Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders made it a club record seven wins in a row and heaped the pressure on Glasgow Rocks for third spot in the BBL with an 88-80 home win over the Scottish club.
Jason Johnson led all-scorers with 24 points for the Riders and also pulled down a game high 15 rebounds.
Rocks were enjoying the better of the first quarter when Gareth Murray put them 10-16 ahead. However, a 16-0 run by Riders capped off by Tony Windless’s bucket gave the home side a double-digit lead.
A three by Glasgow player-coach Sterling Davis and a two from Mike Copeland reduced the arrears to 26-21.
Riders maintained control in the second quarter. Their lead was rarely threatened and a 10-2 run to close the first half gave Rob Paternostro’s side a comfortable 48-35 lead at the interval.
A Shaun Durant two made it a 20 point game (59-39) midway through the third quarter. And it took a Davis three for Rocks to trail by 17 (70-53) at the end of the period.
Rocks slowly ate away at the Riders lead but never were close enough to mount a real challenge. Bradd Wierzbicki, who returned to the Leicester line up after illness, nailed a dagger three with three minutes remaining to make it 84-70.
Glasgow ended with a 6-0 run to get within eight, which was the closest they had been since late in the second quarter.
Posted on 20 March, 2010
