The Everton Tigers secured a third win in a row in the BBL despite a mixed performance to see off London Capital.
Having trailed by as many as nine points early in the first quarter, the Tigers rallied with the assistance of a strong off-the-bench performance from Darrell Bethune to end the first period just a single point behind their London opponents.
Taking to the court in the second quarter Everton looked like a different side as power forward Andrew Thomson opened the period with seven consecutive points to gift the Tigers a lead they would hold for the remainder of the game. A pair of three pointers from Kevin Bell and an overall strong defensive performance saw the Blues go on a run of 13 unanswered points to enter the half with a comfortable lead, 38-24.
Despite patches of sloppy team play and poor communication, Everton extended their lead in the both the third and fourth quarters to end the game in dominant style. Latest signing, Jose Asgusio, marked his first appearance for the Tigers with a buzzer-beating three-pointer to end the match, his first points for the team, taking them to an 84-60 victory.
Although winning by a convincing margin, Everton's players and coach were not entirely pleased with their performance. Andrew Thomson said: "As a whole the team played pretty poorly but we ground it out in the end and got the win so it's good."
Speaking ahead of next week's game against the Sheffield Sharks to begin their defence of the BBL Cup, Tigers coach Tony Garbelotto said: "We have got a team that can beat Sheffield. Whether we can do that is a different matter." He added: "We will have to play at a much higher level than we did tonight, but I think we can do it."
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