BBL Playoff, Semi-Final (1st leg)
Bristol Flyers 77-84 Leicester Riders (11-26, 28-41, 53-64)
(Flyers: King, 23; Miller, 13; Bill III, 12 – Raiders: McKenzie, 14; Jackson, 11; Menzies/Walsh/Nelson Henry/Whelan, 10)
Leicester Raiders have the advantage of going into the second leg of their BBL play-off match, with their semi-final 84-77 win over the Bristol Flyers at SGS College Arena on Friday night.
A big win for the Knights in a place where Bristol have only tasted defeat three times this season. However, Rob Patrencetro’s men would be a bit disappointed, having led as many as 26 points only to be tied in the second half.
As a result, the competitive showdown is left heading into the second leg on Sunday at Morningside Arena, but the Rangers will have a vital difference on the way to their home court.
Kimball McKenzie led the winners with 14 as Zach Jackson added 11 and four players to 10 on Evan Walsh, Aaron Menzies, Darren Nelson Henry and Patrick Whelan.
VJ King had a Flyers game-high 23 as Mike Miller flopped 13, which included going 3/4 deep.
On paper, this was a battle of two even teams, statistically, but in the early stages it was the Rajoons who came out brighter as they carried out their attack as Bristol struggled to get ahead.
The visitors took a 7-1 lead, highlighted by a dunk from Menzies, which gave Leicester a 15-8 lead, before King finished the spell with a three-pointer.
However, an 11-0 finish for first place, capped by a score from Menzies at the buzzer, gave the Raiders a deserved 26-11 cushion.
Leicester’s run continued into the second quarter, as another 8-0 surge – 19-0 all together – extended the advantage to 34-11 leaving the semi-finalists in danger of being out of reach for the Flyers even at this point. early stage.
Thomas Bell III finally pulled the hosts off the mark in the fourth minute of the second, as he and King tried to bring Bristol back to level, but Leicester were ruthless and in fine form, giving Carrington Love a 25-point goal (41-16) bullets.
From there, the home team, who had been struggling up until this point, began to rally, as a 12-0 lead at the end of the half narrowed the lead to 41-28.
Still short of double digits, but with the home crowd left with a bit more hope than they had in the early stages of the second, Bristol looked to have received a second wind and a jump from Malcolm Delpchy kept things promising.
A score on the inside from Nelson Henry and a triple from Jackson in quick succession for Leicester was just what they needed to increase their lead to 46-30 with less than two minutes left in the third.
Brandon Mahan hit a three-goal for the Flyers to cut the deficit to 54-44, midway through the quarter and although the visitors held on to their double-digit pads for the majority, Bristol were eager to get close.
With three minutes left in the game from King, his team reached number one, but Leicester fought back to take a 74-64 lead heading into the final ten.
The Flyers threatened and again, narrowed the first down to single digits on several occasions, but with 2:41 left, McKenzie drilled a three from the wing to put Leicester up 80-67 in good shape.
Bristol, however, pulled away in the closing stages to keep the score respectable Going to the return leg on Sunday.