The London Lions suffered a shock defeat to the Surrey Shockers on Saturday: losing 101-95 away from home.
The Lions came into this road trip against the Scorchers on top of the league table and were heavy favourites for this match.
After a dominating performance against the Riders last time out, the away side were looking to extend their winning streak to four games.
The Scorchers came into the match-up on a six-game losing streak looking to topple the leaders and reigning champions.
Business As Usual
The Lions starting matches quick is something that we’ve seen before, last time out against the Riders they went on a 21-0 run to end the first quarter, and they established the same approach with a quick 10-0 lead.
A highlight from the first half represented how the Lions wanted to play their basketball: Alioune Tew missed both free throws for the home side, Jules Dang Akodo of the Lions stripped the ball from James Hawthorne, and managed to get it to Brandon Peel, Peel then passed the ball to Ed Lucas who stepped behind the arc to drain a three-pointer.
Both teams were getting their points from the free-throw line, especially the Scorchers, who shot 14 of 23 from the line in the last five minutes to shorten the deficit to seven points at the end of the first quarter.
Frustration Showing
The home side continued to claw their way back into the game and break down the Lion’s defence.
Was this a result of the high energised first quarter from the East London side? The players were now seemingly playing off rhythm: completely different in comparison to the first quarter.
Lions coach Vince Macaulay seemed to be getting on his players as the momentum slowly shifted for the Scorchers and it showed in their offense.
The Scorchers had their first lead of the game when high-flying dunks from Devontavius Payne, Hawthorne and a Tayo Ogedengbe three-pointer put the Scorchers into the lead at the half: up 52-49.
Feisty Affair
The thrilling battle continued into the second half with both teams fighting for the win, as they knew the game was there for the taking.
A three-pointer from Hawthorne was followed up with a stare-down directed at Lions coach Macaulay: very reminiscent to what LeBron James did several years ago to Michael Jordan.
This indicated what kind of game we were in for with one quarter left to go. The Lions would claw their way back eventually into the game, closing the third quarter leading by just one point: 75-76.
Cook Takes Revenge
The fourth quarter was as entertaining as the first three, as it wasn’t until the final minutes of the game where things took a turn for the worse for the away side.
With 1:07 left on the clock, former Lions player Lovell Cook would come to Surrey’s aid, knocking down a game tying three-pointer from the corner, and another shot which gave the home side the lead after Ovie Soko put the Lions back ahead.
Cook followed this up with a free-throw and another jump shot to close out the game and hand the Lions their fourth loss of the season.
Scorcher’s star man Cook lead all scoring with 25 points and nine rebounds, while Ovie Soko led the Lions with 25 points and 12 rebounds.
Odd Man Out?
It has been five straight games that Forward Soko has started off the bench, which raises the question where does he fit in the system? He is averaging 19.5 points off the bench, but when he was starting, he was averaging 23 points a game. Soko is still third in the league in scoring, averaging 20.2 points a game.
The Lions’ chance to build on their winning streak comes to a halt, but they will hope to get everything back on track when they take on the Newcastle Eagles away from home on the 29th of March: tip-off at 4pm.
