28/10/2005
Lions 68 - Riders 57

DMU Leicester Riders suffered a bizarre defeat at Milton Keynes as they were beaten 68-57 by the Lions.

Riders had a shocking first half and were 28-points behind at the break, but a spirited fight back in the second half threatened an amazing comeback.

Leicester’s shooting was errant in the first quarter as seemingly nothing they put up was dropping. Milton Keynes took full advantage of Riders woes and a 12-2 run helped them on their way to a 22-9 first quarter lead.

If the first quarter was bad, there was worst for the travelling Riders’ fans to endure in the second period. Riders shooting problems were summed up by Ryan Huntley going 0-for-2 from the foul line after three minutes.

Shots from all distances just kept rimming out and as the clock ticked into the final minute of the first half Riders trailed by a staggering 37-9. It looked like they were about to suffer the shame of going scoreless for an entire quarter, before Steve Bucknall adverted that ignominy with a driving lay-up 37s from the half-time buzzer.

Even still Riders were 39-11 behind at the break and seemingly dead and buried. The stats were almost unbelievable. Riders went 5-for-39 from the floor, including 0-15 from downtown and even only went 1-for-4 from the foul line.

Just before the start of the second half Tony Holley gave his team-mates an animated team-talk and he then led by example on the court as Riders looked to mount some sort of comeback.

Huntley finally hit Riders 17th three-point attempt of the game and Bucknall landed one shortly afterwards as Leicester rattled off a 17-3 burst in barely five third quarter minutes.

Holley was dominant inside and another Huntley triple saw Riders almost half the lead in the third quarter to close to 55-40.

Anthony McHenry then netted the first six points of the final period and amazingly the Riders had cut the gap to 55-46.

The Lions were starting to look a bit rattled, but Ishua Benjamin calmed the nerves of the home fans with six free throws and a lay-up to restore a 65-49 advantage, which was enough to claim the win.

Tony Holley led the way with 14 points for the Riders, with Ryan Huntley chipping in with 12 points and 7 rebounds. Anthony McHenry added 11 points with Steve Bucknall netting 10.

Robert Reed had 5 points and 9 boards, with Darren Mills (3) and Daniel Sandell (2) Riders other scorers.

Ishua Benjamin had 13 of his 22 points from the stripe, with Pierre Henry-Fontaine added 18 points and 9 rebounds. Shawn Jamison’s 13 points and 13 boards was the other main contribution for the Lions.

22/10/2005
Riders 65 - Towers 70

DMU Leicester Riders slipped to their second league defeat of the season as they were beaten 70-65 at John Sandford Sports Centre. Riders suffered a massive blow before the game when Ryan Huntley was ruled out with a knee injury.

After Lynard Stewart had bagged the first four points of the game, Anthony McHenry netted a triple to get Riders off and running. It was the start of a 9-2 burst which gave Riders their first lead of the contest.

Six points from Tony Holley kept Riders in front at 17-13 and at the end of the first quarter they had a 19-17 advantage.

Towers posted a 9-2 run to start the second period and lead 26-21, but two long-range efforts from Steve Bucknall closed the gap down to 33-34.

London led 38-35 at the interval and quickly doubled their advantage in the third quarter, before a Daniel Sandell triple helped the Riders close back to 45-44. The young guard had a big third quarter for the Riders with seven points and his last jump shot gave them a 52-51 lead.

Towers, though, netted the final four points of the third to leave them 55-52 in front. A brilliant running hook shot from Bucknall put Riders 58-57 ahead, before Chez Marks netted a long-range effort.

With 5.30 to go in the game, McHenry blasted past his defender to slam home a thunderous dunk and tie the game at 60. Such was the force from McHenry, he moved the basket about eight feet out of place – well worth a look when the video highlights are put on-line here at LeicesterRiders.co.uk

A couple of minutes later the sides were level at 62, but Rob Sargeant helped London to six in a row to make it 68-62 with 2.14 left.

Sargeant, though, was called for an unsportsmanlike foul with 91s on the clock, but McHenry could only make 1-for-2 from the line and on the ensuing possession was called for his fifth personal foul.

Chez Marks immediately coughed the ball up at the other end and Riders had possession trailing 68-63 with 53s left.

They just couldn’t get a shot to drop, but Robert Reed and Tony Holley ensured they didn’t lose possession with three offensive rebounds. However, by the time Reed laid in to make it 68-65, there was only 20s left and Towers did a good job of keep away before Marks sealed the win from the line.

Robert Reed led the way for Leicester with 14 points and 15 rebounds – 10 of them offensive - whilst Anthony McHenry had 14 points, 5 boards and 3 steals. Tony Holley added 12 points and 8 rebounds, whilst Steve Bucknall wasn’t too far away from a triple-double with his 8 points, 8 rebounds and 10 assists. Joel Burns hit 10 points in his first start of the season, whilst Daniel Sandell had his best game so far for the Riders with 7 points.

Chez Marks led the way for London with 20 points and 7 assistant, whilst Rob Sargeant (14), Lynard Stewart (13) and Sullivan Phillips (12) all made important contributions.

15/10/2005
Riders 73 - Eagles 67

DMU Leicester Riders moved into outright first place in the BBL Championship after winning the top-of-the-table clash with Newcastle Eagles 73-67.

Riders trailed only briefly in the first quarter, but still needed to survive a late scare from last season’s double-winners.

Leicester started the game well, netting the opening six points of the contest, but a 10-1 tear by the Eagles had them into their only lead of the game at 16-11. A triple from Ryan Huntley and a Robert Reed baby hook level matters at 16 and the sides were locked at 18 at the end of one.

Riders’ defence then cranked it up a notch as they kept the Eagles to just one point in the opening five minutes of the second quarter to lead 26-19.

With McHenry on two fouls, he was moved off his defensive assignment of Jeremy Hyatt and the Eagles guard was pleased to see the back of him. He bagged a couple of quick scores as Newcastle trimmed the gap to three, before long range efforts from Steve Bucknall and Ryan Huntley (2) sent Riders into the locker room on the crest of a 13-4 wave to lead 41-29.

Eagles quickly set about reducing the arrears in the second half and a 9-2 start to the third quarter had the gap down to 43-38. After trading scores for the remainder of the third, a three-pointer from Andrew Sullivan made it 55-51, before Bucknall replied with his own triple to help Riders net five in a row to lead 60-51.

Hyatt finally managed to lose McHenry for a second to drain his only three-pointer in 7 attempts and when McHenry was adjudged to have caught him on the arm he completed the four-point play to make it 61-59.

Riders needed a score, but on the next play appeared to be running out of time with the shot clock ticking down. But that is when Huntley is at his most deadly and he hit an outrageous three with the horn sounding to put Riders back up five.

After Hyatt made it 64-61 on the break, Eagles had a chance to close back further following a Huntley miss, but with 63s left John Bryant was called for an offensive foul.

Riders needed a score, but once again it appear the shot clock was going to beat them – cue Huntley for another all-string effort with the siren going off. TJ Walker raced down court for a quick score, but his lay-up rimmed out and Tony Holley ripped down the board.

Leicester were off and running and McHenry went up high for the flush, only to be fouled by Fab Flournoy with 26.4s remaining. He made the first and missed the second but Holley – a monster on the boards all game – pulled down his fifth offensive rebound and was immediately fouled.

He made them both to give Riders a seemly unassailable 69-61 lead with 24.
6s remaining, but the Eagles weren’t done just yet.

Sullivan hit a quick fire triple and Newcastle fouled Holley on the inbound. This time the big man drew a blank on both freebies and Flournoy raced down court to drain another deep one to make it 69-67 with just 11s left.

Again it was Holley who was hammered on the inbound and again he took the long walk to the foul line needed both to make it a two shot game. And both is exactly what he delivered and for good measure came up with a steal on the final play to allow Darren Mills to throw down a big dunk on the buzzer and sign off the dramatic win.

Ryan Huntley went 4-for-8 from behind the arc as he led the way with 20 points, 9 boards and 4 assists. Tony Holley, despite illness, had a huge double-double for the Riders with 18 and 12, not to mention 4 assists and 3 steals. Steve Bucknall chipped in with some crucial buckets for his 10 points, 7 boards and 4 assists. Robert Reed added 8 points and 7 rebounds and whilst much of Anthony McHenry’s best work was done at the defensive end, he still added 7 points. Darren Mills had 6 and Joel Burns 4 to complete the Riders scoring.

Andrew Sullivan had 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and also pulled down 9 boards, whilst despite shooting poorly Jeremy Hyatt was next best with 15. TJ Walker had 14 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds, but threw the ball away on 5 occasions.

13/10/2005
Sharks 72 - Riders 76

DMU Leicester Riders moved top of the BBL Championship table for the first time in 15 years thanks to a 76-72 victory over Westfield Sharks Sheffield. Riders are level with Newcastle Eagles in first place, with the two leading sides set to meet at John Sandford Sports Centre on Saturday night.

Not only did the victory send Riders into first place for the first time since October 1990, it also ended a string of negative streaks for the club.

It was our first away win since January; our first win over the Sharks in four years; and our only our fifth ever victory in Sheffield since they joined the BBL 11 years ago.

Riders were in first place in the Northern Conference in December 2001, but that was false position given the fact that we’d played several games more than our Northern rivals and there were several teams in the South who also had a better record than our 8-5.

Once again the victory was built on the Riders’ defence, as they overcame a spluttering first half offensive performance to record the tense victory.

Riders started OK and led 11-8 after seven minutes of the game, but only had one Anthony McHenry free throw to show for the next seven minutes of action and trailed 24-12 in the second quarter.

The offence then finally kicked into gear with Ryan Huntley and Steve Bucknall hitting from behind the arc as Riders posted an 18-2 burst, which had them 30-26 in front.

The sides were level at 33 at the break, but Sheffield regained control by outscoring Riders 11-2 to lead 57-46 late in the period.

Darren Mills slammed home a rebound with a spectacular one-handed dunk to end the third period and with their defence in full flow at the start of the fourth Riders hit 13 points without reply around the final break to lead 63-59.

Sheffield came back to lead 64-63, but a triple from Huntley and dunk from McHenry had Riders back in front 70-66 with three and a half minutes left.

A Robert Reed block was followed by a Bucknall put-back which stretched the lead to six, before Sterling Davis made it 68-72 with 2.22 on the clock.

Reed then had an offensive put-back to make it a six-point game, only for Blake Shelton to make two free throws and close it 70-74 with 96s left.

Though Huntley missed on Riders next offence, Anthony McHenry stole the ball back for the Riders and with the shot clock ticking down Tony Holley hit a tough fall-away jumper from 18-feet to give Riders a 70-76 advantage with 38s remaining.

When Herbert Montgomery’s three rattled out with 28s on the clock, the game appeared to be won, but when Robert Reed missed two foul shots three seconds later the Sharks still had a chance.

But Riders defence left Sheffield with no options so by the time Eddie Cage laid in the final score, Leicester had only six seconds to run out time and secure a third league win on the bounce.

Ryan Huntley led the Riders with 21 points off 4-for-7 three-point shooting, whilst Steve Bucknall added 14 points, 5 boards, 4 assists and 4 steals. Anthony McHenry also had 14 points to go with his 5 boards and 5 steals and Tony Holley chipped in with 12 points and 8 rebounds.

Robert Reed posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, whilst Joel Burns (3) and Darren Mills (2) were Riders other scorers.

The Sharks were led by 22 points and 8 boards from Eddie Cage and Sterling Davis had a double-double 15 and 10. The only other significant contributions from the home side were Herbert Montgomery’s 12 points and Richard Windle’s 9.

09/10/2005
Riders 82 - Bears 69

DMU Leicester Riders put on another stellar second quarter display to ease to an 82-69 victory over Brighton Bears. The Cup holders were restricted to a miserly eight points in ten minutes as Riders put them to the sword.

It was the Bears defence, however, that had made the early impact in the game with their full-court pressure helping them to an early 13-8 advantage.

It didn’t last long, though, and when Joel Burns’ first triple of the evening dropped in the seventh minute, it put Riders 18-16 in front – a lead they would never lose.

Anthony McHenry also connected from deep before the quarter was out as Riders helped themselves to a 25-18 advantage after ten minutes.

Leicester turned up the defensive temperature in the second quarter and in the opening six minutes allowed Brighton only a Dennis Carr free throw and an Andrew Alleyne bucket.

Meanwhile Ryan Huntley dropped in a couple of long-range efforts as Riders posted a 12-3 run to lead 37-21. With Robert Reed going to work inside and Joel Burns netting again from behind the arc, Riders continued to dominate.

On the final play of the first half, Huntley was ticking down the clock, but appeared to have got himself into a hole with the shot clock about to expire. Despite falling backwards and with three defenders around him, Ryan found nothing but net on his three-point attempt to bring the John Sandford crowd to their feet and send Riders into the locker room 47-26 to the good.

Nick Nurse took a gamble early in the third quarter, sending four of his bench players on to try the full-court press again, but it paid off as 11 unanswered points helped close the gap to 49-37.

The sides then traded scores for the final five minutes of the third quarter, with Riders lead never dipping below 11.

Leading 63-50 at the start of the final quarter, Riders killed off the game on the opening two plays of the fourth as first Burns and then Huntley knocked out triples to make it 69-50.

Riders led by 20 in the final minute, but Brighton managed to rattle in the last seven points of the game to bring some respectability to the final scoreline.

Joel Burns went 8-for-12 from the floor to lead all scorers with 19 points. Both Ryan Huntley and Tony Holley had impressive double-doubles, with 14 points and 11 assists for Ryan and 14 points and 13 boards for Tony.

Anthony McHenry posted 13 points and 8 boards but perhaps his most impressive stat was the 0-for-11 shooting of Terrence McGee whom he guarded. Robert Reed chipped in with 11 points, 7 boards and 3 blocks, whilst Darren Mills added 5. Steve Bucknall had 6 boards and 6 assists to go with his 4 points, whilst Daniel Sandell added the other 2.

Bears had only three players in double-figures – Steve Parillon with 17, Andrew Alleyne with 15 and Corey Jackson’s 12.

07/10/2005
New Cars For Riders

Nick Nurse’s Brighton Bears are our visitors tomorrow night and this fixture is of particular interest to two of our new recruits, Tony Holley and Ryan Huntley, who both featured in the Bears starting line up last season. I am sure that both will be ‘up for this one!’

If you believe the “What’s Bev” Basketball chat line and others it’s alleged that Ryan only signed for Leicester because we offered more money than anyone else. What a laugh! The truth of the matter is that Ryan, Tony, Steve, Robert and Anthony were all impressed with our coach Karl Brown and our commitment to be competitive. It’s also true that there was a slight misunderstanding regarding our specification of their company cars! We promised them a brand new sports car with a ‘prancing horse’ on the bonnet. Imagine their slight disappointment last week when they took delivery of their brand new Sandicliffe Kias resplendent with the new logo on the bonnet!

Joking aside, we are sincerely grateful to Darin Quaintance and Sandicliffe for their support again this season. Darin is pictured handing over the keys to the new cars to four of our squad. Sandicliffe Kia are based in Aylestone Road Leicester and have an impressive array of new Kias in their showroom and I am sure Darin and his staff would be delighted to introduce the range to Riders fans.

02/10/2005
Heat 69 - Riders 65

DMU Leicester Riders missed the chance to progress in the BBL Cup, when Guildford Heat came from behind to snatch a dramatic 69-65 victory in their first ever home game.

Riders had started slowly and took almost five minutes to register their first points of the contest, but once they got going they were soon into the lead. Tony Holley sparked a 13-2 burst that had Riders 13-9 to the good.

The Heat closed back to a point in the second period, before Anthony McHenry and Ryan Huntley put Riders fully in command of the game with a 13-2 run which made it 30-19.

Only a late three from Roderick Wellington allowed the home sides within single figures at the break as Riders led 32-24.

Another three from Derek Manner to start the second half helped the Heat close to 32-29, before Ryan Huntley netted a long ranger of his own to get the Riders going again.

By the time Cameron Wright came off the bench to hit one from deep, Riders lead was back up to 44-36, but a string of free throws from the home side saw them level matters at 44.

Heat even took the lead just before the quarter ended and went into the final 10 minutes 48-47 in front.

The sides traded scores for the opening few minutes of the fourth, before the Heat again used the foul line to bag seven unanswered points to lead 64-57 with three minutes left.

With the whistles going at either end the game ended up something of a foul shooting competition, but a superb three-point play from Darren Mills and a freebie from Steve Bucknall cut the gap to 64-61 with 1.47 left.

After Chad McKnight and Ryan Huntley had traded scores, Martin Gottfried went to the line with 59s left and the score 66-63.

Despite getting two attempts at his second foul shot, Gottfried drew a blank from the line and a superb pass from Bucknall found Mills, but he was unable to finish the play off and Heat got the ball back.

Manners went 1-for-2 from the line and when Anthony McHenry tipped in for the Riders with 30s left it was a two-point game.

McKnight then went to the stripe with 24s left but drew iron on both and Riders had the ball trailing 67-65. Huntley penetrated and kicked out to a wide-open Bucknall, who was toeing the three-point line, but his shot rimmed out and though Mills grabbed the rebound he stepped out of bounds in the process.

Gottfried was immediately fouled with 6s left and a kind roll on the first saw him finish the game with two free throws.

Ryan Huntley led the Riders with 23 points and 3 steals, whilst Tony Holley posted 12 points and 7 rebounds. Anthony McHenry had 10 points and 5 boards, whilst Steve Bucknall added 8 points. Darren Mills (5), Robert Reed (4) and Cameron Wright (3) were Riders other scorers.

Heat were led by 17 points from Mike Martin and 14 each from Roderick Wellington and Chad McKnight.

01/10/2005
Riders 86 - Jets 65

DMU Leicester Riders registered their first win of the season with a crushing 86-65 victory over Chester Jets. Riders only trailed once – after the first basket – and played some of their best basketball for years as they picked apart the champions.

From the moment Steve Bucknall gunned home their first triple of the night it was clear Riders shooting woes of last weekend were behind them. Moments later Ryan Huntley added a three and Joel Burns marked his return to the side with a long-ranger as well.

By that stage Riders were 17-9 up and cruising. Calvin Davis and Shawn Myers, though, ensured the Jets kept in the game and when Myers netted the first basket of the second period, the lead was down to 21-19.

Gentry Lewis then helped Riders re-establish a lead when he lost his cool 90s into the second quarter. After pulling down a defensive rebound, he appeared to swing an elbow and was called for a foul.

His reaction to the call earned him a technical foul and as he made his way to the bench he had something else to say to the officials and picked up a second T. That left him on four fouls with still over 28 minutes of the contest left.

Just 20s after the barrage of free throws for that incident, Riders were awarded two more and possession when assistant coach Mike Burton was called for a technical foul for his protestation after a debatable backcourt call.

In all, Riders pulled 29-19 clear, but threes from Myers and Richard Murphy soon had the lead down to just three.

Riders, though, were in top gear by this stage and blew the Jets away in a decisive five minute spell just before half-time, with Bucknall, Huntley and Anthony McHenry to the fore.

A Bucknall three got it going and Huntley added a further two triples moments later. In between time Huntley had time to throw and a spectacular no-look pass to McHenry to throw down a thunderous dunk.

Riders ball moment was sensational and tore the Jets defence to shreds so that by the time Robert Reed had rattled in a three-pointer to end the first half, Leicester had opened a 52-33 lead.

A three and three-point play from Tony Holley at the beginning of the second half continued Riders dominance. Lewis was called for his final foul barely 2:30 into the third period – fouling out in less than 8 minutes of action.

Some good shooting from Murphy helped Chester to cut the lead to 13 on a couple of occasions, but Riders defence never really gave them a sniff of a comeback.

Defensive play of the game came from McHenry. First he stole the ball, but when the Jets took it back seconds later, he was on hand for two spectacular blocks to deny Chester a basket.

Ryan Huntley shot 50% from the floor to lead all scorers with 23 points whilst also registering 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Steve Bucknall posted 13 points, 5 assists and 3 steals, whilst Anthony McHenry and Tony Holley both had 12 points and 7 rebounds. McHenry also had 3 assists, 3 steals and 4 huge blocks, whilst Holley dished out 5 assists.

Robert Reed added 11 points and Joel Burns 9. Darren Mills, Cameron Wright and Daniel Sandell all had 2.

Jets were led by 21 points and 10 rebounds from Calvin Davis, with Shawn Myers’ 13 next best. Richard Murphy nailed four threes for his 12 points and Billy Singleton chipped in with 10.

Anthony Martin had 14 of his team’s 19 assists, including 10 in a first half in which his team only made 14 field goals.