Saturday
April 16th London
Towers 63 (21, 33, 48) Scottish Rocks 65 (23,
33, 49) London Towers ended their season by going out of the BBL Championship, losing by just 1 point to the Scottish Rocks, at Crystal Palace NSC tonight. The starting five for Towers were Jerry Williams, Lynard Stewart, Sullivan Phillips, Niki Arinze and Rod Brown. Towers won the tip and scored the first points of the game with a field goal from Niki Arinze. The early advantage went to Towers as they pushed out to a 4 point lead at 8 - 4. However, Towers' coach Robbie Peers got a technical for disputing the referee's call with 6.16 left in the quarter as Rocks edged into a 3 point lead. Rod Brown levelled with a three, but at the end of the first, it was Rocks by 2. In a tough second quarter, Towers fought back to get ahead by just 1 point at 29 - 28. They were unable to extend their advantage however, the half finishing level at 33 each. Towers possession at the start of the second half scoring the first 4 points of the quarter. A three from Sullivan Phillips gave Towers a 4 point lead at 40 - 36. A technical was called on Rocks' Bryant Feggins with 3.42 left, his fourth foul as Towers maintained the advantage. However, Rocks came right back to edge ahead again, finishing the quarter up by 1. Lynard Stewart picked up his fourth foul with 8.17 left in the game half way through the quarter, the scores still tied. Rocks' Feggins fouled out with 4.0 to play then Adrian Henning with 3.11 left. Rod Brown picked up his fourth, then fouled out with 1.18 left in the game. Towers were 2 points down with 16.9 seconds left and fought to stop the play. Jerry Williams won 2 free shots with .9 seconds to go. He missed the first, made the second but it wasn't enough and Towers went out of the BBL championship. Poor free throw shooting effectively lost the game for Towers as they made just 6 from 25. Report by Phil Redman |
Sunday April 10th TCS Chester Jets 97
(22, 47, 74) London Towers 74
(25,40, 52) TCS Chester Jets lifted the BBL Championship title on Sunday evening with a convincing 97 - 74 success over the London Towers in front of a ram packed Northgate Arena. After a tense opening quarter the Jets posted a 8-0 burst on their way to a 47 - 40 half time lead and when they started the third quarter with a 14 - 4 run they were in control at 61 - 44. A 9 - 2 tear to close out the third quarter made the game safe at 74 - 52, securing the title for the Jets and inflicting the Towers first defeat in 12 outings. Jets Calvin Davis top scored in the game with 22 points. Report from the BBL |
Saturday April 9th Brighton Bears 79
(13, 30, 55) London Towers 95
(22, 51, 73) London Towers notched up their second victory over the Brighton Bears within a week with a 95 - 79 win over the south coast outfit on the road on Saturday night. The Towers notched their 11th consecutive BBL Championship success after taking control of the game with an 11 - 2 tear to close out the first quarter 22 - 13 to the good. When the visitors posted a 12 - 2 burst midway through the second stanza the result was safe at 45 - 25. Towers Jerry Williams led all scorers with 22 points. Report from the BBL |
Wednesday April 6th London Towers 89 (17, 35,
72) Brighton Bears 57 (14,
30, 44) London Towers extended their winning run to ten games with this comprehensive 89 - 57 defeat of Brighton Bears at Crystal Palace, condemning the Bears to their third loss in four days. It was a close encounter through the first half, the Towers held a 35 - 30 lead at half time before a big third quarter saw their offence kick into gear as they also shut Brighton down at the defensive end. After the break the home side outscored the Bears by 37 - 14 to take an unassailable 72 - 44 lead into the final period. The Bears scored just 27 points in the entirety of the second half as they struggled to get back into the game. Niki Arinze led all scorers with 27 points and it was Andrew Alleyne who led the Bears' challenge with 20 points. Report from the BBL |
Saturday April 2nd London Towers 78
(18, 34, 59) Leicester Riders 72 (19, 38, 53) London Towers got their eighth win in a row, strengthening their chances of a home playoff spot, with a narrow 6 point win over the Leicester Riders, at Crystal Palace NSC tonight. The starting five for Towers were Jerry Williams, Lynard Stewart, Sullivan Phillips, Niki Arinze and Rod Brown. Towers won the tip and got the first score with a three from Niki Arinze. Leicester responded with 10 - 2 run, taking their lead by to 3 at 11 - 14. By the end of the quarter Towers had pulled back to within 1. The first score of the second quarter was a two handed slam from Jerry Williams as Towers pushed ahead to lead by 4 at 26 - 22. Leicester weren't giving up that easily though and by the end of the half were 4 points ahead. Riders had possession at the start of the third quarter, but it was Towers that scored first. However, they couldn't do enough to stop Leicester taking a 7 point lead at 37 - 42. Towers began a fight back with a 16 - 3 run to lead by 6. Leicester came back to within 1, but Sullivan Phillips responded with a three. Jerry Williams threw up another three pointer on the buzzer to put Towers ahead by 6 at the end of the third. Rod Brown scored a three pointer to put Towers ahead by 11 at 64 - 53, but Lynard Stewart picked up his fourth foul with 8.14 left to play in the game. Rod Brown put up an alley-oop to Sullivan Phillips as the Riders came back within 4. Lynard Stewart fouled out with 1.42 to play and the score at 74 - 70. However, Towers held on to win the game by 6. Jerry Williams top scored for Towers with 29 points. Report by Phil Redman |
Sunday March 27th Birmingham Bullets 75 (16,
23, 53) London Towers 101 (23,
51, 80) London Towers beat Birmingham Bullets for the second time in five days and extended their winning streak to seven games with a 75-101 win on the road on Sunday night. After a 16-23 first quarter, the visitors broke the game open in the second period, opening it with 10 unanswered points and closing it with 11 unanswered, whilst restricting the Bullets to just 7 points, to take a 23-51 lead into the locker room. The lead reached it's peak at 43-76 in the third period before the home side closed out that quarter with a 10-4 tear but the closest they could get was at 75-101 at the final buzzer. Jerry Williams led the Towers with 30 points and 6 assists and Lynard Stewart posted 16 points with 15 rebounds. For Birmingham it was Steven Barnes who led the way with 22 points. Report from the BBL |
Saturday March 26th London Towers 80 (19,
37, 58) Scottish Rocks 72 (16, 40, 51) London Towers got their sixth win in a row with an 8 point win over the Scottish Rocks, at Crystal Palace NSC tonight having led by 17 and trailed by 10. The starting five for Towers were Jerry Williams, Lynard Stewart, Sullivan Phillips, Niki Arinze and Rod Brown. Towers won the tip but Rocks got the first 4 points of the game, going on to take an early 3 point lead at 4 - 7. However, Towers came straight back to get themselves ahead to finish the quarter ahead by 3. Rocks started the second quarter with a 10 point run, getting ahead by 7 at 19 - 26 pushing their lead out to 10 later in the quarter. Towers fought back, helped by threes from Sullivan Phillips and Niki Arinze to finish the half down by 3. Towers came out strong for the second half going on an 13 - 3 run which included a three from Jerry Williams and a one handed dunk from Lynard Stewart to take a 7 point lead at 50 - 43. Sullivan Phillips put up a three right at the end of the quarter to help the Towers keep their advantage, finishing the third, up by 7. Towers pushed their advantage out to 17 points at 70 - 53 at the start of the final stanza, helped by a slam dunk from Niki Arinze, as part of a 10 point run. Niki Arinze shot a three pointer to which the Rocks responded with an 11 - 2 run to get back within 7 at 75 - 68. Jerry Williams picked up his fourth foul with 1.04 left in the game but Towers held on to win by 8. Niki Arinze was the game high scorer for Towers with 27. Report by Phil Redman |
Wednesday
March 23rd London Towers 107 (30, 57,
81) Birmingham Bullets 79 (20,
31, 52) London Towers got their fifth win in a row, keeping alive the distant hope of winning the Championship, with a massive 28 point win over the Birmingham Bullets, at Crystal Palace NSC tonight. The starting five for Towers were Jerry Williams, Lynard Stewart, Sullivan Phillips, Niki Arinze and Rod Brown. Towers won the tip and got the first score with a two pointer from Jerry Williams. Towers took the advantage after an alley-oop from Rod Brown to Jerry Williams, but it was the Bullets that took a narrow lead, going ahead by 2. However, Towers went on a 13 - 3 run, including a Rod Brown three pointer, to finish the first quarter ahead by 10. Towers started the second quarter with a 10 - 2 run including a spectacular one hander from Lynard Stewart, taking the score to 40 - 22. Rod Brown put up two back to back threes to give Towers a 22 point advantage. Rod scored yet another three then Sullivan Phillips put up an alley-oop to Jerry Williams to the delight of the crowd. At the end of the first half, Towers were ahead by 27. With just over 5 minutes left of the third quarter with Towers 29 points ahead, coach Robbie Peers gave young Sam Betts his first minutes. Sam scored his first points of the game right at the end of the quarter for Towers to finish the third up by 29. At 90 - 61 Niki Arinze put in a one handed dunk followed by a three on the next play. With 4.12 left in the game Jerome Longville came on with Sam Betts , Sam immediately scoring a three. Bullets' Marriot fouled out with 1.10 left to play. Towers' hundredth point came from another alley-oop by Lynard Stewart from Rod Brown. Towers going on to win by 28. Report by Phil Redman |
Saturday March 19th London Towers 71 (23, 43, 60) Newcastle Eagles 64 (11, 22, 49) London Towers got their fourth win in a row with a 7 point win over the late arriving Newcastle Eagles, having led by 21 points in the third quarter, at Crystal Palace NSC tonight. The starting five for Towers were Jerry Williams, Lynard Stewart, Sullivan Phillips, Niki Arinze and Rod Brown. Towers won the tip and scored the first points of the game with a three from Jerry Williams starting off a 12 - 4 run to gain the initial advantage. Niki Arinze put in a dramatic one handed slam to take the score to16 - 7 as Towers held the lead. The last score of the quarter was an alley-oop by Rod Brown to Lynard Stewart to give Towers a 12 point advantage at the end of the first quarter. Towers kept up the pressure in the second quarter with two two handed dunks from Niki Arinze and a three from Sullivan Phillips helping them keep the advantage. At the end of the half, it was Towers by 11. Newcastle got within 10 at 47 - 37, but Towers came right back with a three from Rod Brown starting an 11 point run to go ahead by 21 at 58 - 37. A technical was called on TJ Walker for an unsportsmanlike foul with 4.48 to play following a spectacular steal by the Towers. Another technical was called on Fab Flournoy with 3.14 left in the quarter. The latter inspired the Eagles to come back with a 9 point run to finish the quarter down by 11. Newcastle kept coming with a 10 - 4 run and were soon level 3 at 62 - 62. Inside the final minute, Rod Brown put up a three to give the edge back to Towers as Newcastle's Fab Flournoy fouled out with 17 seconds left. Eagles fouled to stop the clock, but were unable to get back, Towers winning by 7. Report by Phil Redman |
Sunday March 13th CS Chester Jets 85 (17,
40, 62) London Towers 99 (26,
42, 71) Since taking the job as coach of the Towers, Robbie Peers had never been victorious at his old home court, as last season's trips to the Northgate Arena ended in defeat. In fact as a club, the Towers had not won a game at the Northgate since the Nick Nurse era. On this Sunday afternoon however the demons were exorcised in a way that no Towers follower could have dreamed of at the beginning. The game began with Calvin Davis winning the jump ball and Trey Moore running the first offence, which was stripped with the chief destroyer for the Londoners Jerry Williams, he sprinted back to make it 2 - 0 London. The next possession saw the Jets commit a 24 second violation turning the ball back to the Towers who were able to score again through Niki Arinze and within 15 seconds Arinze had made it 6 - 0 and the Jets had yet to even muster a shot. Calvin Davis finally presented the home statesmen with some work, mustering the Jets first shot of the game which drew iron before being ripped down by Williams and sent down court to Lynard Stewart for a wide open 2 and 8 - 0 Towers. Jets finally troubled the scorers after nearly 3 minutes thanks to a Trey Moore three pointer and before long the Jets were back in it at 15 - 13. However it was down to Lynard Stewart and James Hamilton to rebuild the gap to seven and a buzzer beating Stewart shot gave the Towers a 9 point lead at the end of the first, 26 - 17. The second period gave the home side hope as the Towers went on a slide forcing Peers to call time out and evaluate where his side went from there. Calvin Davis and DJ Harrison both improved the task by picking up three fouls in the first half on defence and offence as the Towers pounded the glass at times. Eventually the Jets run brought them level at 40 before Rod Brown nailed the final score of the period to take his side in up 2 at 42 - 40. The third quarter ran to a similar pattern to the first as Jerry Williams exploded out of the blocks nailing back-to-back treys along with Arinze, Phillips, Brown and Stewart scores to take the lead out to 14. Harrison and Davis then picked up foul number 4 each and the Towers genuinely believed they could finally end the hoodoo. Eventually Shawn Myers and Billy Singleton tried to mount a come back which included an unsportsmanlike on Lynard Stewart for sending Singleton flying over the baseline and into the wall. Singleton missed the resulting pair and the ball was turned over on the next possession. By the time the horn sounded for the end of the third the Towers were up 9 at 71 - 62. The fourth quarter saw the Towers finally shoot down the remnants of the Jets attacks with a 12 - 5 start to the period and by the time Sullivan Phillips put back a Lynard Stewart miss, the lead hit 20 and it was game, set and match for the Londoners. With just 2 minutes and 30 seconds left, Rod Brown and Anthony Martin became involved in a disagreement of handbag proportions and were called for a double foul. DJ Harrison already on 4 fouls offered Neil Wilkinson the benefit of his opinion and received a T for his troubles taking him out of the game. Niki Arinze added the two from the stripe and Towers were home and dry. The final minute saw the Towers miss out on the big 100 thanks to some horrendous free throw shooting. However, there was nothing going to stop Robbie Peers, his team and the vocal band of the Towers support, enjoying one of the golden moments in the Peers era. Eventually the game ended at 99 - 85 and coupled with the Brighton Bears defeat to the Plymouth Raiders they were up to the vital 4th spot. After a result such as this its so difficult to name a single MVP. Jerry Williams led all scorers with 29, Niki Arinze had 24 points and 4 rebounds, Sullivan Phillips nailed 17 with 3 steals, Rod Brown made 12 points and 9 assists in an all round performance, Lynard Stewart made 12 points and 8 boards with James Hamilton and Danny Craven adding five points between them in their minutes. Towers now return to Crystal Palace on Saturday night to meet the Newcastle Eagles who will be looking to turn the screw on Chester whilst sewing up the head to head with the Towers. The next away game for the London side takes them to North Solihull on Easter Sunday (27th March), to face a Bullets side who they have beaten five times already this year. Tip off at Birmingham is 6:30 pm. Report by Jack Yoemanson |
Saturday March 12th London Towers 74 (19, 41, 64) Thames Valley Tigers 67 (11, 28, 45) London Towers avenged a recent away defeat at Bracknell with a 7 point win over Thames Valley Tigers, at Crystal Palace NSC tonight, having led by 25 points at one stage of the game. The starting five for Towers were Jerry Williams, Lynard Stewart, Sullivan Phillips, Niki Arinze and Rod Brown. Tigers won the tip but Towers scored the first 5 points as they began a 13 - 2 run with a three from Sullivan Phillips. A one handed dunk from Lynard Stewart pushing the Tigers to respond with 7 unanswered points before Towers came back again to finish the quarter ahead by 8. The second quarter started off even handed before Towers went on a 7 - 2 run, including another one hander from Lynard Stewart, to take the score to 24 -15. Towers then pushed further ahead to lead by 12 at 29 - 17. Rod Brown put in a two handed slam at 39 - 27 keeping the Towers 12 point advantage. At the end of the half, Towers were ahead by 13. Towers started the second half with 6 unanswered points going ahead by 19. Rod Brown put up two threes in the first three and a half minutes as the Towers kept up the heat. Lynard Stewart picked up a fourth foul with 5.24 to play and the score at 54 - 37. A technical was called against Tiger's Joe James, his fourth foul, with 3.22 left in the quarter. A spectacular alleyoop put up by Sullivan Phillips to Jerry Williams put Towers ahead by 25 at 64 - 39. Tigers pulled back a bit with a 6 point run, but at the end of the third, Towers were up by 19. Tigers continued their run into the final quarter with another 10 points to cut the gap to just 7 at 64 - 57. Technicals were called against Rod Brown and David Modeste with 4.28 to play, then Niki Arinze picked up a fourth foul with 4.02 left. Tiger's Martin Gotfried fouled out with 40 seconds to play and Tigers fouling to stop the clock. Niki Arinze fouled out with 12 seconds left as Towers went on to win by 7, scoring just 10 points in the final quarter. Report by Phil Redman |
Saturday March 5th London Towers 78 (20, 35, 52) Milton Keynes Lions 66 (21, 34, 48) London Towers avenged a recent defeat with a 12 point win over Milton Keynes Lions, at Crystal Palace NSC tonight. Towers were without injured players Niki Arinze and James Hamilton, who did make a brief appearance, but were pleased to welcome back Rod Brown. The starting five for Towers were Jerry Williams, Lynard Stewart, Sullivan Phillips, Danny Craven and Rod Brown. First possession and first points went to the Towers who took the early advantage until the Lions edged ahead, leading by 4 at 13 - 17. The quarter saw three three pointers from Sullivan Phillips, one just before the buzzer and a three from Jerry Williams helping Towers to get back to finish the first quarter just one point adrift. The second quarter was a very close affair with Towers going on a 6 point run to lead by 2 at 34 - 32, finishing the half ahead by 1. Towers scored the first 4 points of the second half to go ahead by 5 at 41 - 36. The Lions then went on a 6 point run to go 1 ahead. Towers responded with a 9 - 1 run including a three from Jerry Williams to lead by 6. At the end of the third, Towers were ahead by 4. Towers started the final stanza with a 13 - 3 run including two more threes from Sullivan Phillips and one from Rod Brown to go ahead by 14 at 65 - 51. Danny Craven fouled out with 2.29 left in the game then Lion's Kevin Griffin went with 1.01 to play, followed by Ishua Benjamin with just 10 seconds left. Towers went on to win by 12. Report by Phil Redman |
Sunday February 27th Leicester Riders 96 (18,
45, 64) London Towers 95 (22,41,54) Leicester Riders took another major scalp on their home floor on Sunday night, a 96-95 double overtime win saw them add London Towers to the list of top five teams that have fallen at the John Sandford SC, Brighton and Newcastle being the other two. The only factor separating the teams in the first half was some fine long distance shooting from the home side, they shot 8/9 three pointers on their way to a 45-41 lead at half time. Leicester then took charge in the third as Joel Burns made two from beyond the arc and Cameron Wright added one as they went on a 15 - 0 tear to lead 60 - 46. Towers responded with 8 unanswered points towards the end of the quarter, closing the deficit to 64 - 54 going into the final period. Leicester looked as though they were going to throw the game away at this stage, they netted in the opening minute of the fourth quarter but from there the visitors went 15 - 0 as Riders didn't score again until there was just 1:34 left on the clock. Towers regained the lead at 66-69 before Leicester composed themselves and notched 7 unanswered points for a 73-69 lead. However, it was the Londoners who made the big plays down the stretch, Lynard Stewart converted a three-point play from the line before Jerry Williams sent the game into overtime with a buzzer-beating triple. Leicester had two chances to win the game in overtime, with 2.8 secs left Eric Williams could only make one of two free-throws to tie the game at 86. And, after Jerry Williams knocked the ball out of bounds, Ervin Murray missed a three. The home side made the first 5 points of the second overtime period before Towers responded with a 7 - 1 tear to lead 92 - 93. Towers failed to convert some crucial offences as Murray and Mike New won the game from the line for Leicester. Joel Burns shot 7/9 from beyond the arc to lead all scorers with 27 points on his birthday. Sullivan Phillips was the key man for Towers, with 20 points, 11 assists and 8 rebounds. Report from the BBL |
Saturday February 26th London Towers 86 (20, 45, 67) Plymouth Raiders 78 (10, 26, 48) London Towers were back to winning ways with an 8 point win over the Plymouth Raiders, having led by 24 points in the third quarter, at Crystal Palace NSC tonight. Towers were once again without injured players, Rod Brown and James Hamilton. The starting five for Towers were Jerry Williams, Lynard Stewart, Sullivan Phillips, Danny Craven and Niki Arinze. Towers won the tip and scored the first points going on a 14 - 3 burst including a three pointer from Lynard Stewart. Lynard also scored the last points of the first quarter with another three, giving the Towers a 10 point lead. Raiders got the first points of the second period, but a one handed slam from Jerry Williams put the score out to 24 - 12. Niki Arinze put up a three to start a 7 point run followed by a reverse slam from Jerry Williams then a one handed slam from Lynard Stewart to go to 35 - 20. At the end of the first half, Towers were ahead by 19. Raiders once again took the first points, but an alley-oop from Lynard Stewart to Jerry Williams put the score out to 55 - 34. Plymouth went on an 8 point run to narrow the gap to 13 at 55 - 42. However, Towers responded with an 11 point run, helped by a technical on Raider's Durham, taking the score out to 61 - 46. Right near the end of the third, Sullivan Phillips put in a two handed slam and at the end of the quarter, Towers led by 19. Danny Craven picked up his fourth foul with 7.20 left in the game as the Raiders went on a 9 point tear to get within 10. Niki Arinze ended the run with a three. Raider's Love fouled out on a technical with 4.07 left in the game and the score at 81 - 63. Danny Craven fouled out with 3.46 left, Sam Betts coming on to the court for the first time. Lynard Stewart responded with a big three but Raiders followed up with a 12 point tear to get within 9 at 85 - 76. Plymouth's Durham fouled out with 39 seconds left, Towers going on to win by 8. Jerry Williams and Terrence Durham were the game high scored with 27 apiece. Report by Phil Redman |
Saturday
February 19th Thames Valley Tigers
91 (31, 47, 64) London Towers 65 (23,
43, 61) Thames Valley Tigers bounced back from defeat at the hands of the Springfield Honda Newcastle Eagles on Friday to record a morale boosting 91-65 success over the London Towers. The Tigers rattled off the opening 8 points of the game and kept their noses in front of the Towers throughout the opening three quarters, leading 64-61 at three quarter time. Once in the final stanza the Tigers bagged the opening 21 points over a 7m 40s spell as the Towers, faced by some stubborn Tigers defence, failed to find a score. Tigers Nick Moore and Towers Niki Arinze led all scorers with 22 points. Webmaster's Note: Towers were without the injured Rod Brown and James Hamilton. Also, three of the remaining players played with upset stomachs. Report from the BBL |
Wednesday February 16th London Towers 106 (28, 55, 82) Birmingham Bullets 61 (10, 25, 45) London Towers had an emphatic win over the Birmingham Bullets, winning by 45 points at Crystal Palace NSC tonight without injured players, Rod Brown and James Hamilton. The starting five for Towers were Jerry Williams, Lynard Stewart, Sullivan Phillips, Danny Craven and Niki Arinze. Towers won the tip though it was 1.15 before Sullivan Phillips scored the first points for Towers starting an 18 point tear including back to back threes from Niki Arinze and Jerry Williams to go 18 - 0. It took Bullets over 5 minutes to get on the scoresheet in a quarter which saw no fouls from the Towers. The quarter ended with Towers 18 points ahead. The second period saw Towers pull further away. Jerry Williams put in a two handed dunk to put Towers 20 points ahead at 32 - 12. A technical was called on Birmingham's Phillips for touching the ball after a score, adding to the Bullets woes. Lynard Stewart put in a one handed dunk to take the score to 50 - 21, then Sullivan Phillips put in a long three. The half ended with Towers ahead by 30. The third quarter saw three dunks from Jerry Williams, two one handed and one reverse, and a one handed slam from Niki Arinze. A technical was called on Bullet's coach Darren Ling with 3.40 to play. Young Sam Betts came on with 1.41 left of the quarter. At the end of the third, Towers were ahead by 37. Jarome Longville came into the game with about 4 minutes to play in the fourth. Towers kept their advantage with Sam Betts putting in a three to take Towers over the hundred. Towers going on to win by 45 points. Report by Phil Redman |
Sunday February 13th Milton Keynes Lions 103
(25, 44, 77) London Towers 002 (20,
45, 82) Milton Keynes Lions held onto their Playoff spot as they condemned London Towers to their second defeat of the weekend in a tense affair that finished 103 - 102. Milton Keynes took the early advantage after some fine long-range shooting, Longpre made 3 of his 8 in the first quarter, Kevin Griffin and Ishua Benjamin added three's of their own as the home side led 25 - 20 at the quarter. Niki Arinze spearheaded the Towers' revival, his 11 points in the second period saw the visitors lead 44 - 45 at the intermission. The teams traded baskets in the third stanza, the difference being made by Jerry Williams and Sullivan Phillips finding their three point range as the Towers edged out to a 77 - 82 advantage. It was the in-form Arinze who ignited a 7 - 0 Towers run to take the score out to 82 - 91 with 5 minutes left in the contest. However, a 16 - 2 tear, consisting of four three pointers, from the home side turned the tables with 2mins to play as the Lions led 98 - 93. In the last minute Kevin Griffin nailed a three for a 101 - 96 lead before Lynard Stewart came to life in a rescue attempt for his team. He made two free-throws, followed by a steal and jump shot and then with 17secs on the clock he tipped in an offensive rebound and Towers led 101 - 102. Milton Keynes set-off down the floor to win the game in the dying seconds, Ishua Benjamin laid on his twelfth assist for Brett Longpre to finish the game off with a dunk. Longpre and Arinze made 32 points each whilst Ishua Benjamin made 29 points with 12 assists. Report from the BBL |
Saturday
February 12th London Towers 67 (23, 38,
57) Springfield Honda Newcastle
Eagles 86 (21, 44, 64) Springfield Honda Newcastle Eagles recorded their second victory in as many days with a 86 - 67 victory over the struggling London Towers. The Eagles moved in front of the Towers midway through the second quarter but never really shook off their hosts until the final quarter. Eagles Jeremy Hyatt landed a game high 25 points as his side outscored the Towers 22 - 10 in the final quarter to run out comfortable winners. Report from the BBL |
Saturday February 5th London Towers 80 (17, 36, 58) Scottish Rocks 77 (21,37,55) London Towers won a close and exciting game over the Scottish Rocks, winning by 3 points at Crystal Palace NSC tonight in front of the biggest crowd of the season so far. The starting five for Towers were Rod Brown, Jerry Williams, Lynard Stewart, Sullivan Phillips and Niki Arinze. Towers won the tip, but it was over a minute before the first points were scored by Sullivan Phillips for Towers. Towers held a narrow lead for most of the first quarter, a three pointer from Rod Brown and strong offensive rebounding from Danny Craven giving them the edge. However, the Rocks pulled ahead by 2 with 1.37 left in the period. At the end of the first, Rocks were ahead by 4. Towers levelled the game at 23 points apiece early in the second. However, a 6 point run from the Rocks gave them a 6 point lead. An unsportsmanlike foul called on Rock's McIntosh followed by a technical on the bench gave Towers the opportunity to close the gap. At the end of the half, Towers were down by 1. Towers got their noses in front by 1 at the start of the third, but the Rocks came straight back to lead by 3. An 8 point run put Towers ahead by 6 at 48 - 43. At the end of the third, it was Towers by 3. Danny Craven picked up his fourth foul inside the second minute of the final quarter. Towers then went on a 6 - 2 run to lead by 5. However, the Rocks got right back within 1. With just 2.07 left in the game, Rocks led by 1. A three from Niki Arinze put Towers back in front, but Rod Brown then picked up his fourth. A two handed dunk from Jerry Williams got Towers ahead by 2. Then an unsportsmanlike foul was called on Cole against Niki Arinze with 14 seconds left. Niki missed the free shots but was fouled again a few seconds later. This time he sank them both to give Towers the win by 3. Feggins was the game high top scorer for the Rocks with 22. Rod Brown and Nike Arinze scored 20 each for the Towers. Report by Phil Redman |
Friday February 4th Springfield Honda
Newcastle Eagles 109 (23, 53, 75, 90, 99) London Towers 103
(25, 42, 68, 90, 99) Springfield Honda Newcastle Eagles scored a confidence boosting 109-103 win over London Towers in another double overtime thriller at the MetroRadio Arena. After a fairly tight first period, 23-25, the Eagles opened the game up late in the second with a 9-0 run taking the score out to 48-38 with 2 minutes left on the clock, taking a 53-42 lead at the intermission. The Eagles held the advantage throughout the third period, although slightly reduced to 75-68. The visitors came back in the final period, from 83-73 they scored 9 unanswered points to get back to within one and down the stretch it really got hot. Tied at 87, Sullivan Phillips nailed a three from the corner. Jeremy Hyatt had less than 10 seconds to get up the other end and rescue the game, which he did as he made a long range triple with two men in his face. In overtime, the home team looked like they might have settled the game as they led 99-94 with just a minute to go. However, Niki Arinze completed a three-point play and followed that with a buzzer-beating jumper to send it into double-overtime. The Eagles again took the initiative, going up 105-100 after a 4 point run, but again it was Arinze who kept it tight as he hit his only three of the night. The Eagles managed to close the game out as Darius Defoe made a bucket with 8s left, then stole the ball and netted the final score of the game. Infront of 4,521 people, Niki Arinze led all scorers with 30 points and twelve rebounds. For the victors, Hyatt and Andrew Sullivan scored 22 each, and continuing his road to recovery T.J. Walker made 12 points with 9 assists. Report from the BBL |
Sunday January 30th Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 70 (10, 31,
50) London Towers 80 (26, 43, 57) London Towers recorded their second road-win of the weekend as they defeated a resilient Plymouth Raiders 70-80 at the Plymouth Pavilions. It was a slow start for the home side that put Towers in ascendancy from the off, Raiders didn't score for 4 minutes as Towers opened 9-0. The Raiders' failure to convert persisted and the quarter ended 10-26. Plymouth opened the second period 9-2, 5 points from DeAntoine Beasley early in the quarter cut the lead to single digits at 28-19. However, Towers managed to maintain a commanding lead as the half finished 31-43. A 5-0 start to the third saw the visitors open up a 17 point lead at 48-31 and Plymouth struggled to trim that as the conclusion began to look obvious. However, in the last two minutes of the quarter the Raiders went 8-0 thanks to Love, Durham and Beasley, who made 5 of those points from the line. That made the score 50-57 going into the final period. Plymouth made an 8-2 tear to get to within 1 at 58-59, this was halted by a Rod Brown three and the teams traded baskets until the final 2 minutes of the game with the score at 65-68. From here Towers made a 10-0 run, 6 from Brown, and that sealed the victory. Terrence Durham led all scorers with 21, Jerry Williams led the Towers with 19 points. Sullivan Phillips made 14 points with 14 rebounds for the visitors. Report from the BBL |
Saturday January 29th Thames Valley Tigers 90 (26, 43, 64) London Towers 102 (30, 48, 76) London Towers got back to winning ways on Saturday night with a 102-90 success over the Thames Valley Tigers. Tigers recovered from an early 22-16 first quarter deficit to the tie the game up at 34's midway through the second quarter and trailed by just five at the interval 48-43. The visitors made the decisive run midway through the third quarter posting a 14-3 burst to move 72-59 clear. The Towers extended their lead in the final quarter to 92-68 before a late Tigers rally left moved them to within 12 at the final buzzer. Niki Arinze continued to make his mark with the Towers with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Report from the BBL |
Sunday January 23rd Scottish Phoenix Honda Record Rocks
80 (24, 40,5 7) London Towers 74 (19, 32, 64) It's been a bad weekend a long way from home for London Towers as Sunday night finished with defeat 80-74 at the hands of the Scottish Phoenix Honda Record Rocks at the Braehead Arena. The Rocks started strongly in front of their home crowd, looking to improve a record that had seen them win just one of their previous six games, and were 24-19 up at the end of the first. After giving up the lead early in the second, the Rocks posted an 8-0 burst for a 36-29 lead in a quarter that finished 40-32. However, London started to get into their stride in the third as Rod Brown inspired an 18-2 start, they outscored the Rocks 17-32 in the period to silence the Glasgow crowd, the score was 57-64 after three quarters. However, they ran out of steam in the final period and could only score 10 points, the Rocks opened 9-0 to regain the lead at 66-64 and held on from there. An important win for the Rocks as it sees them make up some ground on Towers in fifth place in the Championship table. Donald goal led all scorers for the home side with 24 points. Rod Brown scored 20 for Towers, followed by former Rocks favourite Niki Arinze who netted 18. Report from the BBL |
Saturday January 22nd Brighton Bears 87 (18,46,61) London Towers 84 (23,42,63) Brighton Bears have qualified for their second BBL Trophy Final in two years, and their second major final of this season already, after overcoming London Towers 87-84 at the MetroRadio Arena. The match lived up to it's billing as two of the hottest teams in the BBL could barely be split from tip to buzzer. The Bears came out strongest and gained an early lead but Towers pegged them back and finished the first quarter strongly to lead 18-23 at the first break. They continued to look good into the second period but were rocked by back to back threes from Ajou Deng, that gave the Bears the lead, going from 34-38 to 40-38. The Bears kept their noses infront and led at the half 46-42. The teams traded baskets throughout the third quarter but Towers regained the lead at 61-63 going into the final period. Again the teams could be barely seperated as things began to get tense down the stretch. With 2minutes remaining and Bears trailing 74-76, Ajou Deng drained a long three and was fouled, he made the foul shot for 78-76. Towers tied the game and then followed up with a Sullivan Phillips three before Tony Holley powered up to the rim to make it a one-point ball game, 80-81. Yorick Williams nailed a three before Lynard Stewart went to the top shelf and some with a massive dunk. With 7 secs left the Bears held the lead at 85-83 with Rod Brown at the line shooting two to tie the game. After he only made one the Towers resorted to an intentional foul to stop the clock and Ryan Huntley closed out the game making both free-throws for 87-84. Rod Brown led all scorers with 25 points in vain for London, Ajou Deng shot 8/10 from the field to lead Brighton with 21 points. Ryan Huntley made 14 points with 9 assists. Report from the BBL |
Wednesday January 19th London Towers 110 (25, 50, 77) Leicester Riders 91 (17, 40, 63) London Towers boosted their league position with a victory over the Leicester Riders, winning by 19 points in a game dominated by foul calls at Crystal Palace NSC tonight. The starting five for Towers were Rod Brown, Jerry Williams, Lynard Stewart, Sullivan Phillips and Niki Arinze making his debut. Riders won the tip and scored the first point of the game, but Towers responded with the next 5 points. Towers then began to take control of the quarter and went on a 10 - 4 run which Leicester ended with a three pointer right on the buzzer. At the end of the first, it was Towers by 8. The second quarter saw more end to end play with neither side able to build up much of a run. Towers increased their lead by just 2 points helped by a buzzer beating three from Sullivan Phillips for which the refs only give two points. At the end of the half, Towers were up by 10. Lynard Stewart picked up his fourth foul with 8.51 to play in the third and then fouled out with 8.03 left. Riders came back to get within 5, but Towers came back out to a 10 point lead following a one handed slam from Jerry Williams which was part of a 10 point run. Niki Arinze picked up his fourth foul with 26 seconds left. At the end of the third quarter, it was Towers by 17. Rod Brown picked up his fourth foul with 8 minutes left in the game. Towers continued to control the quarter which featured a two handed slam from Kojo Mensah-Bonsu. Leicester's John Smith fouled out with 3.11 left, then Darren Mills with 2.12 on the clock, then Michael New with one minute left. The resulting argument from this foul leading to a technical called on the Rider's bench. Niki Arinze fouled out with 35 seconds left, Towers going on to win by 19. Report by Phil Redman |
Sunday
January 9th Westfield Sharks Sheffield
81 (22,41,59) London Towers 67 (17,37,59) Westfield Sharks Sheffield scored a vital win over London Towers to draw level with them in the Championship on 24 points with a record of 12-5. The Sharks started well and within 1:30s they had opened up an 8-0 lead, this included threes from Reinking and McKinney. Towers gradually pulled the deficit back and Sullivan Phillips and Jerry Williams scored the last two baskets of the quarter for 22-17. Towers improved in the second and after four minutes took their first lead at 29-30 thanks to four straight points from point guard Rod Brown. However the home side hit back immediately as they scored the next nine points, 5 of those from Terrell Petteway. Again two late treys in the quarter kept the Towers close as Mensah-Bonsu netted twice in the last minute of the half before the sides went in 41-37. The Sharks opened the third with a 7-2 tear thanks mainly to five straight points from Sterling Davis for a double digit lead at 48-38. But Towers responded again and 8 points shared between Brown and former Shark Jerry Williams saw them back to within two. Towards the end of the quarter the teams traded baskets and the lead changed four times before the quarter ended tied at 59. The Sharks have a final quarter blitz to thank for the victory, they posted a 22-8 final stanza. They opened the period with a 13-0 run which included two three-pointers from Iain McKinney. One of the BBL's leading long distance shooters made five of seven on the night on his way to 19 personal points. Towers didn't score for the first four minutes of the final quarter and struggled to put any decent offence together as the Sharks ran away with the victory. Sharks were led by Iain McKinney and Nate Reinking with 19 points each, 24 of their total points came from beyond the arc. This superior three point shooting was one of the main reasons for the Sharks' victory as they made 10 threes compared to just 2 from the visitors. Despite that Rod Brown led all scorers with 22 for London. Report from the BBL |
Saturday
January 8th London
Towers 85 (30, 51, 70) Plymouth Raiders 78 (21, 33,
59) London Towers scored a close victory over a spirited Plymouth Raiders team, winning by just 7 points at Crystal Palace NSC tonight, The starting five for Towers were Rod Brown, Jerry Williams, Lynard Stewart, Sullivan Phillips and, Danny Craven. Raiders won the the tip and scored the first points soon taking the early lead getting ahead by just 1 point. However, Towers began to assert themselves and were soon leading by 5 at 19 - 14. Then, Towers went on an 11 - 3 tear right at the end of the quarter to lead by 9. Towers began to pull away in the second period, a one handed jam from Jerry Williams from a steal and pass by Rod Brown being the highlight of the quarter. A three pointer from Rod Brown was the last score of the half, giving Towers an 18 point advantage. A dunk from Lynard Stewart started the scoring for Towers in the third quarter. However, the Raiders then went on an 11 - 4 run to get within 12. At the end of the third quarter, Towers were ahead by 11. Despite a long three from Rod Brown at the start of the final stretch, Towers were hard pressed to keep the Raiders at bay. They made 10 unanswered points to get within 2. Rod Brown joined Danny Craven and Dennis Mims on four fouls with 2.12 to go, but an intentional foul by the Raiders with less than a minute to play, effectively ended their chances, Towers winning by 7. Rod Brown was the game high scorer for Towers with 24 points. Kojo Mensah-Bonsu made his debut for the Towers tonight, scoring 10 points. Report by Phil Redman |
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