BBL 2017/18 Season - Weekend Twentyone (14th - 18th February)

(Cheshire Phoenix and Sheffield Sharks do battle, thanks to BBL Official for the photo)

Wednesday 14^th February

BBL Trophy Semi Final First Leg

London Lions 81-90 Leicester Riders

Friday 16^th February

BBL Championship

Leeds Force 79-107 Sheffield Sharks

Surrey Scorchers 109-88 Manchester Giants

Worcester Wolves 83-86 Glasgow Rocks

BBL Trophy Semi Final Second Leg

Leicester Riders 92-65 London Lions (Riders won 182-146 on aggregate)

Saturday 17^th February

BBL Championship

Bristol Flyers 82-74 Worcester Wolves

Sunday 18^th February

BBL Championship

Cheshire Phoenix 77-82 Sheffield Sharks

Latest BBL Championship Standings

1.       Leicester Riders Played 21 Won 19 Pct .905 Pts 38

2.       Glasgow Rocks Played 23 Won 15 Pct .652 Pts 30

3.       Newcastle Eagles Played 19 Won 14 Pct .737 Pts 28

4.       Sheffield Sharks Played 19 Won 12 Pct .632 Pts 24

5.       London Lions Played 19 Won 11 Pct .579 Pts 22

6.       Worcester Wolves Played 20 Won 11 Pct .550 Pts 22

7.       Surrey Scorchers Played 22 Won 11 Pct .500 Pts 22

8.       Bristol Flyers Played 19 Won 10 Pct .526 Pts 20

9.       Cheshire Phoenix Played 17 Won 8 Pct .471 Pts 16

10.   Plymouth Raiders Played 20 Won 5 Pct .250 Pts 10

11.   Manchester Giants Played 20 Won 3 Pct .150 Pts 6

12.   Leeds Force Played 21 Won 1 Pct .048 Pts 2

Riders were not in league action at the weekend as they had the small matter of a BBL Trophy Semi Final two legged tie against London Lions, and after a close battle in the capital on Wednesday which saw the midland side take a nine point lead into the second leg, they thrashed the Lions by 27 points in the second leg to set up a final against Sheffield Sharks on March 4^th in Glasgow.  That leads us nicely onto the Glasgow Rocks, who overtook Newcastle Eagles, who were not in action this weekend, into second spot and go eight behind Riders, after they won a nail biter in Worcester against the Wolves.  However they were dealt a blow today when Rocks head coach Tony Garbelotto resigned from his post.  A statement from the club said the following “Glasgow Rocks Head Coach, Tony Garbelotto, has resigned from his role with immediate effect for personal reasons. The Glasgow Rocks would like to thank Tony for all his efforts while in Glasgow and wish him all the very best for the future. Assistant coach, Darryl Wood, will be stepping into the Head Coach role for the remainder of the 2017/18 season with the assistance and support of the Rocks senior players. The Rocks will not be making any further comment and ask everyone to respect that this resignation was made for personal reasons.”  Sheffield Sharks are into fourth after two wins on the road, whilst Wolves drop to sixth after loosing both games this weekend. 

Here are next weekend’s fixtures

Friday 23^rd February

BBL Championship

Bristol Flyers vs Surrey Scorchers

Leicester Riders vs Sheffield Sharks

Newcastle Eagles vs Leeds Force

Worcester Wolves vs Plymouth Raiders

Cheshire Phoenix vs Manchester Giants

Sunday 25^th February

BBL Championship

Surrey Scorchers vs Cheshire Phoenix

Plymouth Raiders vs Bristol Flyers