Mar 08, 2021
The London Lions put on a dominate display yester evening and had firmly put one foot in the BBL Trophy final after a 90-66 home victory against Glasgow Rocks, on Sunday.
Vince Macualay's team were in dominant form and will travel to Glasgow for the second leg on Wednesday looking to complete the job and reach their second final of the season.
DeAndre Liggins was in brilliant form as he hit six three-pointers on the way to a 28-point game, adding five rebounds, four assists and two steals in 34 minutes of action. Dirk Williams added 15 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Justin Robinson had 11 points and four assists as all 12 Lions saw at least six minutes of court time and 11 of them got on the scoreboard.
Robinson's triple got Lions off the mark in a game they never trailed in, and he hit a second long range bomb before Liggins got in on the act to make it 14-8 with just over seven minutes gone and Shane Walker's pair of free-throw gave the hosts a 23-14 first period lead.
Liggins' dunk made it an 11 point game with the second period's opening basket and it was never a single digit game again as another Robinson three-pointer sent the Lions into the locker room leading 44-28.
Orlando Parker stretched the lead to start the second half, and Liggins dropped another three to make it a 19-point game with three minutes gone before he stepped inside the three point line to wrap up the third quarter scoring and give Lions a 62-46 final break lead.
Rocks' Jonny Bunyan and Liggins exchanged triples to open the fourth period before the Lions' lead went above 20 as Josh Ward-Hibbert hit a jump shot to make it 80-59 with three minutes left, and Williams' three wrapped up the win for the hosts.
Ronald Delph led Rocks with 16 points and eight boards, but his side were out-rebounded 50-37 and face an uphill struggle in Wednesday's second leg.
The Lions are back home again this Friday where they play the Manchester Giants.