Surrey Scorchers secured their 8th straight home win of 2018 at Surrey Sports Park on Sunday afternoon with a 95-82 win over the Plymouth Raiders in the BBL Championship.
Head Coach Creon Raftopoulos was keen pre-game for his side to maintain their excellent home form as they prepare for the BBL Play-Offs, but it wasn’t without a challenge as the visitors put up a strong fight for the full hour of the tie.
Tony Hicks picked up the game MVP award with 27 points, with Jordan Williams taking 12 rebounds to push Scorchers to a 18-12 record this season.
Raiders started the tie lively with Tre Bowman picking up a 3 from the tip before they extended their lead to 1-5 early on. Scorchers quickly reversed the deficit as Williams threw down a dunk midway into the opening Q to push his side to a 5-point lead, before Hicks landed a slam of his own to leave Scorchers with a 24-18 lead at the break.
Caylin Raftopoulos came off the bench to light up with a long range 3 at the start of Q2, before Scorchers pushed their lead to 9 thanks to Captain Tayo Ogedengbe’s effort from distance. Raiders chipped back in late on to tie the period, leaving Scorchers with their 6-point lead at half time (48-42).
Joonas Jarvelainen rushed out of the blocks in Q3 to drag Surrey’s lead down to 2 points, leaving Scorchers fans nervous with barely 2 mins on the clock in the 2nd half. Hicks pocketed 2 from the charity line to calm the nerves before the hosts went all guns blazing to build their biggest lead of the game at 16 points. Ogedengbe closed out the stanza with a 3-point bucket, leaving Scorchers with a 71-60 advantage ahead of the final quarter.
Scorchers’ battled hard to maintain their momentum in the 4th and played out hard to hold off the Raiders to take a 3-0 series win over the South West outfit.
The win sees Scorchers remain in 5th place in the BBL Championship table as they look to secure an advantageous league position ahead of the Play-Offs at the start of May.
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