by Vlad Ionasc
Cheshire Phoenix will have the chance to even up the season series against the London Lions when they’ll face off against Vince Macaulay’s side later this evening.
The two teams delivered one of the most exciting games of the season in their first meeting at the EPSV, which finished 110-99 in favour of the Lions.
The visitors come into tonight’s game in good form, having won five of their first seven games in 2021, while the Nix seem to have finally found their groove, as they’ve picked up four wins in their last five games.
GAME DETAILS
Date: Friday 19th February, 2021
Tip-off: 6 p.m.
Competition: BBL Championship
Where: EPSV
How to watch: BBL Player
The BBL Player is the new one-stop-shop for all BBL action as you can watch every club and every game (excluding Bristol’s home games) live and on-demand for £19.99 per month. Alternatively, single-game passes are priced at £4.99.
Because of how the BBL is structured, all the money from the BBL Player goes directly to the clubs, so make sure to select the Cheshire Phoenix as your ‘club to support’ when registering, as all the revenue will help carry the club through this incredibly difficult period of financial insecurity.
LIONS SCOUTING REPORT
The Lions are third in the BBL Championship, with a 9-2 record, however they’ve played three games less than the Eagles (second) and two less than the Riders (first).
London has the number one offence (91.3 points-per-game) in the BBL, however their defence ranks seventh (81.8 points-allowed-per-game).
The Lions have won six of their nine road games so far, including the 110-99 win over the Nix at the EPSV earlier in the season.
The Lions are shooting 48.7% from the field (2nd best in BBL), 40.7% from deep (best in BBL) and 78.2% from the line (2nd best in BBL).
The Lions have five players who are averaging 42% or more from three-point territory: Andre Lockhart (50% 3PT), Justin Robinson (47.6% 3PT), Dirk Williams (46.6% 3PT), Shane Walker (43.8% 3PT) and Orlando Parker (42.4% 3PT).
Williams leads the league in points-per-game (19.1) and three-pointers made (41).
Ex-NBA player DeAndre Liggins ranks second in the BBL in assists (7.2) and steals (2.4). The 6-foot-6 Kentucky alum leads the Lions in rebounding with 6.5 boards per contest.
Chris Tawiah ranks third in the BBL in field-goal percentage (62%) and second in free-throw percentage (94.7%)
The Londoners have won four of the last five meetings against the Nix.
KEY PLAYERS
London Lions: Dirk Williams — The 6-foot-5 American guard is averaging 19.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, on 54/47/84 shooting splits. The league’s leading scorer and three-point maker wasn’t at his best the last time the two sides faced off, as he scored just 14 points on 4-of-12 shooting from three-point land and also turned the ball over on four occasions, so the Nix will have to neutralise him again to give themselves the best chance of coming away with a victory.
Cheshire Phoenix: Kahron Ross — The Lehigh alum is averaging 16.9 points, 6.2 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game, on 46/35/83 splits. He ranks fourth in the BBL in steals-per-game (2). Ross racked up 22 points, four rebounds and five assists on zero turnovers and 9-of-16 shooting from the floor in Phoenix’s 99-110 loss to the Lions.
COACH’S CORNER
Ben Thomas: “We’ve got another game tonight where the head to head is on the line. We have to beat London to even it up!
“It’s going to be a very tough game against a very good Lions team. We know if we play an aggressive style of defence and a structured offence we give ourselves a really good chance!
“We’re looking forward to the challenge.”
NEXT HOME GAME
The Nix will be back in action at the EPSV on Sunday 28th of February, against the Surrey Scorchers in the BBL Championship. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.