18/12/2005
Lions 61 - Riders 69

DMU Leicester Riders are through to semi-finals of the BBL Trophy after their 69-61 victory at Milton Keynes was followed up by a defeat for London Towers in Birmingham.

The Bullets, who went into the game knowing that after Riders win the best they could hope for was the ‘best runners-up’ spot, did their basket difference the power of good by beating Towers 88-69.

There was some bad news for the Riders, however, with Joel Burns taken to hospital with a shoulder injury after a third quarter collision.

Amazingly all four teams headed into the final days play in the midland group with the chance of claiming the one outright semi-final berth and it was the Lions who made the early move.

With Ishua Benjamin pulling the strings the Lions got off to a flying start and led 19-7 after eight minutes.

Tony Holley bagged Riders first eight points of the second quarter and a couple of treys from Ryan Huntley, plus some good work from Robert Reed helped Riders post an 18-4 burst which levelled matters at 35-35 in the final minute of the half.

Lions, though, bagged the quarter’s last five points to lead 40-35 at the interval.

As the midway point of the third period approached Milton Keynes were still in front with a 46-39, but Riders were about to take over the game.

Ex-Lion Joel Burns started it with a three before Anthony McHenry went to work with nine quick points. Throw in a long-ranger from Huntley and Riders had posted a 21-2 run over an eight-minute spell which had them 60-48 up three minutes into the fourth.

Kevin Griffin wasn’t about to let his side go out of the Trophy quietly, though, and he bagged three threes in a 13-3 run by the Lions which trimmed the gap to just 63-61.

But McHenry and Huntley finished the game from the line for the Riders and Birmingham did the rest.

Anthony McHenry led the Riders with 16 points, whilst Ryan Huntley had 13 points and 7 boards. Tony Holley chipped in 12 and 6 whilst Robert Reed was just short of a double-double with 9 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks. Steve Bucknall added 6 points, Marcus Knight 6, Joel Burns 4 and Deg Erskin 1.

Kevin Griffin went 5-for-16 threes for his 19 points, whilst Shawn Jamison had 12 points and 12 rebounds. Pierre Henry-Fontaine had 12, whilst Ishua Benjamin went 3-for-16 for his 10 points, eight of which came in the opening quarter.

17/12/2005
Riders 96 - Bullets 74

DMU Leicester Riders claimed an 11th win of the season with the 96-74 defeat of local rivals Birmingham Bullets.

All eleven Riders got on the scoresheet, but the star performance came from Ryan Huntley who netted a staggering eight three point shots in the second and third quarters.

There was little to choose between the sides in the opening five minutes, with Bullets leading 9-7 midway through the first. Riders then started to assert their authority with a 13-2 burst giving them a 20-11 lead.

Huntley, hadn’t scored in the first ten minutes, but made amends in the second period netting a three every couple of minutes to record four in total. His first two had helped Riders to a 38-29 lead, but Dino Tanner also had an impressive period and he bagged six of eight unanswered points by the Bullets which trimmed it to 38-37.

Riders took a 44-42 advantage into half-time and soon set about extending that in the second half. Huntley gunned another two treys and Tony Holley had the other four points in a 10-2 burst which put Riders 59-49 in front.

A three from Jeff Bonds helped Birmingham trim the gap to 59-55, but Huntley hit two more long-rangers and in between Joel Burns hit one as well as Riders bagged nine straight points to lead 68-55.

Riders took that 13-point lead into the final quarter and though Huntley was rested, the three-point shooting didn’t stop. Robert Reed, Joel Burns and Cam Wright all hit from downtown as Riders posted an 18-4 run to lead 88-64 and the game was won.

Ryan Huntley’s 8-for-13 shooting from three-point land were his only shots of the night as he led all comers with 24, whilst still handing out 4 assists. Tony Holley had another monster double-double with 14 points and 16 boards, closely followed by Rob Reed’s 10 and 15. Anthony McHenry (3 blocks, 3 assists), Joel Burns, Steve Bucknall (3 assists) and Marcus Knight all chipped in 9 points, whilst Darren Mills added 4. Cam Wright had 3, as did Paul Young, whilst Deg Erskin rounded off the scoring with 2.

Dino Tanner had 12 of his 17 in the second quarter, whilst Jeff Bonds and Matt Kemper both added 16. Skouson Harker netted 14.

11/12/2005
Sharks 93 - Riders 66

DMU Leicester Riders crashed to a second consecutive defeat going down 93-66 at Sheffield Sharks. It was only Riders fourth league defeat of the season but sees them down to third in the table.

After exchanging scores for the opening few minutes, Sheffield then poured in a string of three-pointers to post a 24-6 burst and open a 31-12 lead before the first quarter was over.

With Anthony McHenry dishing out the assists, Riders rallied in the second quarter and with 3.05 left in the first half had closed the lead down to 41-35. But Sheffield netted eight of the last nine second quarter points to stretch their lead to 49-36 at the break.

Sterling Davis then poured in 14 third quarter points as Sheffield opened the second half with a 16-2 run to open a 65-38 lead and effectively end the contest.

Ryan Huntley led the Riders with 16 points, with Deg Erskin (14) and Joel Burns (10) the only other Leicester players in double figures. Steve Bucknall and new signing Marcus Knight both had 8 points, with Robert Reed adding 5. Anthony McHenry had 4 and Tony Holley 1 to round off the scoring.

Sterling Davis was MVP with an impressive stats line of 28 points and 15 rebounds off 9-for-14 shooting (including 4-for-4 threes). Blake Sheldon posted 27 points whilst Richard Windle and Eddie Cage added 11 each.

10/12/2005
Riders 79 - Towers 83 (after overtime)

DMU Leicester Riders BBL Trophy hopes hang in the balance after an 83-79 overtime defeat to London Towers brought to an end their eight game winning streak.

Riders must win their last game at Milton Keynes to have an outside chance of claiming the ‘best second place’ spot, but more realistically hope Birmingham beat London so Riders can finish top of the group.

It didn’t look like heading that way as Robert Reed ripped apart the Towers defence in the opening six minutes of the game. After two different defenders failed, Towers had to revert to a zone to slow the big man down as he posted 12 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks in the opening exchanges as Riders led 20-5.

At the other end, however, Lynard Stewart was proving equally as difficult to stop as he bagged seven in an 11-2 finish to the quarter as London trimmed the gap to 22-16.

Towers continued to eat away at Riders lead before Stewart gave them their first advantage of the game at 30-28 and they went into the locker room 39-37 in front.

London continued to dominate in the third period and a 12-3 burst gave them their biggest lead of the contest at 57-43.

Towers still had a 65-53 lead going into the final quarter, but an Anthony McHenry triple started the Riders comeback in the final period.

Ryan Huntley and Tony Holley continued it and a Bucknall three made it 70-71 with 2.26 left. Holley then put the Riders in front with two free throws with two minutes left, but 30s later Quincy Wadley restored London’s lead.

Though McHenry missed a three on the next offence, he stole the ball back at the other end with 47s remaining. Holley driving to the basket didn’t get the whistle he was looking for and his miss allowed Sullivan Phillips to run back a lay-up with 27s on the clock.

Karl Brown called a time-out to devise a play for a final shot with Riders 75-72 behind, but Towers played close attention to Riders main long-range specialists.

They missed Holley though and with 11s left he gunned the triple to tie things at 75 and Riders defence ensued overtime ensued.

Neither side could get much going in the extra five minutes and the scores were tied at 77 after three minutes.

A McHenry stuff on the break had Riders 79-77 in front with 1.47 left, but Lijah Perkins was on hand to catch a Wadley airball and lay-in a tying score.

Deg Erskin missed on Riders next trip and with time running out on the offence, Stewart netted a 16-footer to give London a 81-79 advantage. Stewart then stole the ball from Holley, but Wadley missed again and Chez Marks could only knock the ball out of bounds.

Riders had possession with 18.4s left again needing a score to force overtime, but this time Holley had the ball batted away from him and Wadley finished the game from the line.

Robert Reed led the Riders with 20 points, 15 rebounds and 4 blocks. Anthony McHenry added 14 points and 6 boards, whilst Steve Bucknall had 13 and 5. Tony Holley had 11 and Ryan Huntley bagged 10 points and 8 assists. Deg Erskin added 9 and 5 with Joel Burns scoring Riders other 2 points.

Lynard Stewart led the Towers with 32 points and 13 rebounds, with Chez Marks adding 19. Quincy Wadley went 4-for-18 for his 11 points, whilst Sullivan Phillips had a more impressive 10 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists.

03/12/2005
Jets 78 - Riders 81 OT

DMU Leicester Riders claimed a tenth win of the season to move level on points with first-placed Scottish Rocks after they secured an overtime victory at Chester Jets.

Riders won 81-78 against the Jets to claim a third success of the season over Billy Singleton’s side.

Chester started well, but five quick points from Steve Bucknall gave Riders their first lead of the contest at 9-7. With English duo Anthony Martin and John Simpson scoring well for the home side, threes from Anthony McHenry and Ryan Huntley could only give Riders brief leads. Tony Holley hit Riders fourth long-range effort of the quarter to end the first with the sides level at 24.

The pattern continued in the second period with neither side able to gain the upper hand. Riders did post six straight points to lead 38-33, but Chester finished the quarter with a 7-2 run to tie things at 40.

Threes from Huntley and Bucknall were cancelled out by fine inside play from Jamal Brown and the sides were still tied at 54 after six minutes of the third period.

A triple from Joel Burns came in the middle of seven unanswered points by the Riders as they led 61-54, but Chester hit the third quarter’s last five points to close back to two.

Bucknall stroked his third long-ranger of the game as Riders opened a 68-61 lead at the midpoint of the final quarter, but with Brown carrying the load for the Jets – he scored all but two of their fourth quarter points – Riders couldn’t shake the home side.

A trey from Huntley with 1.37 left had Riders 71-67 in front, but ten seconds later Brown cancelled that out with an and-one. Anthony McHenry missed on Riders next offence and was then called for a travel when Riders got the ball back to give Chester possession with 26.6s left and only one-point behind.

With Brown set to score, a smart foul from Bucknall sent the forward to the free throw line with 16.4s on the clock. He missed the first but made the second to tie the game at 71.

Riders ran the clock down but unusually Huntley’s last gasp effort fell short and overtime ensued.

Chester were quicker out of the blocks – Brown hit his 12th straight point for his side as they went 74-71 in front. Moments later, though, a McHenry three-point play not only gave Riders a 77-75 lead but also saw Brown fouled out of the game.

Shawn Myers drew iron on two freebies on Chester’s next trip and then Philip Gilbert also failed to level matters as the Jets went 1-for-4 from the line to cut the gap to 77-76.

At the other end Bucknall made no mistake from the stripe with 52s left to make it 79-76.

Huntley was then fouled with 24s on the clock, but could only make the second as Riders led 80-76. Chester, though, took 13s off the clock before Billy Singleton made it 80-78.

With 8s remaining Joel Burns was fouled, but he too went 1-for-2 to give Chester one last chance at 81-78.

Some good D from the Riders meant that Chester’s only chance was a three from Singleton on the buzzer, but Huntley came from behind him to swat the shot and hand Riders victory.

Anthony McHenry top scored for the Riders with 17 points as well as posting 6 boards and 4 outrageous blocked shots. Steve Bucknall had a nice line of 13 points, 6 boards and 5 assists. Deg Erskin chipped in 12 points, whilst Tony Holley added 11 points and 8 boards. Ryan Huntley had 10 points and 8 rebounds, whilst Robert Reed had 8 and 14. Joel Burns (8) and Darren Mills (2) were Riders other scorers.

Jamal Brown was the key man for the Jets with 30 points and 11 rebounds, with Anthony Martin’s 17 next best.