Leicester Riders Basketball Club

The captain of the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders, Roderick Wellington, led by example as he scored the late three-pointer that ensured that the East Midlanders overcame the Team Birmingham Panthers by 79-73 in the BBL Cup first-round on Saturday evening.

The British forward was pleased to get the win, their third over the Panthers this season, and admits that it was harder now that their Midlands rivals are at full strength,

“It was good to get the win, as they were definitely a better team now they have their Americans in. It has always been difficult to play them this season, but it was definitely the kind of game we should win.”

The Riders now face a quarter-final trip to Wellington’s former club, the Poujoulat Heat Guildford, on Sunday 25th November. Wellington and teammate Chad McKnight were both part of the Heat squad that raised the BBL Cup last season. Wellington commented,

“It will be good to play them again, I think we have them twice over the same weekend, which will be strange. It was a great experience to win the Cup with Guildford last season, and it will be good to see them again.”

After Heat had completed a league and cup double last season, Wellington left them in the summer to join Leicester, and he is enjoying his time with Martin Ford’s team,

“It’s going well, I wasn’t too sure what to expect. We aren’t a new club, but we have a whole new set of players, and we are searching for our identity. We’re a young side. I think our average is only 23, so I’m an old hand at 29.

“We came together late, and we’re still working on things, but Martin’s a real players’ coach. He knows his stuff, he’s good at motivating players, and he’s always going around the league and watching other teams.”

With a place in the quarter-final of the cup now sewn up, Wellington and the Riders now turn their attentions to the league, and on Friday evening they travel to Everton Tigers where Wellington will come up against his good friend David Aliu.

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 79 (16,31,48)
(McKnight 16, Greathouse 14, Wellington 12)
Team Birmingham Panthers 73 (13,31,48)
(Paternostro 16, Rivers 14, A Williams 9)

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders booked their place in the last eight of the BBL Cup with a 79-73 home win against Team Birmingham Panthers.

It was a hard fought victory for Riders over a Panthers team that had three new signings making their debut – Hank Rivers, LaTyrl Williams and Craig Walls.

Helped by Panthers missing 10 free throws in the first quarter the Riders opened up a 16-13 lead after 10 minutes. The home side stretched out to 25-17 early in the second before an Adam Williams inspired 14-3 burst by Panthers handed the visitors the lead at 28-31. However, by half time the teams were level 31-31.

Leicester got on top during the third quarter and were 48-39 in front before a 9-0 run by Birmingham, capped by a Rob Paternostro three on the buzzer, tied the match again at 48-48.

During the final stanza it looked once again as though Riders had shaken off the Panthers. But, despite leading 70-62 with just 1.23 left on the clock Birmingham closed to within two (75-73) thanks to a LaTyrl Williams lay-up with 36 second remaining.

It looked as though Panthers may at least force overtime before Rob Wellington banked in a three-pointer to finally see Leicester home.

Riders reward for beating Panthers is an away trip to Cup holders Poujoulat Heat Guildford.

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders’ are delighted to announce that all season ticket holders will receive a set of Go Riders thunder sticks to back their team.

The Riders fans have bought more season tickets this season than any other in its 40 year history, smashing the previous best by over 20%.

“We would like to thank and help our season ticket holders support their team,” said General Manager Russell Levenston. “We’re hugely grateful to our fans who have shown tremendous loyalty to the club, especially when we needed it most over the last month.

All season ticket holders can pick up their Go Riders thunder sticks before this weeks vital game against the Birmingham Panthers in the BBL Cup. Tip-off is 7.30pm at the John Sanford, doors open at 6.30pm.

To become a season ticket holder, check out our NEW online shop and tickets will be available on the door at £10 for adults and £7 for concessions and family tickets at £27.50 and £30.

Martin Ford, Head Coach of the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders, has thrown down the gauntlet to his players ahead of their BBL Cup first-round clash with the Team Birmingham Panthers on Saturday.

“I’ve challenged the players to get the four victories to win the competition,” said Ford. “We need to attack the BBL Cup with a different attitude to league games. This is a real chance to win something, and I’ve said all along that if we can steal the Cup or the Trophy, then league success could follow in three or four years time.”

The Riders won the National Cup, the predecessor of the exclusive BBL Cup, back in 2000/01 and perhaps one tenuous omen is that they defeated the Birmingham franchise en route to that triumph. Saturday’s game will do well to live up to that one, which was a 109-118 overtime thriller.

The Riders have overcome their Midlands rivals twice already in what has been an inconsistent start to the season. They sit in sixth place in the league, with three wins, but are yet to record back-to-back victories. The Riders opened the campaign with a 101-79 success over the Panthers at the John Sandford, before also beating them 70-84 in the West Midlands. Coach Ford believes that there is more to come from his side,

“At the moment we’ve beaten an okay Rocks side who are still adjusting to Sterling Davis taking up the dual role of player and coach, and the only other games we have won have been against Birmingham. It’s difficult to evaluate where we are. We should have won against Sheffield, and I want the players to start stamping their authority on the games. We need to get more consistent if we are going to be in the mix at the end. It’s a building year, but things are going really well behind the scenes and we are moving towards where we want to be.”

The game at the John Sandford tips-off at 7.30pm on Saturday and sees the start of the BBL Cup, with subsequent first-round games to be played next week.

Worcester Wolves 92 (32,50,67)
(Paez 36, Durant 15, Harker 11)
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 85 (24,43,63)
(Wellington 17, Woodyard 16, Lamble 13)

Worcester Wolves are off the mark for the season after a 92-85 home win against Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders.

Anthony Paez was the star of the show for Worcester sinking a game high 36-points to lead his team off the bottom of the BBL table.

Paez was hot from the start as he hit a three-point shot to open the scoring. Leads of 12-7 and 22-15 were consolidated to 32-24 by the end of the first quarter.

After a steady second period where the teams sparred for position it was Paez who was the standout player scoring 23-points in the half as Worcester went in at the interval 50-43 in front.

Riders rallied during the third quarter. A 12-0 burst saw them take the lead at 54-59 before Wolves hit back with a 9-0 tear of the own to finish the stanza 67-63 up.

In a tense final quarter both sides lost key players due to foul trouble and Leicester closed an 85-76 lead to 86-81 leaving the result in doubt. However, Chuck Evans kept his nerve from the charity stripe to nail six free throws to take the Wolves to victory.

SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks 69 (19,31,48)
(Davis 15, Wohlers 14, Clarance 14)
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 74 (15,26,52)
(Wellington 20, Woodyard 20, McKnight 10)

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders solid start to the season continued north of the border with a 69-74 win at SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks.

The Riders move into a tie for fourth position alongside Marshall MK Lions and Kularoos Plymouth Raiders, while Rocks slip a place to joint eighth with BiG Storage Cheshire Jets.

After a tight, scrappy first quarter, which the home side shaded 19-15, defence ruled once again up to half time. Riders had reduced a 25-17 deficit to just one point with eight seconds left before Rocks scored the final five points of the half.

This included the referees summoning Rocks point-guard Rob Yanders from the locker room to take two free throws during the interval which put his team 31-26 in front.

Riders showed signs of an improvement on offence during the third quarter taking the lead at 37-38 with 6.30 left in the period. This advantage was stretched to 48-52 heading into the final stanza.

An exciting fourth quarter saw Rocks fight back from 58-63 down to 69-68 up in the final minute thanks to three three-pointers from Bilal Clarance and a two from Sterling Davis.

However, the Riders wouldn’t be denied and after Chad McKnight tied the score at 69-69 with a free throw, Terrance Woodyard nailed a three with six seconds left to put the visitors in front. Darren Mills iced the game with a last second two.

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 80 (21,40,60)
(Wellington 17, McKnight 10, Lamble/Mills/Woodyard 9)
Newcastle Eagles 99 (28,48,85)
(Midgley 28, Stewart 15, Smith 13)

Newcastle Eagles leap-frogged over Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders in the league table with an 80-90 win in the East Midlands.

Two Jeremy Hyatt three-pointers formed the basis of a 10-0 run which put the Eagles 5-14 in front. Riders hit back with an 11-2 burst of their own to tie the match at 21-21 before Newcastle went away to 21-28 at the end of the first quarter.

Eagles again were in command in the second period leading 30-41 before Riders narrowed the gap to 38-41. Newcastle finished the half with a 7-2 run to go into the interval 40-48 in front.

The match was settled in the third quarter as Eagles took a 45-53 lead out to 49-73 with contributions from the entire line-up. Riders fought hard in the final stanza but couldn’t get close enough to concern Newcastle.

The Head Coach of the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders, Martin Ford, was furious with his team despite them beating Midlands rivals, the Team Birmingham Panthers, by 70-84 last Saturday.

"We played terrible, and we just didn't play good basketball," said Ford. "It's not that we made mistakes, but our spacing wasn't right on offence, and I'm a mile away from being happy with our defence. One on one we're not bad, but there's no help on rotation, and my school team play better defence."

Despite those grievances, Ford did not take anything away from a Birmingham side who are still short on numbers and awaiting the arrival of some players,

"I can't take anything away from Birmingham. Nigel [Lloyd] has got them playing hard-nosed, aggressive, sensible basketball. We had everything to lose, and they had it all to gain. Certainly Nigel's worth ethic made them stay in the game, but a win is win in the end, and I'm relieved that we got it."

Chad McKnight led the scoring for the Riders with 21 points and the former BBL Champion, and Riders' talisman, was singled out for praise,

"We were lucky that Chad [McKnight] had a big second half, and that we had strength in numbers to wear them down," said Ford. "It was a scrappy but competitive game, and I was never comfortable with our lead. Late in the game we scored seven or eight without reply to pull it off, but they showed throughout that they were capable of knocking eight or nine points off our lead."

The Riders host the Newcastle Eagles this coming Saturday so get down to the John Sanford Sports Centre and show your support.

To give you more information about Riders players we have updated the team pages with their favourites, ambitions and hobbies. So if you are wondering what Chad McKnight's favourite film is, where Kyle Greathouse likes to go on holiday or who is Russell Jordan's favourite sports person click 'the team' button above.

You can also view action photos of the players that will be added to over the course of the season.

Click here to go direct to the profiles page.

Team Birmingham Panthers 70 (12,36,52)
(Feggins 16, Williams 14, Omope 10)
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 84 (19,34,57)
(McKnight 21, Burns 14, Lamble 11)

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders secured their second victory over their Midlands rivals, Team Birmingham Panthers, with an 84-70 victory at the University of Wolverhampton on Saturday evening.

The game was tight throughout the first half, with the home side entering the locker room with a slender two-point advantage at 36-34.

The second half saw the visitors break the game open with a 9-0 burst to take the score out to 57-46 towards the end of the third period. In the final quarter, the Panthers got back into the game, and closed to within two points at 59-61, but an 8-0 tear from the Riders took the score out to 69-59, and they were able to hold on for the victory.

Chad McKnight led all scorers netting 21 points for the Riders, while Bryant Feggins led the Panthers scoring with 16.

After the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders scored just 8 points in the fourth quarter to throw away a winning position against the table-topping Sheffield Sharks on Saturday, Head Coach Martin Ford admitted that he is bemused as to how they managed it.

The Riders led by 17 at the end of the third quarter but eventually lost the game 67-69 after Shelby Chaney made the decisive hook shot for the Sharks with 18 seconds left, and Kyle Greathouse failed to muster a response for the East Midlanders.

"I was very disappointed," admitted Ford. "The first half wasn't great basketball, both sides made too many mistakes, but we got ourselves in a really good position in the third period. We stepped up our defensive intensity, and created some good offence off of that. We put ourselves in a fantastic position to win the ball game, but I have no idea what we were doing in the final quarter. Our defending got static, and we stopped rebounding. Even when we missed a shot with eight seconds remaining we didn't foul to stop the clock, and that gave them the game.

"You could call it part of a learning curve for a young team, but we had two of our three experienced senior players, Joel Burns and Rod Wellington, out there. When we had the team-talk at end of the third period, I wasn't telling them to just hang on. We're a young team and I wanted us to send out a statement to the league with a 25-point win. But we went out and played conservatively. I guess most coaches have been in this situation, but it's very frustrating."

Despite his obvious dismay in losing the game, Ford still paid tribute to the Sharks' comeback. They posted a 12-2 run midway through the fourth quarter, including six straight points from Steve Parillon, who had 23 on the night. Ford commented,

"I can't take anything away from Sheffield. They came out hard in the fourth period, attacked us and took the game from us. All credit to the players and Pete Scantlebury. Perhaps the most disappointing thing is that Sheffield are the team I really wanted to beat. Everyone has a side they want to win against for some reason, and when I was Derby Storm coach we never managed to beat them. We took them to overtime twice in four games, but never won, and I thought we were going to end my jinx on Saturday."

That result propelled the Sharks to the top of the embryonic BBL Championship table, with a hard-fought 3-0 record. The Riders meanwhile slip back to 1-1.

The Riders face a huge game as they visit their Midlands rivals, the Team Birmingham Panthers, on Saturday night (8.00pm tip-off); they have already recorded one win over the Panthers this season by 101-79 on the opening weekend.

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders are looking for volunteers interested in organising and running a supporters club. The main role of the supporters club will be to organise events throughout the year, fundraising and holding regular meetings to maintain direction and keep fans informed.

If you are interested please contact Russell Levenston using the details below.

Russell Levenston, Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders, 370 Loughborough Road, Leicester, LE4 5PR
Tel: 0116 2661541 ext 294
Fax: 0116 2664589
email: info@leicesterriders.co.uk

It has been confirmed that the Team Birmingham Panthers will play out of the University of Wolverhampton, Walsall campus, for the 2007/08 British Basketball League season.

The first home game for the Panthers will be against the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders on Saturday 6th October (8.00pm tip-off).

The teams previous clash proved to be a fiery game on the opening weekend of the season so the Riders need as much travelling support as possible. Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders will be hoping to extend the series against Birmingham to 2-0.

Click here for address and directions.

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders’ are planning a Christmas Party at the beautiful Beedles Lake Golf Club in East Goscote, Leicester.

The evening will be an excellent chance to meet Riders stars while everyone gets to relax and chat in the build up to push for playoff positions.

Please click here to show interest at our online poll. Beedles Lake website... www.beedleslake.co.uk