Season Ticket News (27/9/06)

Last Season's Season Ticket Holders will gain free entry to all London Towers home games (including the one at Waverley) using their tickets from last season.

London Towers Women are having an open session night at Crystal Palace. The session will run from 7.30 - 9.30 on Thursday 14th September. It will cost £4 a player.

Trials to be held for Towers' teams (21/8/06)

Trials for the following teams will be held on the these dates

Wednesday 23rd August & Wednesday 30th August

19:00 - 20:30 U16 & U14 boys and Girls
20:30 - 22:00 U18 men, Senior men & Senior Women

Cost : £2

Venue Crystal Palace National Sports Centre

London Towers Men's Home Game Schedule Announced (27/7/06)

Home games will be on:
October 14, 29
November 5
December 16, 23
January 6, 14
February 10, 25
March 3, 10, 17

Opponent details and times will be confirmed as soon as possible.

Please note that the Towers office is now closed until August 20th.

LONDON TOWERS Basketball Club on National TV (7/7/06)

The Towers U14 Girls team will appear on the hit children's BBC television show Level Up on Friday 14th July. The team were followed by the TV crew during their National final four appearance at RAF Cosford in May. The show is screened from 07:30 to 08:30 on both BBC2 and the CBBC channel.

Season Ticket Announcement (6/7/06)

The first London Towers game next season will be on October 14th at Crystal Palace. We hope to publish a full schedule shortly.

Season ticket holders should gain entry using last season's tickets and Rick will be talking to everybody at that first game.

Season tickets for 2006-7 are not currently available for purchase.

Towers Juniors Summer Camp (6/7/06)

The Summer Camps are to be held at, Archbishop Lanfranc School, Mitcham Road, Croydon, CR0 3AS.

U20'S, 31st July - 4th August, Five days, 9.45-4pm, Daily.
(year 10 and above)

U14's,7th August-11th August, Five days, 9.45-4pm, Daily
(Boys and Girls going in to year 9 and below)

Cost £60 for all five days.

London Towers, National,County and Regional coaches.

There will be guests and prizes through the week,

For more information and application form, Please contact, Mick or Sharon Lloyd, 0208 405 0794

Boys & Girls U14s Win Play-Off Games (11/4/06)

BOYS v Baddow Eagles > 79 - 73
GIRLS v WestHerts Warriors > 86 - 36

They play their quarters on weekend of 22/23 April:
Boys v City of Birmingham
Girls v Northants Storm

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Lynard is Player of the Month for February (3/3/06)

Lynard Stewart of the Noray Properties London Towers has been awarded with the BBL Player of the Month award for February after a massive month for his club.

The 29-year-old, five year veteran of the British game has averaged 22.43 points, 9.58 rebounds and 4.43 assists in February as his team have gone 4-4 whilst looking to secure home court advantage for the Playoffs.

Stewart adds the accolade to his growing collection, which also includes BBL Championship, BBL Playoffs and BBL Cup winner’s medals to go with two selections to the All-Star team.

The 6’8” forward, who has also played in the Czech Republic, Israel and with the Westfield Sharks Sheffield since leaving Temple University, was particularly impressive as he came up against Dennis Rodman and the Genesis Brighton Bears; he scored 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in that game.

He also inspired them to a 95-76 win over the Birmingham Bullets, with 26 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists and posted four double-doubles in London’s eight games in February.

Last month’s performances reflect the good season that Stewart is having, his second in the capital, as he is tenth in the BBL in scoring (18.21ppg) and sixth in blocked shots (1.04bpg). He also leads the league in floor shooting accuracy as he connects on 61.52% of his attempts.

Stewart and the Towers get their next run out against the Kularoos Plymouth Raiders on Sunday 5th March at the Plymouth Pavilions (4.00pm). The game gives the Towers an instant chance for revenge after their 85-89 defeat at home to Plymouth last week.

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Change of Guard at Towers (24/2/06)

Noray Properties London Towers have made a change to their roster with the addition of 6’4 guard Antonio Hudson, in a related move Chez Marks has been released.

He arrives at the Towers following a successful four year stint at Louisiana State University. In his final year the American averaged 13.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and nearly 2 assists per game.

23 year old Hudson finds himself in the Towers line up due to an unfortunate shoulder injury that brought Chez Marks’ season to a premature end.

Hudson will make his home debut on Sunday (4.00pm at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre) for the visit of Kularoos Plymouth Raiders but prior to that will be in action against the Birmingham Bullets in the midlands on Saturday night.

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New Face at Towers (10/1/06)

The Noray Properties London Towers have continued their re-organisation with the addition of 6’9” veteran centre Michael New. In a related move Lijah Perkins and Robert Sargeant have been released.

New, who last season made the BBL All-Star team whilst with the DMU Leicester Riders, returns to the BBL from AS Golbey-Epinal in France.

Last season, the 37-year-old big man was second in the BBL for total rebounds (10.94rpg), sixth overall in scoring (20.50ppg) and tenth in free-throw shooting accuracy (77.78%), the latter being an area in which Peers’ side are in desperate need of improvement.

New, who holds a British passport, made his BBL debut back in the 1996/97 season for the Springfield Honda Newcastle Eagles. During his team in the BBL he has also enjoyed spells with the Milton Keynes Lions, Scottish Phoenix Honda Record Rocks, Thames Valley Tigers, Manchester Giants and Derby Storm. The Towers will become the 8th BBL team that New has represented.

The Towers, who currently lie in fourth place in the BBL Championship following a double success last weekend, are in action this weekend against the Brighton Bears on the road on Saturday (8pm tip off at The Triangle).

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Towers v Newcastle Preview (5/1/06)

There can be no coach more looking forward to 2006 than Noray Properties London Towers' playcaller Robbie Peers.

Peers and his team begin the New Year in the toughest possible fashion with a home match against the club of 2005 - Springfield Honda Newcastle Eagles.

Having been beset by injuries during the opening months of the season, the Towers are now fit and healthy according to their coach.

"We played our final match of the year at Birmingham Bullets without three of our Americans. Since then one of them - Quincy Wadley - has gone home because he has been struggling with injuries all season."

Peers has been quick to replace Wadley with American guard Terrance Sims. Sims, aged 27, joins the Towers after spells in Poland and Croatia. Peers says he is excited by the prospect of working with the former University of Minnesota graduate.

"He's a good combi-guard who can run the point and also shoot the three. I tried to sign him in the close season but he made the Charlotte Bobcats summer league team so he obviously wanted to try the NBA.

"I'm excited to get him on board because I must have asked him about 400 times to sign for us! "The break came at exactly the right time for us because it has allowed us to get healthy. Newcastle dominted us the last time we played in the BBL Cup final. The scoreline flattered us a little bit and they fully deserved to win.

"It couldn't be a tougher start to the year for us. But it is going to be a tough month all round. We start with Newcastle and then have to go to Sheffield where very few teams come away with a win.

"I think we play eight games in January and seven of them are on the road. They're all against teams who are up there in the league as well except for Chester, but it is always hard at their place anyway. I said to the guys the other days that we could go 0 and 8 in this run!"

With a full squad at his disposal Peers will be ensuring that that prospect doesn't become a reality.

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Towers’ Guard Scoops Award (30/11/05)

The Noray Properties London Towers’ guard, Chez Marks, has won the BBL Player of the Month award for November.

The rookie American has really settled in London and now sets the pace in the BBL in terms of scoring, averaging 22.09 points per game, and three-point accuracy, connecting on 51.85% of shots from downtown.

Marks has led the scoring in all seven of his club’s games in November, including 22 points with 4 assists in their recent victory over the TCS Chester Jets, 20 points and 7 assists against the Genesis Brighton Bears and a season-high 30 points in their 87-73 win over the Westfield Sharks Sheffield.

The 6’3” American joined the Towers out of Morehead State in the NCAA and has provided the long-range firepower that Head Coach Robbie Peers had been crying out for.

Marks will be looking to pick up his second award of the season, and inspire his team to BBL Cup Final success, this weekend as they take on the Springfield Honda Newcastle Eagles at the National Indoor Arena on Sunday 4th December.

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BBL Cup Final - Only On UKTV Sport (28/11/05)

Excitement is building towards one of the biggest games of the basketball season as the 2005/06 BBL Cup Final, between the Noray Properties London Towers and the Springfield Honda Newcastle Eagles, is less than a week away.

If you can’t join the anticipated 8,000 hoops fans at Birmingham’s National Indoor Arena on Sunday 4th December then there’s only one place that you can see comprehensive highlights – UKTV Sport.

The show, which is presented by John Inverdale is on at 6:30 pm the following Sunday (11th December) on UKTV G2 and is repeated throughout the week across the UKTV network.

If you can’t catch that instalment it is repeated at the same time on G2 everyday the following week and an hour later on the UKTV G2+1 channel.

The UKTV Sport series has exclusive coverage of the competition and also featured the BBL Cup semi-finals as well as further basketball advice and clips. The BBL Cup Final will give fans the opportunity to see some of England’s Commonwealth Games hopefuls in action on the big stage, including Andrew Sullivan, Rob Sargeant, Perry Lawson and Andrew Bridge.

Both teams have prepared well in the build up to the Cup Final as both the Towers and the Eagles recorded wins at the weekend, but this will be the first time the teams have met head-to-head this season.

Last-minute tickets for the BBL Cup Final are still available. Call the BBL Ticket Hotline on 0870 445 0606 or buy online at www.bbl.org.uk today to ensure that you don’t miss out.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT THE BBL PRESS OFFICE ON 0870 445 0606 OR VISIT www.bbl.org.uk

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BBL Cup Semi Final Draw (24/10/05)

Scottish Phoenix Honda Record Rocks v Noray Properties London Towers (3:00pm)
Springfield Honda Newcastle Eagles v TCS Chester Jets (5:30pm)

The draw for the semi final round of the BBL Cup has been made today following the conclusion of quarter final round games.

Defending champions Genesis Brighton Bears hopes of retaining their crown came to and abrupt end today as the TCS Chester Jets recorded a 94-82 victory over the Bears. Jets will face the hometown Springfield Honda Newcastle Eagles in the semis after the Eagles found their way in to the hat thanks to a surprisingly comfortable 82-63 success over the Guildford Heat on Friday night.

Scottish Phoenix Honda Record Rocks defeated the Westfield Sharks Sheffield 81-77 after overtime on Thursday evening to secure their place in the semis. In a mouth-watering clash the Scots will need to find their way past the Noray Properties London Towers in order to secure their third consecutive Cup Final appearance. Last weekend the Towers became the first team in the draw thanks to a 81-66 success over the Milton Keynes Lions.

Both games will be played on Sunday 30th October 2005 at the Metro FM Arena, Newcastle. The games replace the Eagles BBL Championship clash against the Towers which will now be rescheduled. All promotional offers and pre-sold tickets for the 30th October date will be honoured with admittance given to both semi final games.

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Towers add Wadley (20/10/05)

Noray Properties London Towers head coach Robbie Peers has made a change to his roster with the addition of 6’4” Guard Quincy Wadley. In a related move the Towers have parted company with Nate Johnston.

26 year old Wadley hails from Harrisburg in the USA and attended college alongside Lynard Stewart at Temple University, Philadelphia. Whilst at university Wadley produced some impressive numbers finishing his spell 17th in Temple career scoring records including a final year in which he averaged over 15 points and nearly 5 rebounds per outing.

Since leaving college he has successful spells in the USBL with Pennsylvania Valley Dawgs and in the CBA with Rockford Lighting.

Peers was delighted to have got his man “Quincy is an exciting scoring guard who has posted impressive numbers throughout his collegiate and professional career. I am looking forward to bringing him on board and to the explosive back court pairing that he will form with Chez Marks”.

Wadley can expect a tough debut on Saturday as the Towers visit the high flying DMU Leicester Riders (7.30pm, John Sandford Centre).

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Lyn Marsh Receives Award (15/10/05)

Lyn Marsh was presented with a special award for long service as a table official by Noray Properties London Towers' Chief Coach Robbie Peers. The award was presented prior to the Senior Men's victory over the Milton Keynes Lions.

Lyn says, "I have had the privilege of being awarded the BILL TAYLOR Award this season for service to table officiating and I give below some history of Bill and the award: The Bill Taylor Award was set up after Bill?s death five years ago. The then Officiating Committee decided to have this award to keep Bill's memory in basketball officiating and it is awarded each year to a table official who either shows the most promise, or someone who has served and developed table officiating.

Bill instigated the setting up of the NATO ? National Award for Table Officials, and for years the grades were known as NATO 1 and NATO 2 - now changed to Levels. He was a FIBA referee and then became a commissioner and table officiated and felt that table officials did not receive enough recognition.

Personally, I met Bill at the WICB - the annual world invitation international tournament held at Crystal Palace every new year and he became my mentor and friend. He will always be remembered for his dedication to basketball officiating and for his great sense of humour; a great man. Being given this award is an extreme pleasure and a great honour."

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Phillips Returns to Towers (14/Oct/05)

Noray Properties London Towers have announced the return of Sullivan Phillips ahead of this weekend's games against the Milton Keynes Lions and Scottish Phoenix Honda Record Rocks.

Phillips was voted Towers' MVP by their fans last season after averaging 11 points, 6.43 rebounds and 4.5 assists each game, and played in all forty of their BBL Championship fixtures as the Towers finished third in the league.

Phillips, who can play either of the guard positions or at small forward, provides the added strength to the squad that Towers' Head Coach Robbie Peers has been looking for after their 1-2 start to the season.

The 26-year-old, who originates from Bermuda and stands at 6'5" tall, has had previous spells with both the Genesis Brighton Bears and the Birmingham Bullets in the BBL, and picked up a BBL Championship winners medal with the Bears in 2004.

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Noray Properties London Towers have announced their second backcourt signing with the capture of American guard Chez Marks.

Marks is fresh out of NCAA college Morehead State, where he played on the same team as Guildford Heat new boy Chad Mcknight. Over his three-year college career he averaged 14.37 points per game and, as his new Coach Robbie Peers verifies, he certainly knows how to score,

“He’s got a very good field goal percentage, career 54%, career 46% from three-point range”, said Peers, “He takes good shots but he can do much more than that, he puts the ball on the floor well and attacks the basket. He’s got a good attitude and has come in hungry and we are really pleased to have him on board”.

Peers has actively sought out some long range firepower this season, they struggled from beyond the arc last term as they connected on just 28.95% of three pointers, and believes that his two new guards can correct that,

“We struggled with three point shooting last year, teams just sat in a zone and gave us open looks. I’ve brought in two guys who can really shoot the three as well as being athletic and quick so hopefully they can help rectify that”.

“Chez Marks is another threat from three point range, he can also get out on the break quickly as well. It’s a new, young backcourt that hasn’t got a great deal of professional experience and hopefully they will grow throughout the season. Their outside threat will hopefully make teams guard them and give some room inside for our big guys”.

Noray Properties London Towers begin the season at home to Kularoos Plymouth Raiders on Saturday 1st October (7.00pm), for ticket details contact the club on 020 8776 7755.

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Noray Properties London Towers have signed former Union Olimpija Ljubljana and Florida State guard Nate Johnson.

Head Coach Robbie Peers is excited about the new signing and confident that Johnson brings something to their team that they lacked last season,

“He’s got good size and quickness for a guard, he can hit the outside three and also has great leadership qualities. He’s got a very good pedigree, he was a junior college All-American whilst playing at Florida State, he also led the ACC in assist to turnover ratio.

“Last year he played for Ljubljana in the Euroleague, he’s unproven in this league but he’s a good player with good pedigree and hopefully he’s going to do well”.

Last season the 6’4” guard had spells with the Slovenian outfit Union Olimpija Ljubljana and also with TV Langen in the German Bundesliga, in his two years at Florida State he averaged 3.35 assists per game.

The Towers have just returned from a pre-season tour in Spain, where the 24-year-old impressed his new Coach.

“In the games we played in Spain he averaged 25 points a game so that was excellent for his first games with us and it’s something to build on”.

He was also pleased with how well the rest of the team played considering how early in their preparations it was,

“We played a couple of teams from Spain, they were a good standard and were trying out guys. It went very well and was our first workout, we were rusty and weren’t at the level we need to be for the start of the season but things are going well and we’re moving forward”.

The Towers begin the season at home to Kularoos Plymouth Raiders on Saturday 1st October, tip-off at Crystal Palace is 7.00pm.

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Towers Announce Sponsorship With Noray Properties (14/Sep/05)

The London Towers are delighted to announce a naming rights sponsorship deal with Noray Properties ahead of the 2005/06 BBL season.

The initial deal is for a two-year sponsorship that will see the Towers become the Noray Properties London Towers.

Noray are in the property development and real estate business, amongst their main interests are selling houses in Spain, where they are one of the biggest property developers. The company see the sponsorship of an esteemed sports club as an ideal way of boosting their profile in the UK.

Delighted Towers Chairman Rick Taylor enthused,

“We are very happy and fortunate to have Noray Properties on board, they are a very professional company and we look forward to a prosperous long-term relationship with them”.

Juan Jose Caceros, the CEO of Noray Properties commented,

“We are proud to be associated with one of the most identifiable and successful teams in British Basketball. We feel that the positive image portrayed by the club and the sport of basketball in general is something that we at Noray can relate to. This partnership will be mutually beneficial for both of us and I would like to wish the Towers all the best of luck on the court this season”.

Noray properties London Towers first home game of the season is on the 1st October as they welcome Kularoos Plymouth Raiders to Crystal Palace. Book your tickets for that game by calling the Towers on 020 8776 7755.

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Guildford Game Postponed (13/Sep/05)

London Towers today announced that due to unavailability of the Crystal Palace Arena, the first game of the new season will now be on October 1st against Plymouth Raiders.

Arinze Returns To Towers (12/Sep/05)

The London Towers are delighted to announce that Niki Arinze will once again line-up in their frontcourt for the 2005/06 season.

Arinze joined the Towers mid-way through last season and made an immediate impact.  He was certainly one of their best players during the second half of the campaign and helped the team to a third placed finish in the BBL Championship.

In 23 games last season he averaged 21.04 points and 7.61 rebounds each game, which were fifth and nineteenth in the BBL respectively.

Towers’ Head Coach Robbie Peers is delighted to have the 6’6” Tennessee native back,

“He’s a top notch player, a good scorer who shoots a really good field goal percentage.  He’s as good as it gets and we are delighted that he wanted to come back”.

Arinze is a proven star in the BBL, having previously played for the Springfield Honda Newcastle Eagles and Scottish Rocks, and featured in the 2002-03 All-Star game.  The 26 year-old forward has also had a spell with Ulm in Germany where he averaged over 15 points per game off 58% floor shooting.

Arinze will re-join Lynard Stewart in the front court, a refreshing thought for Coach Peers,

“They are both well established, quality players in the BBL.  They have performed on a very high level in this league and having them back really helps our continuity”.

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London Towers are pleased to announce that Lynard Stewart has agreed to terms for his second season with the club ahead of the 2005/06 BBL campaign.

The 6’8” inside player was ever-present for the Towers last season, appearing in all 40 of their BBL Championship games, helping them to third place in the league.

He led the team in rebounds with 8.40 per game which was ninth in the BBL overall. Renowned for his defensive abilities he also averaged 1.55 steals per game with 0.93 blocks. An effective passer of the ball for a big man, he made 3.10 assists each game last season, which was 16th in the BBL.

Towers’ Head Coach Robbie Peers commented,

“He does many things on the court that really help the chemistry of the team. He understands the game very well and he’s a great passer. He’s very tough in the low post, a good rebounder, a great defender and a really good teammate. He’s a great guy and we are pleased to have him back”.

“Lynard was amongst our main priorities in the off-season”.

Stewart scored 12.33 points per game in 2004/05 and Coach Peers is confident that we are yet to see the best of him on the offensive end in a Towers jersey,

“We’ve talked about that, he’s capable of scoring and has had some big scoring games for us. I’d like him to become more of a consistent scorer, and we talked about him developing the belief and the mentality of a scorer. He has the mentality of a role and team player but I’d like him to step up this year on the offensive end”.

The 29-year-old has a history of success in the BBL, whilst with the Westfield Sharks Sheffield he won the BBL Championship and in 2004 was the MVP in both their BBL Cup Final and BBL Championship Playoff successes.

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