London Lions put the perfect stamp on their SLB campaign, sealing the domestic Quadruple with Play-Off Final victory over Cheshire Phoenix.
London Lions 104-81 Cheshire Phoenix
The apex of the British Basketball season came down to the two team at the top of the mountain after the regular season. London Lions and Cheshire Phoenix’s rivalry has built over the last three seasons, starting with the 2024 Trophy Final, and promised a heated head-to-head to bring the season to a close.
Tarik Phillip opened the scoring with a three from the angle, with Joel Scott capping off a seven-nothing start with a transition tomahawk jam, bringing the O2 crowd to their feet. Super League Basketball MVP Patrick Robinson got Cheshire off the mark with a tough finish through contact.
In their home city, but not home arena, London were backed by the crowd and were brought out of their seats as Scott went aerial again. The Phoenix had a tough time of putting the ball in the bucket whilst the Lions’ lead surged.
Robinson kept taking the ball to the heart of the defence to build his tally, and the Nix’s first triple came via Irishman Matthew Zona which provided a much-needed offensive spark. With Cheshire down by double-figures, the game became chippy. Laquincy Rideau picked up an early unsportsmanlike foul, which seemingly spurred the Capital side to a high scoring quarter.
London’s lights out shooting and Cheshire’s lacklustre opening few minutes left the first quarter score reading 35-23.
London kept working the ball to the inside, piling up their paint points through former Phoenix man Aaryn Rai. Quick pull-up threes from Frankie Policelli made a dent in the difference, but Robinson continued to be the spearhead of Cheshire’s best play.
Cheshire seemed to have no answer for Scott, who racked up a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds in just 14 minutes of play. London stretched the lead to 19 before Rideau hit back from deep.
The teams started to trade buckets as the clock wound down to half-time, and Shavar Reynolds Jr made it an 18-point game just before the buzzer, floating in to make it 61-43.
Out of the half, Cheshire started the brighter and capitalised on London’s slower scoring. Policelli and Rideau made good on the interior, with Kameron McGusty stepping up as London’s danger man.
Rai supplemented McGusty’s play with some efficient scoring of his own, proving to be a menace on the offensive glass. London dominated the battle of the boards and maintained their distance thanks to their second-chance points.
Despite starting slowly, London rallied back in the quarter as the Nix couldn’t knock down shots to close the period. London overhauled their play to end up taking the quarter, establishing a 20-point lead with 10 minutes remaining (87-67).
London controlled the tempo of the game, punctuated with another run to stretch the gap to 25. London had both ends of the floor locked down and threatened to hit the ton-mark as the scoring slowed towards the season’s conclusion.
London Captain Ovie Soko entered the court for the last time, having announced his retirement from basketball following the end of this season. Ciaran Sandy was the Lion that took London past 100, before Soko cashed in his final professional points to lead his side to a perfect four-from-four trophies for the year.
London lapped up the celebrations, sealing a 104-81 victory at the O2 Arena.
Player of the Game: Joel Scott