Lions continue unbeaten start; Surrey shine in season opener

Week two of the Super League Basketball Championship served up an eight-game slate for fans to look forward to, with all nine teams in action.

Cheshire Phoenix, B.Braun Sheffield Sharks and Surrey 89ers all picked up their first victories, London Lions impressed to remain unbeaten and there were a number of stellar performances throughout the league.

London Lions 89-83 Cheshire Phoenix

London Lions made it two wins from two to start their Championship title defence, defeating the Cheshire Phoenix 89-83.

An efficient 21-point outing from Joel Scott, who went 9-13 from the field, and a double-double from Shavar Reynolds Jr. cancelled out 22 points off the bench from Frankie Policelli as the Phoenix suffered another narrow defeat.

The first quarter saw periods of dominance for either side, with the Lions’ early 15-point advantage being cut to just five after the first 10 minutes. 

By half-time, Cheshire found themselves up by two as a Laquincy Rideau layup in the last few seconds gave his team their first lead of the contest.

London wouldn’t go ahead again until late in the game, with an 11-0 run and an Ovie Soko tomahawk jam injecting some life into the Copper Box crowd, who would see their squad hold out for the final three minutes.

Player of the game: Shavar Reynolds Jr. (London Lions)

Leicester Riders 65-93 B.Braun Sheffield Sharks

A dominant performance from the B.Braun Sheffield Sharks gave Abita Lyons and his squad their first victory of the season, beating the Leicester Riders 93-65 at Mattioli Arena.

The Sharks never trailed in the contest, with Prentiss Nixon leading all scorers with 21 including four makes from beyond the arc. William Lee also reached 1,000 Championship points in British top-flight basketball.

A 23-4 run to start things off was a sign of how the game would pan out, with Sheffield almost matching their points total from Friday’s campaign opener (60) by the end of the first half (51) and concluded it with a Nixon half-court buzzer beater.

Leicester’s offense never got going, and a double-digit lead was comfortably maintained throughout the evening in what ended up being a blowout win away from home.

Player of the game: Prentiss Nixon (B.Braun Sheffield Sharks)

London Lions 72-60 Bristol Flyers

London Lions improved to a 3-0 record under new head coach Tautvydas Sabonis with a 72-60 win over Bristol Flyers.

Joel Scott’s impressive start in the SLB continued as he dropped 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

15 of Scott’s points came in the first half, with London up by 14 at the interval and seemingly cruising. However, that lead was cut to just eight by the end of the third period, and a potential comeback was on the cards.

But that was immediately shut down with a 10-0 Lions run, and for the second time in three days they were able to see out the game in front of their home faithful.

Player of the game: Joel Scott (London Lions)

Newcastle Eagles 88-70 Cheshire Phoenix

Five players had double-figure scoring nights for the Newcastle Eagles, who secured an 88-70 victory over Cheshire Phoenix at the Vertu Arena.

Maceo Jack led proceedings with 24 points, with 13 points and 10 boards from Marco Anthony and near double-doubles for the trio of Cole Long, Brett Reed and Ray’sean Taylor seeing Newcastle over the line.

Cheshire did jump out to an early lead, but a dominant second quarter for the Eagles saw the game flipped on its head.

Another scoring burst in the fourth allowed for some breathing room in the latter stages, and for the Phoenix, it meant a difficult start to 2025/26 continued.

Player of the game: Brett Reed (Newcastle Eagles)

Surrey 89ers 94-80 Manchester Basketball

Surrey 89ers fans had to wait a while to see their team in action, but a 94-80 win against Manchester Basketball at Surrey Sports Park made for the perfect start.

Despite a true offensive clinic from Manchester’s PJay Smith Jr., who hit eight threes and exploded for a career-high 34 points on 63% shooting, a well-rounded Niners performance combatted everything he threw at them.

Consistent and efficient scoring was on full display throughout all four quarters, with Isiah Small and Kino Lilly Jr. scoring 19 apiece and Ronald Polite III adding a further 16.

Brilliant ball movement saw 24 assists on 33 made field goals for the Niners, and coach Lloyd Gardner will certainly have been impressed by his side’s showing.

Player of the game: Isiah Small (Surrey 89ers)

B.Braun Sheffield Sharks 78-73 Newcastle Eagles

Newcastle Eagles were handed their first defeat of the season by the B.Braun Sheffield Sharks, who ran out 78-73 winners at Canon Medical Arena.

Despite a third straight game of 20-plus by Maceo Jack, Sheffield’s Rodney Chatman III had 20 of his own to help his squad grind out a gutsy win.

It was a back-and-forth second half that included nine lead changes, and proceedings were tied with under two minutes to play. However, the Sharks pulled through to build on their big Friday night victory.

Player of the game: Rodney Chatman III (B.Braun Sheffield Sharks)

Bristol Flyers 74-70 Leicester Riders

Will Yoakum led the way for the Bristol Flyers, who narrowly defeated the Leicester Riders 74-70 at SGS College Arena.

A 29-point outing from the American included a red-hot final quarter in which he scored 16 on 6-for-7 shooting.

Leicester opened up with a strong first quarter, but the Flyers slowly ate into that lead and found themselves ahead for the first time early in the fourth, leading 70-61 and looking set to close things out with no drama. 

And yet, the Riders showed spirit, scoring nine without reply to make it a level game. But Yoakum had one more big time shot in his locker, sinking a three-pointer that would end up being the dagger.

Player of the game: Will Yoakum (Bristol Flyers)

Cheshire Phoenix 108-96 Caledonia Gladiators

Seven players reached double-figure points tallies for the Cheshire Phoenix who took down the Caledonia Gladiators 108-96.

23 points and seven threes off the bench from Matt Ragsdale wasn’t quite enough for the Gladiators, who had five players with 12 or more points themselves.

Cheshire found themselves up by as many as 21, and despite the visitors eating into that deficit with 11 unanswered points to end the third, Ben Thomas’ team managed to hold their nerve.

Phoenix captain Skylar White also reached 1,000 Championship points, and a first win of the season will have made that milestone all the more sweet.

Player of the game: Michael Diggins (Cheshire Phoenix)

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