Scorchers tamed by dominant Lions

Surrey Scorchers were condemned to their third straight defeat on Saturday night, going down 61-95 to London Lions at Surrey Sports Park.

Scorchers were dealt an early blow when new American import K.C. Ross-Miller was unable to make his debut due to international clearance issues.
 
With a starting five of Dusha, Behrens, Felder, Ogedengbe and Schlitzer, Scorchers made a bright start in front of over 760 fans, but it was to be short-lived.
 
Lions took the lead after 3 minutes and retained that lead for the remainder of the game, with London’s Jamal Williams tallying up four triples for 14 first half points, before ending the game tied-top scorer with fellow Lion Nick Lewis on 19 points.
 
With the visitors lead out to 14 points at half-time, Scorchers were unable to mount a comeback in the second half, with the hosts struggling for rebounds and for looks against a tough Lions defence.
 
By the time of the final buzzer, Lions’ winning margin was out to 34 points in a night to learn from for the men in black.
 
Scorchers’ Nick Schlitzer was voted Fans’ MVP with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists whilst Christian Behrens also totaled 12 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists.
 
Commenting on the game, Scorchers Coach Creon Raftopoulos said:
 
“It was a real disappointment and we’ve all got to take responsibility for it and understand performances like that are not acceptable. We’ve done a great job in getting a fan base back together and we know it’s important that we reward them with some good, honest, hard performances.
 
“I know my players give it their all and sometimes we are going to come up against tough opposition like London Lions. They’re a very experienced team who know the style of this league and we’ve got to learn quickly.
 
“On a positive note, we’re looking forward to welcoming K.C. Ross-Miller into the fold on Friday. The biggest things we’ll be addressing is continuously working on our help-side defence and we know we’re not going to be winning many games when we’re out-rebounded by 30. It’s all about hustle points and we will be working on that this week.”
 
Next up for Scorchers is the visit of Bristol Flyers to Surrey Sports Park on Friday 4 December in a game which will decide the head-to-head record between the two sides. Tip-off is 7.30pm with tickets still available online here.

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