NCC Hackney, Sunday 19 October - The London Lions maintained their perfect start to the Super League Basketball season with an 81-73 victory over Caledonia Gladiators on Sunday evening - but the performance served as a stark reminder that this talented roster remains far from reaching its potential.

Joel Scott led the Lions with 17 points and 7 rebounds, whilst Deane Williams added 16 points off the bench and Johnathan Williams contributed a highly efficient 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting as the Lions moved to 5-0 in the SLB. Amin Adamu chipped in 11 points and 4 assists but the general sentiment post-game was there is a lot of room for improvement.

"A win's a win, I thought we could be better today," said Head Coach Tautvydas Sabonis. "Very far away, very far away from reaching our potential. These guys have to understand these games have to be taken seriously, we have to get better every day, and use these games to get better, and today we came and showed up and didn't get better."

Adamu echoed his coach's assessment. "Not the best of wins. We've still got a long way to go, we're not a team that is complacent, we've still got standards, even on wins. We can always work on a lot of things."

For Caledonia, Kevin Allen was dominant inside with 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting, whilst Ethan Wright added 15 points and 8 rebounds as the Gladiators pushed London to the final minutes.

London started brightly with a thunderous alley-oop dunk from Ethan Price, establishing an early 9-2 lead. A spectacular connection between Scott and Williams extended the advantage to 11-6, and a Deane Williams three-pointer gave the Lions a 21-15 cushion after one quarter.

Caledonia fought back in the second, tying the game at 25 before London responded with a 6-0 run. Adamu's buzzer-beater sent the hosts into halftime leading 45-38, with Deane Williams leading all scorers at the break with 10 points.

The third quarter remained competitive, with London taking a 64-59 advantage into the final period. The Lions appeared poised to pull away when Kam McGusty found Williams for a fast-break slam, making it 69-61 with just over seven minutes remaining.

But a 7-0 Caledonia burst suddenly made it 69-68 with five minutes to play as Allen continued to punish London inside. Scott steadied the ship with a three-pointer from the top of the key, before Adamu found Deane Williams for a crucial layup. A ferocious Scott dunk and Williams block in the final minute sealed the victory.

The Lions move to 5-0 in Super League Basketball play, the only undefeated team in the competition. However, the manner of Saturday's victory - particularly the fourth-quarter wobble - suggests this group has another gear to find.

London travel to Germany to take on Niners Chemnitz in EuroCup action on Wednesday, before the return leg against Caledonia in Scotland on Sunday.