Surrey Scorchers faced defeat on Sunday afternoon as Leeds Force took control in the second half to win 76-62 at the Carnegie Sports Centre.
Scorchers travelled to Leeds off the back of a home win against Cheshire Phoenix and a week in training, but met a strong Leeds Force side who were looking for their first win after five consecutive losses.
Captain Omotayo Ogedengbe (Tayo) led the scoring in the first quarter with 10 points to his name. Though Leeds were in front for the majority of the quarter, a three point jump shot from Tayo after 5 minutes helped Scorchers turn the game from an 8-6 deficit to a 21-17 advantage goin in at the first break.
A personal foul on Quincy Taylor allowed him to increase the lead immediately in the second quarter with both free throws made. A series of missed shots from both teams followed, before Taylor slotted a 2 point jump shot to take Scorchers to their biggest lead (8 points) of the game.
Though Scorchers held on to their 8 point lead with Leeds only just keeping up, they ended the half with just a 5 point lead (33-38).
The second half began with Scorchers narrowly holding on to their lead over 5 minutes into the third quarter, but Leeds came out strong after a Scorchers timeout to steal the lead, with 24 points in the quarter to Scorchers 8 (57-46).
A late 7 point streak from Scorchers was all they could muster, but Leeds Force held on to their lead to end their losing streak.
Tayo took the top scorers title for the Scorchers with 18 points, with Irving also putting 11 on the board.
Scorchers travel to meet London Lions in a 7.30pm tip-off at the Copper Box Arena this Wednesday, before travelling to Worcester in a BBL Cup match against the Wolves on Sunday 6 November.
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