BBL: London Lions 107 Leeds Force 56
PUBLISHED: 12:54 30 March 2018 | UPDATED: 12:54 30 March 2018
Brandon Peel attacks for London Lions against Leeds Force (pic Graham Hodges)
Archant
London Lions made it three wins in a row as they demolished Leeds Force by 51 points at the Copper Box on Thursday.
Jon Thompson in action for London Lions against Leeds Force (pic Graham Hodges)Brandon Peel was again instrumental in the win, putting up another double-double in game that will serve as yet another confidence boost as the Lions go into a busy Easter weekend that sees them playing the two teams at the top of the league within three days.
Leeds were really only competitive against the Lions for the first part of the first quarter, going up by five with just under half of the period to play.
But the Lions quickly turned things round in a real team effort, with six home players getting points totals in double figures.
Jon Thompson led the scoring with 19 points, but it was Jerelle Okoro who started the 12-point unanswered run that gave the Lions a seven-point lead with 1.49 left in the first quarter.
Jon Thompson dunks against Leeds Force (pic Graham Hodges)Some scrappy play from both sides meant that the Lions finished the quarter up by nine, but if the end of the first quarter was bad for Leeds, things were about to get a whole lot worse.
It was a bit of a scrappy start to the second period for the Lions, but Andre Lockhart stepped up and sunk a sweet shot from long range to give the home team their first double-digit lead of the night. And from there, they didn’t look back.
Jonathan James would sink another three to put the lead up to 14, then Dzaflo Larkai’s slam dunk made it 18.
The Lions were confident, enjoying their basketball and showed no signs of letting up.
London Lions face the camera with some of their young fans at the Copper Box Arena (pic Graham Hodges)As the seconds ticked down to half time, nothing would go right for Leeds as Okoro went to the line and made two shots before Lamar Roberts got a block in to get the ball up to James who put in a three-point shot, with some help from a cool and calm Peel.
The Lions went into the break up by 23 points at 49-26 and Leeds were simply outclassed in the second half.
Although quarter three gave Leeds their best points tally (18) of the evening, the Lions too went up a gear and knocked in 35 points to give them a 40-point cushion going into the fourth.
The closing quarter saw the Lions just enjoy their play as it seemed everything that could go wrong for Leeds did, with the hosts simply able to take the ball, forcing turnovers and scoring at will.
Lions will face a far tougher test from Newcastle at the Copper Box tonight (Friday), tip off is at 7.30pm.
