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The London Lions recorded their 24th league victory in 27 games as they move closer to retaining the Championship, powering past bottom of the standings Plymouth City Patriots to finish off the Copper Box Arena double-header.
Gabe Olaseni impressed with 16 points, six assists and five rebounds as Paul James’ Patriots hung around until they were outscored by ten in the third quarter.
The home side came off the back of a 105-87 victory over the Newcastle Eagles just two days prior, with this game marking their second of four outings in a six-day span.
Despite being London earlier in the season, the Patriots’ recent victory over the Giants recorded just their fourth win of the season.
The hosts, sporting their new orange kits, led 28-25 after the first quarter, displaying good ball movement as David Nwaba led the field with seven points after ten minutes played.
The patriots continued to stick around in the second quarter, largely thanks to a hot streak from Tyrell Green, who drained three shots in a row from deep.
It was the Lions who carried a 53-46 lead into the half though, with a flashy second quarter play for the highlight reel. Jordan Taylor split two defenders with a behind the back pass to find Josh Sharma, who finished with a finger-roll.
Going into the third quarter, Donte Grantham received his second technical foul and was ejected early on. Nwaba, though, registered a high-flying block on one end and flexed his dynamic scoring on the other.
The stretched Patriots roster began to show signs of fatigue and London’s depth played to their advantage, as they outscored Plymouth by ten in the third – taking a 17-point lead into the final quarter.
London breached 100 points in the fourth quarter and their balanced attack had five scorers in double digits as they secured a 105-84 win.
Coming up next for Plymouth, now with a 4-18 record, is a trip to Leicester and Surrey on the back-to-back days.
As for the Lions, who recorded their sixth BBL win in a row, a EuroCup regular season finale awaits on Wednesday against BC Wolves – which proposes an opportunity to potentially leapfrog second-placed Hapoel Tel Aviv.
Watch the highlights from London Lions vs Plymouth City Patriots here.
