Report: Riders go top with win

Leicester Riders move to the top of the BBL Championship after cruising to a dominant 92-61 victory at home to Surrey Scorchers.

The Riders have a busy run-in, but Rob Paternostro’s side were largely untroubled with minutes spread throughout the roster as all 12 players got onto the scoresheet. Neil Watson led the way with 15 points, six assists and four steals in 18 minutes, while Drew Sullivan added 11 points.

Watson scored 13 points in the opening five minutes as the home side built a 21-9 advantage, before Sullivan took up the mantle, going 4-of-4 from the field off the bench to help his side embark on a 26-0 run to make it 47-11 after 13 minutes.

Conner Washington netted twice from downtown as Riders went into half-time with a commanding 40-point lead at 59-19. The visitors enjoyed a rare positive spell at the start of the third, but Leicester resumed their onslaught to increase the gap to 50 points by the end of the quarter.

The home side had the luxury of keeping their starters rested on the bench in the fourth as Surrey produced a strong finish to make the gap more respectable with a 17-0 run late on.

Mike Anderson netted back-to-back triples in the spell and finished as Surrey’s top scorer with 14 points as they drop to a 7-22 record.

Scorchers host the Glasgow Rocks at Surrey Sports Park on Friday evening for a 7.30pm tip-off.

(Report taken from www.bbl.org.uk)