Cheshire Phoenix stun London Lions to recapture BBL Trophy title

Image credit: British Basketball League

Cheshire Phoenix completed a memorable weekend as they recaptured the BBL Trophy title with a 98-82 triumph over London Lions.

Ben Thomas’ side withstood a Jordan Taylor inspired run through the start of the fourth to make a decisive burst of their own to win the Trophy for a sixth time.

Laquincy Rideau was the standout star as MVP with a 25-point haul, while five other players had double figures in a strong team effort to overcome the title favourites.

Box score.

Cheshire came out red-hot from beyond the arc with Cam Holden hitting two of their four early on, but London were sticking with them as neither side were able to take control.

David Nwaba – who did not play in Saturday’s semi-final – was producing the goods at both ends with a huge block at one end turning into a big dunk at the other to edge London ahead at 19-18.

The three-pointers kept dropping for both sides and it was Cheshire who had the slender three-point lead after 10 minutes. Luke Nelson quickly tied it up at the start of the second before Aaryn Rai and Holden would soon return in kind to put the Phoenix up by six.

London put together a 10-0 spell including a go-ahead triple from Tarik Phillip and that would help establish their 49-45 lead to take into the interval.

The game continued to be played at a fast pace with the momentum swinging the way of Cheshire with their aggressive transition providing success. Donte Grantham had hit a three to put the Lions up 54-53, but a 14-2 run followed as the Phoenix moved into a double-digit lead.

However, Jordan Taylor had other ideas with five points at the end of the third sparking a 14-0 run that ended with back-to-back triples from the Lions captain. 70-67 with 8:28 remaining.

A pivotal run? Perhaps not, as they would have to wait almost four minutes for their next points – by which point Cheshire had moved into the ascendancy with Rideau making multiple big plays.

Maceo Jack came up with a huge offensive rebound and putback, White hit a fourth three and then Jack followed suit and it was a 15-point lead with under two minutes to go – and the champagne was on ice for the Phoenix.

Notes

– Cheshire Phoenix competing in their third consecutive BBL Trophy final
– London Lions had only won one of their previous four BBL Trophy finals
– Cheshire starters: Rideau, Stephens, Holden, Rai, White
– London starters: M Morgan, Phillip, Nwaba, Grantham, Olaseni

Do you like our work?

We have a tiny favour to ask. In 2018 we set out to make Hoopsfix sustainable by building our relationship directly with our readers. Up until now, Hoopsfix has been creating editorials, videos and podcasts to provide sorely missing coverage of the British game and its distinct culture and community.

We have funded Hoopsfix with our freelance work creating basketball media, but sadly that means not only does it fall behind our client’s priorities, but some of those clients are the same organisations we need to report objectively on putting us in a conflicted position.

We want to devote more time to our mission of helping British basketball reach its potential, and produce even more content for the basketball community by making Hoopsfix a sustainable 100% independent business funded directly by our readers through Patreon.

If everyone who enjoys our content chose to support us, our future would be much more secure. For as little as $3 per month, you can support Hoopsfix – and it only takes a minute.

We are tremendously honoured and humbled to have a community of people who value what we do, and we look forward to being at the forefront of the British game as it continues to evolve.

Support Hoopsfix