Leicester Riders battled out a win on the road, beating Bristol Flyers 74-63 in a physical, defensive affair.
The Riders led by 20 points in the third, but scoring only 1 point in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter meant Bristol stormed back to make it a ball game late.
They found enough offence late to see the Flyers off, and dug their heels in on the defensive end led by Charles Thompson heroics to take their 14th win of the season.
Zach Jackson’s 17 points led the team, backed by 16 from Riley Abercrombie who sealed the game with a dagger in the final minute.
Thompson dominated the paint with 10 rebounds and 2 blocks, meanwhile Jaylin Hunter muscled his way to 7 boards to complement his 13 points and 5 assists from the point.
For Bristol, they continue their tough run of form which has seen them winless at home since January 11. Keddy Johnson led the team with 14 points and 7 rebounds.
Flyers take early lead through Sherfield
Offense was hard to come by from the tip off, as the Riders fell in a 7-1 hole through three minutes. They missed their first six field goals before Abercrombie drained a three from the wing to get them underway.
The lid was off the bucket from there, however, as the Aussie went back-to-back from deep.
But Bristol’s Jared Sherfield was feeling it early to build the Flyers’ lead. He scored 7 in the first five minutes of play with two shots from three point land.
Riders crash glass to take lead
Leicester shot their way into the lead from three, as Hunter’s rainbow over close contest gave them a 19-16 advantage after Wright’s triple tied the game at 16.
Their three point shooting opened up the paint, where they found joy to start the second quarter through Wright and Duke Shelton, the latter making an and-one play after grabbing his own miss.
That was the theme of the second, as the Riders dominated the glass to grab 10 offensive rebounds with 5:22 left in the half.
Thompson jam caps off scorching second
The Flyers fought to the foul line in the second to keep in touch, but started the game 7-13 from the stripe. Sherfield kept piling in the points to finish the half with 14, and star scorer Johnson’s jumper started to fall to give him 9 points.
But the Riders’ leading scorer on the year Jackson found his rhythm with a corner triple late in the second, kicking off a 7-0 Jackson run to put the Riders up 34-27.
Thompson made the highlight of the half, dropping Leslee Smith in the post with a spin move before jamming one in, and Conner Washington ended the second at the foul line to give the Riders a 40-32 lead at the break.
Hunter leads Leicester to big third quarter lead
The Riders were red hot to start the third. They were 4-7 from the field out of the half, pounding the ball inside with physicality led by Hunter.
The American was all over the stat sheet, pulling down rebounds, snatching steals and finishing hard at the rim to extend Leicester’s lead to 14.
Hunter scored 8 points in the third as the Riders blew the game wide open. They scored 20 in seven minutes, as Jackson made it 60-42 at the hoop for his 12th points.
Flyers fightback starts in third
The Flyers found form late in the third to breathe life into the building. Alain Louis put down an acrobatic and-one against Washington, before Desmond Robinson found Evan Walshe with a full court heave who cut it to 14 with 1:16 left.
Bristol brought all out pressure to the ball handler to force turnovers out of the Riders, swinging the game’s momentum.
Washington’s experience saw him navigate the new defensive look expertly to steady the ship for Leicester. He drew a foul next time down, then weaved his way out of a double team and finished at the rim to rebuild the Leicester lead going into the fourth.
Offensive struggles makes for late game drama
The Flyers’ kept their intensity in the fourth to cut the game back to single digits. Leslee Smith got to work down low as Bristol started the quarter 6-1, making the score 67-59 in the Riders’ favour.
Leicesters’s offensive drought opened the door for a Flyers comeback, as the visitors scored only one point in six minutes. Thompson’s hook shot was the team’s first field goal of the fourth with four minutes remaining in the game.
As the game neared its conclusion, Hunter flew in for a monster offensive board to set up a Jackson bucket, making the score 71-63 with three minutes on the clock.
Defensively, Thompson came up with two emphatic blocks at the rim, one on Lewis to stop a certain fastbreak bucket, to stuff any Bristol hope of a win.
Thompson then found Abercrombie wide open for three, who hit the dagger to earn Leicester a gritty win.
