London Lions lift the trophy after beating Manchester Basketball in the SLB Cup Final

London Lions crowned Super League Basketball Cup champions with Final win over Manchester Basketball

London Lions crowned themselves Super League Basketball Cup champions, beating Manchester Basketball 83-74 in the Final.

Starting Fives

Manchester Basketball: Pjay Smith Jr., Max Jones, Zak Irvin, Tim Adetukasi, Matt Nicholson

London Lions: Joel Scott, Ethan Price, Chaundee Brown Jr, Tarik Phillip, Shavar Reynolds Jr

First Quarter

The sides wasted no time in exchanging hammer blows. London’s Tarik Phillip scored back-to-back to give the Lions an early lead, and Manchester emphatically responded with seven quick points. The action swung from end to end, with the scores locked.

Phillip and Pjay Smith traded threes, and Zak Irvin’s retort to Phillip’s transition bucket was to run the floor with breathtaking speed for a breakaway two. Jordan Johnson, Manchester’s star sixth man, then danced to the rim with the ball on a string for an and-one play. Game on. 

The physical start to this fixture meant both teams were quickly in the bonus, and London took advantage with frequent trips to the foul line. But missed charity shots cost them early on. 

Manchester, meanwhile, overwhelmed the Lions with hustle plays, diving for loose balls and scrambling to the ball. Gabe Osabuohien put them up 13-8 with four minutes left in the first. 

Johnson was the star of the first quarter. He danced on London throughout the period on his way to 8 points in four minutes, putting Manchester up eight through one.

Tarik Phillip of the London Lions celebrates a three-point basket in the Super League Basketball Cup Final against Manchester Basketball.

Second Quarter 

Bodies hit the floor immediately in the second, as both sides threw themselves at a loose ball. Manchester broke away from the scrum, and Irvin battled his way to the hoop for two. 10-point game. 

Manchester overwhelmed the Lions with their intensity to start the second. They went on a 7-0 run to start the period, capped off by an and-one play by Pjay Smith Jr.

London stopped the Manchester run thanks to a layup from Chaundee Brown Jr, who scored on two straight possessions. That took the lid off the basket for London, who began to chip into their deficit. 

They found some interior resistance on defence, as Joel Scott stood tall to stuff Irvin at the rim, then cut it to a 10-point game at the foul line. Momentum swung London’s way. 

Scott battled inside as the game neared halftime, attacking the heart of Manchester’s defence. His aggressive play again put Manchester in the bonus as London found success getting to the line once again. 

Johnson put Manchester on his back to stem the London tide. He slashed to the rim on the break to make a tough layup, and after Kameron Mcgusty hit a three next time down, the American hit back with a pull-up triple of his own for his 17th points of the half. 

These individual heroics protected Manchester’s lead in the face of a London flurry, and they took a 40-32 lead into the half.

Third Quarter

London’s steady ascent back into contention continued out of the break. They started the hits on a 7-3 run, as Brown Jr. cut the difference to four points two minutes into the period. 

Ethan Price made it a one-score game for the first time since the opening stages with a corner three. Max Jones attempted to keep London at arm’s length with two scores, but it was just a temporary halt to the Lions’ charge. 

Deane Williams made it a two-point game to force a Manchester timeout, before Scott scrambled for an offensive board and tied the game with the second chance points. McGusty was next to pour on the points in this London flood, making an and-one play at the rim.

London scored 11 unanswered points to flip the game on its head. They started the half down eight, and led by five with three minutes left in the third. 

Manchester were in desperate need of a bucket, and who else but Johnson? He drove to the hoop and made an acrobatic layup. But his effort was met by a Williams three.

Inspired by Johnson, Manchester found a second wind to end the third. Tim Adetukasi added two to his box score, and Johnson ended the quarter with a bomb from downtown. It was a one-point London lead going into the fourth.

Fourth Quarter

Manchester threw down the gauntlet to start the fourth with a three from Adetukasi and a Nicholson putback score. Johnson then went to the line to put the hometown team up three to set up a thrilling finale. 

McGusty hit a three to level the scores, scoring his 12th points of the evening in an impressive second-half display. Scott and Williams followed with triples of their own as the Lions hit Manchester with a barrage of buckets from beyond the arc. 

Momentum was firmly in London’s corner, as Phillip picked the pockets of Johnson at halfcourt for a transition two, giving London a six-point lead with four minutes remaining. 

McGusty closed the game out a minute later. He hit his third three of the game, and while Manchester responded with a triple from Jones, McGusty then drove hard to the hoop for another two, his 17th points of the game. 

Johnson wouldn’t let it go that easily. He kept one hand on the Cup with a corner three, making the score 76-71 with 1:20 on the clock. London timeout. 

McGusty, again, had the response, again muscling his way to the rim to score. Scott then swatted Adetukasi’s three out of bounds, then Jones missed from deep to all but end the game.

Player of the Game

Kameron McGusty was named Cup Final MVP with his 21 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds.

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