31/03/2007
DMU Leicester Riders 89 - 78 Worcester Wolves

BBL Championship
John Sandford Sports Centre 

DMU Leicester Riders secured seventh position in the BBL Championship table thanks to a 89-78 victory over the Worcester Wolves at the John Sanford Centre on Saturday evening.

The Riders opened up an early advantage off the back of a 12-4 burst in the opening minutes of the game. They continued to press home their advantage, and a 7-0 tear in the second quarter was quickly followed by another 9-2 burst in the latter stages of the first half took the Riders out to a 41-25 lead.

The Wolves finished the half the stronger, and closed the gap slightly to go in at the half trailing 48-35. The second half saw the Wolves came out firing on all cylinders, and a 13-2 run bought them to within four points at 52-48, but a 12-2 response from the Riders took the score out to 64-50.

A Matt Collins three-pointer at the beginning of the final period got the Wolves to within three points at 69-66, but they could get no closer, as Yorrick Williams bagged the next six points for the Riders to take the score out to 75-66. The visitors attempted to get back on terms with their hosts, but could get no closer than eight points in the final stages, as the Riders held on for the all-important victory.

Andrew Alleyne (pictured) led all scorers netting 21 points for the Riders, while James Noel and Solomon Sheard led the Worcester scoring with 19 points each.

28/03/2007
Newcastle Eagles 105 - 87 DMU Leicester Riders

BBL Championship
MetroRadio Arena

Springfield Honda Newcastle Eagles kept up the pressure on the Sheffield Sharks and Poujoulat Heat Guildford at the top of the BBL Championship thanks to a comfortable 105-87 victory over the DMU Leicester Riders at the Metro Radio Arena on Wednesday evening.

The Riders took an early advantage with back-to-back three's from Terrence McGee and Yorrick Williams gave them an 8-6 advantage, but the Eagles bounced back with an 8-0 burst to give them a 18-16 lead towards the end of the opening period.

An 11-2 Eagles tear to open the second period took the score out to 33-24, and maintained their lead into the half-time break at 52- 43. In the second half, the Riders valiantly attempted to get themselves back into the game, and got to within seven points at 70-63, but the Eagles closed out the third quarter with a 7-0 burst to lead 77-63 going into the final stanza.

In the final quarter, the Eagles broke the game open with a 10-0 burst to take the score out to 94-74, and they were able to secure the all-important victory. Tony Dorsey led the Eagles scoring with 24 points, while Williams (pictured) also netted 24 points for the Riders.

24/03/2007
DMU Leicester Riders 86 - 84 Newcastle Eagles

BBL Championship
John Sandford Sports Centre 

Springfield Honda Newcastle Eagles hopes of retaining the league title are over after a thrilling 86-84 loss at DMU Leicester Riders.

The win for the Riders moves them into seventh place in the league and continues their good home form at the John Sandford Centre.

Tony Dorsey had Newcastle in a good position during the first quarter as his 11 points helped the Eagles to a 24-18 lead. However, Riders battled back in the second helped by a 12-4 run which saw them head into the interval 44-43 up. Eagles bounced back in the third to go into the final stanza 68-65 in front. 

Inspired by Terrance McGee’s (pictured) four assists during a 10-2 start to the fourth quarter the Riders went out to 83-73 with three minutes remaining. Newcastle refused to give in though and made it a one-point game (85-84) after a Jeremy Hyatt three with five seconds remaining.

Rob Paternostro slotted one out of two free throws in the closing seconds to make the match safe.

22/03/2007
Sheffield Sharks 100 - 68 DMU Leicester Riders

BBL Championship
EIS Sheffield

Sheffield Sharks continued their push for the summit of the BBL Championship table thanks to a 100-68 victory over the DMU Leicester Riders at the EIS, Sheffield on Thursday evening.

The visitors got off to a strong start and lead 10-11 early on, but the Sharks came back strong, and took a 24-16 lead into the second quarter off the back of a 14-5 burst to close out the opening period. The Sharks continued their dominance with a 10-2 start to the second quarter taking the score out to 34-18, and they maintained their lead at 46-29 going into the locker rooms at the half.

The Sharks started the second half in much the same way as the first, and an 11-0 start to the half took the score out to 57-29, and then a 15-2 tear to close out the third period took the score out to 76-43 going into the final stanza. The Sharks stretched out their lead further, and enjoyed their biggest lead of the game at 85-47 midway through the final quarter, and despite an attempted comeback from the Riders, the home side held on for the comfortable victory.

Jeff Bonds led all scorers with 23 points for the Sharks, while Andrew Alleyne led the Riders scoring with 22.

18/03/2007
London United 89 - 81 DMU Leicester Riders

BBL Championship
Space Centre, London

London United moved back into seventh place in the BBL Championship after beating DMU Leicester Riders 89-81 in the capital on Sunday evening.

The result means that United have won the season series over Leicester 3-1 and move above their opponents in the table despite having identical win/loss records.

In a close match throughout it was the Riders who led at the end of the first quarter 25-24 following a 15-7 run to close the period. They couldn’t build on their lead though and an 11-0 burst by London handed them a 44-39 half time advantage.

After extending the margin by one during the third quarter (62-56) United kept the Riders at bay during the final stanza. The closest the visitors came was 79- 74 with two minutes remaining.

Tarick Johnson for London and Andrew Alleyne for Riders led all scorers with 30-points.

17/03/2007
DMU Leicester Riders 94 - 77 Chester Jets

BBL Championship
John Sandford Sports Centre

DMU Leicester Riders clinched a crucial 94-77 win over play-off chasing rivals Chester Jets at the John Sandford Centre.

Riders are now four points clear in seventh of ninth placed Chester with the Jets having only five more matches to play before the post season begins.

Chester started brightly, though, and scored the game’s first eight points but still trailed 21-16 at the end of the first quarter thanks to some long range bombs from Leicester’s Yorick Williams and Terrence McGee (pictured).

After an even second quarter which ended 43-38 in the home team’s favour the match was blown open with an 18-3 close to the third by the Riders. It pushed the score to 77-57 and there was no way back for the Jets after that.

11/03/2007
Guildford Heat 96 - 81 DMU Leicester Riders

BBL Championship
Guildford Spectrum

Poujoulat Heat Guildford maintained their stranglehold on top spot in the BBL Championship thanks to a hard-fought 96-81 victory over the DMU Leicester Riders at the Guildford Spectrum on Sunday afternoon.

The Heat started the stronger, and an early 8-0 tear gave them a 13-7 advantage in the opening period, but the Riders edged their way back into the game, and ended the quarter trailing by five points at 25-20. The second quarter saw the Heat again enjoy an 8-0 run to lead 49-40, but the Riders netted the last four points of the half to trail 49-44 going into the locker rooms.

The second half started in much the same vein as the first half with the home side stretching out to a 59-48 off the back of a 10-2 burst at the start of the third period, but they couldn't shake off a resilent Riders team, and a 9-0 burst got the visitors to within two points at 63-61, but a Rod Wellington basket with fifteen seconds left gave the Heat a 65-61 advantage going into the final stanza.

The visitors remained close in the fourth quarter, and seven points from Terrence McGee kept the Riders in touch at 74-70 midway through the period, but an 11- 2 Heat tear took the score out to 96-77 with 49 seconds remaining giving the home side the important victory.

Daniel Gilbert led all scorers in the game with 28 points for the Heat, while McGee led the Riders scoring with 25.

10/03/2007
DMU Leicester Riders 94 - 101 Sheffield Sharks (OT)

BBL Championship
John Sandford Sports Centre

The Sheffield Sharks notched their tenth consecutive win in the BBL Championship to stay level on points at the top of the table after winning 94-101 in overtime on the road at the DMU Leicester Riders, the defeat was the first in five for the Riders on their home floor.

Blake Shelton was the star man as he led the scoring with 28 points, 8 assists, and 8 rebounds. It was he who forced the extra period as he made a running three-pointer on the buzzer to tie the teams at 88. Once in overtime the Sharks took control as a Joel Burns triple, against his former club, concluded five straight points that made the score 90-94.

The Riders narrowed the deficit to 94-97, but a failed ‘alley-oop’ attempt followed by Andrew Alleyne fouling out led to their demise. After Alleyne was called for a technical foul for his protestations, Eddie Cage sealed the win with four free-throws with 21 seconds remaining. Earlier in the tie, Jeff Bonds scored 6 points to help the Sharks out to an early 11-20 lead before the hosts scored the last 6 points of the opening stanza to keep it close at 21-25.

They proceeded to take the lead early in the second as a 9-4 opening made it 30-29, which became 36-31 on a Terrence McGee triple. He added another from beyond the arc as the Riders scored the last 7 points of the half within a minute to lead 49-39 at the break. Sheffield opened with the first 9 points of the third, including 5 from Atiba Lyons and then tied the game at 56 soon afterwards.

A Yorick Williams triple and a pair of free-throws from Darren Mills gave Leicester the edge before the Sharks went 7-2 to send the teams into the decisive stanza tied at 63. The home side looked to have the game won after a 12-1 surge, including 4 each from Delme Herriman and McGee, made the score 83-71. With 1:16 remaining Rob Paternostro fouled out and Cage made his two free-throws, followed by a further deuce, to narrow the gap to 87-85. Adam Williams scored a free-throw before the last-second heroics from Shelton.

Jeff Bonds also had 23 points and 12 boards for the Sharks. Meanwhile, Leicester were led by 21 points and 12 rebounds from Alleyne, whilst McGee had 20 points and 10 assists and Herriman added 20 points and 13 rebounds.

03/03/2007
DMU Leicester Riders 104 - 90 Milton Keynes Lions

BBL Championship
John Sandford Sports Centre 

Terrence McGee once again put on a stunning display to guide DMU Leicester Riders to a 104-90 victory over Milton Keynes Lions.

McGee’s top scored for the fifth straight game at John Sandford with his tally going up in each game to a season-high 39 points in this one. His numbers for the last five games have been staggering:

Guildford - 27 points, 5/13 threes, Rocks - 28 points, 7/18 threes, Guildford - 32 points, 8/13 threes, London - 37 points, 4/7 threes, Milton K - 39 points, 6/11 threes

Giving him an average on 32.6 points per game and making 30/62 threes (48.4%). Despite these staggering numbers, McGee was overlooked for Player of the Month in February in favour of London’s Tarick Johnson who netted most his points in the month in the only two games they won against the league’s bottom two.

Riders romped home against a top four side with relative ease even though Yorick Williams was tossed out of the game after only 16 minutes.

Leicester led throughout after bagging the game’s opening six points, before a couple of triples from Rob Paternostro helped Riders 22-8 clear.

Riders hit eight unanswered points to lead 35-18 after a couple of minutes of the second, before Yorick saw red a few minutes later. Williams was incensed at an offensive foul he was called for, similar to one he hadn’t got at the other end moments earlier. He argued his case but as he was subbed out got a technical foul for an audible obscenity. He received a further T on the bench before being ejected from the game.

It gave the Lions six free throws and possession and though Robert Youngblood netted five of them, it served only to trim the gap to 39-28.

Another Paternostro triple soon had the lead back to 47-30. In the second half a Darren Mills three sparked seven straight points by the Riders as the lead topped 20 points for the first time.

Lions hit the first six points of the fourth quarter to narrow the gap to nine – the first time the lead had dipped into single-figures since the opening score of the second quarter – but McGee swished a three and followed it up with a two to re-establish a comfort margin.

Threes from Peter Heizer and Kevin Griffin again cut the gap to nine and again McGee slammed the door shut with a triple on his way to 15 fourth quarter points.

McGee was 6-for-11 from behind the arc for his 39 points as well as handing out 4 assists. Drew Alleyne was 7-for-11 shooting for his 16 points and 8 rebounds, whilst Rob Paternostro was 3-for-4 from behind the arc (the one miss was a hail-mary shot clock buzzer-beater) for his 14 points, 9 assists and 3 steals. Del Herriman also shot well for his 14 points, 6 boards, 3 assists and 2 blocks, whilst Adam Williams posted 7 points and 5 boards. Yorick Williams had 6 points, Darren Mills 5 and Barry Lamble 3 points and 8 boards.

Robert Youngblood led the Lions with 24 points and 7 boards, with mike New (14), Peter Heizer (13), Tony Windless (10) also chipping in with double figures.

LIONS HELP RIDERS WITH FIXTURE SWITCH

DMU Leicester Riders will take on Milton Keynes this Saturday after the Lions agreed to switch their fixture originally scheduled for 24th March.

Riders were due to play Newcastle Eagles at John Sandford Sports Centre this weekend, but the Geordies participation in Sunday’s BBL Trophy Final meant that game had to be postponed.

Leicester had faced the prospect of needing to find a midweek date for the Eagles game, before Lions stepped in to agree to a switch. As a result Riders will now face Newcastle on Saturday 24th March, the date the Lions game was originally programmed for.

“It’s fantastic that Milton Keynes have been able to help us out like this,” said Mike Steptoe. “When the consortium took over we had based the figures on seven Saturday night home games - needing to find a midweek date would not only have been difficult, but would have also had a significant financial implication.

“The Lions did not have to do this and as a result they’ve given themselves back-to-back away games, but this is a great example of the help and support we’ve had from the BBL and its member clubs. We can’t thank Milton Keynes enough for this tremendous offer of help.”

Tickets for the match will be available on the day, with doors opening at 6.30pm and the match tipping-off at 7.30pm.