Basketball: Huntley caps the Riders' resurrection
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Your support makes all the difference.Leicester Riders staged an extraordinary fourth-quarter fightback last night, outscoring Guildford Heat 22-6 in the final quarter to defeat them 69-66 in the British Basketball League Trophy semi-final. The win sets up a final against Newcastle Eagles at Coventry's Skydome on Sunday 5 February.
Ryan Huntley capped the Riders recovery with a three-pointer and two free throws to seal the win after his team trailed 60-47 at the end of the third quarter.
In the BBL Championship, the leaders, Scottish Rocks, opened a six-point gap over the chasing pack by scraping a 72-71 win at Birmingham Bullets on Saturday night. Newcastle lost 79-75 at London Towers, surrendering second place to Leicester, 79-75 winners over Sheffield Sharks.
The Rocks, beaten 82-72 by the Eagles in the first BBL Trophy semi-final on Friday night, trailed 71-68 with three minutes left against the Bullets, who were without Dino Tanner. The Rocks' England international Germayne Forbes scored a single free throw before Rob Yanders hit a three-pointer for victory.
The Towers gave a debut to the American Terrance Simmons, but it was Chez Marks who scored 26 points to inspire their win over the Eagles, who fought back from a 12-point deficit at the start of the fourth.
Despite having an eye on yesterday's match, the Riders dominated the Sharks for the first three quarters to lead 63-47, before Sterling Davis and Iain McKinney inspired Sheffield to recover to 77-72. Huntley's 23 points, including 20 in the second half, steadied the Riders, for whom Tony Holley's 11 rebounds made him the League's all-time leading rebounder.
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