Lions too hot to handle for the Phoenix
BBL Championship
London Lions 101 (35,60,84) (Hassan 25, Niktash 23, Owumi 20)
Cheshire Phoenix 89 (17,42,69) (May-Thompson 21, Adekoya 20, DiNunno 16)
London Lions raced out of the blocks en route to a 101-89 victory over Cheshire Phoenix to continue their momentum ahead of the Play-Offs.
Rashad Hassan, Navid Niktash and Alex Owumi combined for 68 points with Hassan leading the way with 25 to remain the league’s top scorer.
Niktash netted eight early points in a dominant 18-4 start as the Lions went on to pour in 35 points in the first quarter to lead by 18. The lead peaked at 23 points in the second as a Joe Ikhinmwin triple made it 56-33.
The home side had 60 points on the board at the half for a commanding lead. Cheshire kept fighting in the second half as a 10-2 run helped cut the gap before a 9-0 run reduced the deficit to single figures at 87-78 in the fourth.
However, the damage had been done and the Lions held on for a 12-point win to avoid a series sweep against the Nix with both sides playing their final league game on Sunday.
Jawad Adekoya had 20 points off the bench for Cheshire and they will look to bow out of the season on a high against Leeds Force.