The London Lions failed to defend their BBL Trophy title after falling to the Cheshire Phoenix in the tournament’s final – held at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow.
The Lions came into the game on an unusually bad run of form. The Hackney-based side had lost their previous game at the hands of the Manchester Giants in disastrous fashion.
On the back of the embarrassing 94-56 defeat, they travelled up to Glasgow hoping to bounce back.
Typical of many finals, the game took a while to get going. The Lions struggled to find any rhythm offensively, demonstrated by their inability to string together cohesive plays. Four turnovers in the first quarter allowed their opponents to take control and the Cheshire Phoenix pounced on this.
The Lions were down 22-16 going in at the first —and needed big improvements to come back.
Despite Dirk Williams’ best efforts, the Lions still struggled to seize the initiative. The Alabama native scored 17 points by half time and looked a class above the rest of his teammates, who had scored a combined 18. The 27-year-old’s ability to score meant the Phoenix never got too far away from his side and there was still hope of a comeback. At the half time interval, the Lions were trailing the Phoenix 40-35.
It was still all to play for going into the second half, but the London Lions knew they needed to up their performance, as the final would be decided by how well they responded to being down at the break.
The third quarter saw more of the same. Neither team was as offensively potent as they would have liked, with gritty defence the story of the day. Going into the deciding quarter, Cheshire Phoenix extended their five-point lead to six.
The fourth quarter saw the Phoenix run riot with the Lions unable to keep up. Cheshire’s top scorer Larry Austin Jr. alongside guard Namon Wright combined to widen the gap between the two teams and prevent the Lions from making a comeback.
The game ended 82-68 in favour of Cheshire Phoenix, who lifted the BBL Trophy for the fifth time. It was a disappointing day for the Lions and their travelling fans who helped make up some of the 5900 in attendance.
Speaking after the game, the Lions’ Lorenzo Cugini said: “Even going into the fourth quarter down six points, we were confident we still had a good run in us.”
The defeated Lion summed the game up, adding: “We just weren’t strong enough.”
The plan from the Phoenix was made clear by their head coach Ben Thomas. Speaking to Sky Sports following the game, he said: “I’m just so happy for everyone involved. The players played an amazing game today. Defensively we were outstanding, especially in the fourth quarter.”
The Lions will be hoping to make up for their Trophy Final disappointment with a win in their next game at home to the Glasgow Rocks on Friday evening.
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