Uniball Trophy : London twosome in trophy wins
adidas London Leopards secured their first win of their uni-ball trophy campaign on Sunday with a 101-92 win over Derby Storm at the Thunderdome. That result sees them level at the top of group A with the Pertemps Bullets Birmingham – both teams have one win to their name in this early stage of the competition. The Bullets’ 103-80 win came over Solent Stars on Saturday.
Brighton Bears are third in group D, following their 83-77 win at home to Plymco Plymouth Raiders on Sunday. Chester Jets and Westfield Sharks Sheffield have one win apiece - the Jets victory came over Plymouth as well, by a score of 76-97, while Sheffield beat Brighton Bears 67-76 on Saturday night.
HARIBO London Towers top group B – the only team with a win to their name so far, following a 65-61 win over Thames Valley Tigers.
Group A
Derby Storm 92 (19,44,66) (Stone 26, Bunton 20, Evans 13)
adidas London Leopards 101 (20,41,68) (Deppisch 24, Johnson 23, Brantley 20)The adidas London Leopards bounced back from a difficult week to beat the Derby Storm 101-92 at the Thunderdome. After a close first quarter, the Leopards began the second period the brighter, with an 11-0 tear that saw them lead 33-21. However, the Storm responded and finished the half with a 19-0 run, before a Leopards bucket on the buzzer, to lead 44-41. Down the stretch, the home team encountered some foul trouble, as Darrian Evans, Cypheus Bunton and John Tresvant all fouled out. Derby’s Kip Stone led all scorers with 26 points, while Peter Deppisch bagged 24 for the Leopards.
Group B
HARIBO London Towers 65 (17,35,44) (Lewis/Bucknall 18, Leak 16)
Thames Valley Tigers 61 (12,21,41) (Robbins 14, Arena 13, Meldrum 11)HARIBO London Towers secured their first win of the 1999/2000 uni-ball trophy with a 65-61 result against Thames Valley Tigers. The Towers started well – following a 9-2 start from the visitors, the Towers enjoyed a 21-3 run either side of the first break to lead 23-12. In the third period, Thames Valley hit 12 points without reply to trim the deficit to six points at 39-33 to Towers. Thames Valley suffered after Casey Arena fouled out with 13 minutes remaining. They trailed 59-52 in the closing stages, when Greg Meldrum hit two three points and Julio Politi added another, but those nine points were not enough interspersed as they were with six Towers points, all from the line. Danny Lewis and Steve Bucknall combined to score 36 points.
Group D
Brighton Bears 83 (20,40,62) (Sharp 19, Trojanowski 17, Scantlebury 16)
Plymco Plymouth Raiders 77 (25,44,67) (Blackwell 26, Whitehouse 16, Till 10)Ray Blackwell of the Plymco Plymouth Raiders gave Brighton Bears a little scare – his 26 points were part of a fine effort from the NBL First Division side, although they fell just short at the final hurdle – the Bears won 83-77. However, Brighton had trailed at the end of all the previous three quarters – indeed the score was 67-62 to the visiting Raiders going into the final period. However, back-to-back-to-back three pointers early in the final period from Jan Trojanowski and two from Lormont Sharp saw the Bears take the lead at 73-69. The home team then closed out the game with 10 points to the Raiders’ five. Sharp had a Bears-high 19 points.
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