Basketball: Baah's late shots seal Bullets win
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Your support makes all the difference.Success in the BBL Championship too often depends on who can squeeze the most Americans through the eligibility net and Leicester Riders have six. But it is a recruiting policy which has stopped paying dividends for their coach, Billy Mims, whose team replaced Birmingham Bullets at the bottom of the table after Saturday's 91-88 defeat at the Aston Events Centre.
Antoine Sims is Leicester's only rookie import this season and the other five have seven domestic titles between them after plying their trade around the league. But now they have lost 14 games in a row, 12 in the championship.
Their collective nous should have been enough to condemn Bullets to their 13th defeat out of 14 when they led 69-56 in the third quarter. But Kevin Griffin, the only one of three American Bullets with BBL experience, and BBL newcomer Eugene Baah forced a string of turnovers from Eric Burks and Malcolm Leak to inspire a 23-7 turnaround.
Bullets did not trail again, but it took two free throws from Baah to seal victory 29 seconds from time after Riders' Mo Robinson had cut their lead to 89-88.
Baah has not shrunk from responsibility in his first season. "He is learning his trade in this league and normally would be given two to three seasons to mature," said his coach, Tony Garbelotto, "but we've not been able to do that."
The 23-year-old should get help in the backcourt later this week when Bullets re-sign last season's crowd favourite Rob Paternostro, who led the league in assists last season.
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