The Scorchers hosted the Leicester Riders for what has been the most thrilling game at Surrey Sports Park this season.
Scorchers now with their full roster playing as Robert Gilchrist joins the squad back from Injury. Also Adam Raibi makes his first appearance as well as Scorchers Academy Ryan Ganniclefft suiting up for the home side.
The first quarter saw both teams go neck and neck trading baskets. Stanley Davis Jr disrupting league MVP Geno Crandall early on as energy off the bench from Lamar Hamrick and Andrew Lawrence set the pace for the quarter finishing with a 1 point lead.
The reigning league champions came out hot in the 2nd quarter shooting the lights out from deep at 54% for the game. This quarter was where the damage was done for the Riders winning 32 – 20.
With the home crowd behind us Legend Robertin threw down a thunderous dunk over Riders big man Mo Walker to spark a 9 -2 run with Caylin Raftopoulos converting an and 1 and 3 pointer.
The game started to get a bit chippy, you could see the competitive nature in both sides as they headed to the locker room with Riders leading the way 37 – 48.
To start the second half a few offensive errors from the Scorchers allowed for some easier transition points for the Riders. After settling back into the game Scorchers found a rhythm not allowing the Leicester side to extend the lead out of reaching distance.
With the game all still to play for in what was a thriller so far the Scorchers went into the final quarter down 10.
The 4th quarter went right down to the wire. Andrew Lawrence showing his experience and stepping up big in crunch time knocking down a pair of 3s.
Stanley Davis Jr made a big 2 points plus the foul to take the game to 6 points with less than a minute left on the clock.
When we looked close enough the steal the game, Riders league MVP Geno Crandall took control to get his team over the edge finishing the night with a game high of 27 points.
The final score 89 – 94 in favour of the Leicester side. We are back in action next week as we hit the road to the South West where play Bristol Flyers for the first time this season.
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