Everton Tigers succumbed to their second home defeat on the spin as The Marshall MK Lions moved into third position in the BBL Championship table thanks to a 91-107 victory at the Greenbank Academy on Friday night.
The defeat leaves the Tigers fighting out for a place in the end of season play-offs after they went down to another disappointing defeat in front of their home fans.
A Jerome Gumbs basket opened the scoring for the Tigers, but the Lions came straight back at them thanks to ten points from Frank Holmes which helped the visitors into an early 4-15 lead midway through the first period.
Back-to-back three pointers from the returning James Jones sparked a 15-3 response from the Tigers to retake the lead at 19-18 with two minutes remaining in the quarter, but a pair of free-throws from Holmes handed the Lions back the lead at 22-23 at the end of the opening period.
In the second quarter a 10-2 run from the visitors took the score out to 28-35 mid-way through the period.
Another 10-2 Lions burst took the score out to 38-51, but another Jones three- pointer trimmed the deficit back to ten points at 41-51 heading into the locker rooms at the half.
In the second half both sides traded baskets throughout much of the third period, but back-to-back three pointers from EJ Harrison and Yorrick Williams helped the visitors into a twenty-point lead at 48-68.
The Tigers tried valiantly to close the gap for the remainder of the quarter but the Lions maintained their advantage at 58-78 heading into the final stanza.
In the final period the Tigers tried to get themselves back into the game but they could not get closer than fifteen points off the back of a 12-3 burst to get the score back to 82-97 but the Lions remained strong through the closing stages and sealed the victory from the foul-line.
Holmes led all scorers in the game with an impressive 29-point haul for the Lions while a combination of Trey Moore and Jones led the scoring for the Tigers as they netted 22 points a -piece.
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