. Towers held on to the advantage by the end of the third at 71 - 60. Heat's McKnight fouled out with 6.40 left in the game and Towers ahead by 13. Heat then began to put on the pressure to come back to within 4. With 3.35 to play, Tower's Rob Sargeant fouled out followed by Heat's Rob Wellington with 2.50 left. Michael Martin fouled out with 45 secs left and Heat ahead by 1. With 16 seconds left, Towers had possession but Matthew Lord was called for travelling. With 2.8 seconds left, Heat had the ball. Towers fouled, but Heat scored one of the resulting three throws to win the game by two. Report by Phil Redman |
Sunday
October 2nd Genesis Brighton Bears
88 (20, 39, 54) Noray Properties London
Towers 80 (15, 30, 58) From the moment they arrived at Brighton's home venue on Sunday, the Towers would probably have wished they'd stayed in London and the home comforts of Crystal Palace, after Saturday night's demolition of Plymouth With around 20 minutes of the warm up to go, the basket nearest the Towers bench appeared to break and after much head scratching from Nick Nurse, referees Bob Bhania and Chris Mills and the Bears court crew, it was decided to fix the problem using Gaffer tape and bracket straps. The tip began with London lining up with a starting five of Chez Marks, Niki Arinze, Nate Johnson, Robert Sargeant and Lynard Stewart. Bears won the jump ball after Niki Arinze had fumbled away and Brighton got off and running with a two from Andrew Alleyne before the Towers got underway with a two. The first quarter ebbed and flowed as both sides traded baskets including Towers gaining an easy two from Lynard Stewart who caused problems inside all night for the Bears defence. Rebounds for the away side were hard to come by however, meaning they missed a vast amount of chances to pick up second chance points. Brighton were to finish the quarter stronger however with a lead of 5 points at 20 - 15. The second quarter saw the Towers begin with the first basket from Chez Marks before Brighton began to take over the game. Robert Sargeant then missed a layup with nobody within 10 yards of him to compound the Towers woes. The home side were again to finish stronger with a 9 point lead at 39 - 30. All Towers fans had their hearts in their mouths as Lynard Stewart hit the floor hard and stayed down for a good 2 minutes. He eventually got up none the worse for wear, having just taken a nasty bump on the Brighton Centre floor. The third quarter took the same pattern as the night before for the London side as Chez Marks found his range from deep and proceeded to knock down three treys on the trot to give the side from the Capital their first lead since they'd led 10 - 9 in the first period. All this came in a 17 - 4 run with Sargeant, Arinze and Stewart all contributing. On the other hand, Nate Johnson, hero the night before experienced his first real test in the BBL against Terrance McGee formerly of the Scottish Rocks. The Towers were to finish the quarter with a lead of four points which would have been 7 had Johnson connected on a Hail Mary 3 at the end of the period which drew iron. If the third quarter had been the Towers, then the fourth was where they fell to pieces in a big way. Niki Arinze was called for a charging foul by Chris Mills, Terrance McGee picking up his Oscar once he'd been picked up from the floor. Then came perhaps the game changing call. Off a Sargeant miss, Andrew Alleyne tipped the ball out of bounds. However the officials saw it differently and handed the ball back to Brighton. Off the possession Corey Jackson popped up to drain a morale sapping three to give the home side the lead and probably nail the lid of the Towers coffin closed. Arinze then missed two consecutive jumpers and it was left to the Towers to try and foul which they did. However Jackson made no mistakes at the line to give the Bears a hard fought 88 - 80 victory against a side playing with 5 men for over 35 minutes of the game, 3 of whom were injured in one way or another. Chez Marks poured in 7 of 16 three pointers including 4 of 6 in the second half alone in his game topping 25 points for the Towers, Lynard Stewart, Niki Arinze and Robert Sargeant all chipped in with their second double doubles of the weekend. Nate Johnson however had a night to forget in a hurry only scoring 3 points. Towers next game is against the Guildford Heat on Sunday at 4pm before the first real test of their title credentials the following Sunday as the travel North of the Border to visit Braehead and title favourites the Scottish Rocks. Report by Jack Yoemanson |
Saturday
October 1st Noray
Properties London Towers 84 (23, 38, 67) Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 59
(13, 31, 45) Noray Properties London Towers got their season off to a flying start with an 84 - 59 point win over the Plymouth Raiders, at Crystal Palace NSC tonight. Towers started the action with a dunk from Lynard Stewart edging into an early lead. Nate Johnson put up a three as part of 13 - 3 run by the Towers, giving them a 10 point advantage by the end of the first quarter. The Raiders came right back at the start of the second period with an 11 - 2 run to get to within a point. A spectacular Chez Marks dunk helped the Towers to keep their edge however, finishing the first half of the game ahead by 7. Rob Sargeant started the scoring for the Towers in the second half with a two point jumper. A long NBA three from Nate Johnson followed by another from Chez Marks put the Towers ahead by 15 at 48 - 33. Another long three from Nate and a dunk from Lynard Stewart, part of 17 - 2 run, put Towers further ahead. Another trey from Chez helped Towers keep the advantage, putting them ahead by 22 at the end of the third. Chez Marks opened the scoring at the start of the final quarter with another three pointer. However, Chez picked up his fourth foul with 2.36 left in the game and Towers ahead by 25. The Raiders were unable to respond, Towers winning by 25. Report by Phil Redman |
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