Leicester Riders are back on the road to face the Bristol Flyers in the Super League Basketball Trophy.
Both sides have already progressed through to the semi-final of the competition having locked up the top two places of the group, but this one could seal the seeding, with a Riders win, or anything less than a 22 point loss, securing top spot and a semi-final game against the North Group’s second placed team.
The Riders come into this one after an 89-76 win against Surrey 89ers just a day ago to remain undefeated on the season midweek.
Meanwhile Bristol are off the back of a dominant display against London Lions, and will hope to get one back against Leicester after they fell to them on opening night.
Here’s how the game is shaping up.
Leicester’s dream start
The Riders achieved their aim of semi-final progression with two group games to spare, taking the pressure off in the next two fixtures which will both be played this week.
Leicester are in the midst of a stretch of four games in nine days, but have passed the test with flying colours so far. They remain the only undefeated side in the League with a 4-0 record with back-to-back wins against Surrey.
They were battle tested against the Niners over the last two. Both games were tightly contested affairs as the Riders were forced to fight for every bucket and lock in for every stop. Leicester proved the deeper unit as the games progressed, however, with their second unit stepping up to find separation in the scoreline.
“The bench were great tonight” said Head Coach Rob Paternostro following the second Surrey win. “Spencer Johnson and Blake Bowman came in and were great in the second quarter. Blake’s been playing really well on the offensive end.”
The pairing checked into the game with the Riders trailing in the second and came up with energy plays to spark life into Leicester- Johnson from deep with 4-9 shooting from three on his way to 13 points, and Bowman with relentless attacks to the hoop to lead the team with 14.
And with the score close throughout the third, Bowman scored back-to-back to snatch the Leicester lead.
“We have confidence in that group, and tonight they did a really good job of extending the lead.”
It was an important victory with a packed schedule ahead, allowing the team to rest and recoup ahead of the League season in November.
Flyers through to the semis
This is the final Trophy group game for the Bristol Flyers, who secured their place in the semi-finals with a home win against London Lions last weekend.
It was a dominating 108-85 win that saw them through. Bristol bounced back from their road loss against the Lions a game prior with 24 points from star man Kedrian Johnson and 23 from rookie forward Desmond Robinson.
A red hot shooting display saw Bristol shoot 62.3% from the field and 52.4% from three, Jared Sherfield with the hottest hand to go 4-5 from behind the arc.
But it’s been American rookie Trey Tennyson leading the way in the South West early in the year. The sharpshooter out of TCU has scored 17.2 points per game over five games, good for sixth among all players.
The Flyers have set the trend for fluid offensive play throughout the Trophy group phase, leading the League in assists per game with 20.2.
But one of their two losses of the season so far came against Leicester on opening night, and despite having already qualified, they’ll be highly motivated to right that wrong in this one.
Where to watch
All of the Riders games this season will be streamed LIVE on DAZN!
