BBL Championship
Everton Tigers 94 (29,50,73) (Gumbs 28, Bethune 20, Larkai 15)
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 89 (23,40,64) (Johnson 23, James 22, Wierzbicki 14)
Everton Tigers closed the gap to just two points on third position in the BBL thanks to a hard-fought 94-89 victory over the Leicester Riders at the Greenbank Academy on Friday night.
After a tight opening to the game where both sides started well, a three- pointer from Darrell Bethune sparked a 13-3 burst for the home side to take the score out to 18-11.
Both sides traded baskets for the remainder of the period and it was the Tigers who held a six-point advantage at 29- 23 heading into the second quarter.
In the second period a Jerome Gumbs basket instigated a 17-1 run for the home side to break the game open and take the score out to 48-29.
An 11-2 finish to the period for the Riders saw the visitors close the gap to ten points at 50-40 heading into the break.
In the second half the Riders tried to keep themselves in the game and bought the deficit back to just nine points at 73-64 heading into the final period.
In the final period five points from Isaac Westbrook and a Dwayne James basket brought the visitors to within three points at 92-89 with 1:24 left on the clock.
Both sides had chances to secure the victory, but it was left to Gumbs to secure the victory for the Tigers from the foul-line as time expired.
Gumbs led all scorers in the game with an impressive 28 points for the Tigers, while Jason Johnson led the scoring for the Riders with 23 points.
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