BBL: Leicster Riders beat Plymouth to go top of the standings
Leicester Riders pulled out an unlikely 83-80 home victory against Plymouth to go top of the BBL Championship.
Last Updated: 11/11/12 11:04am
But the class of Great Britain international Drew Sullivan and excellent play by veteran Yorick Williams were enough to see the Riders through and for them to replace Newcastle Eagles at the top of the BBL Championship.
The scoreline reflected it at the end of the opening 10 minutes but there was little to choose between the teams in the first quarter.
Jeremy Bell provided the biggest lead of the stanza to make it 15-11 to the Raiders before Riders' Jamell Anderson completed the scoring to make to 15-13 to the visitors.
Raiders led 23-22 midway through the second quarter before extending their advantage to 31-22 and then on to 40-26 before a 6-2 Riders run trimmed the gap by half time (42-32).
A Bell three made it 55-41 midway through the third quarter and Andrew Lasker's two from the line kept Leicester at bay when he made it 59-47.
However, a 10-0 burst up to the end of the period, capped by back-to-back threes from Williams, brought Riders back to 59-57 behind.
Williams began the final stanza with a three-point play to edge Leicester ahead 60-59 and the sides traded 5-0 bursts midway through the quarter to level the match at 73-73.
The crucial score came with 48 seconds to play from Williams. His three made it 82-78 to the hosts before Lasker's two from the line reduced the arrears.
Jorge Calvo split his free throws with 12.7 seconds remaining to give Raiders the chance to force overtime but first Lasker and then Javarris Barnett missed to give Riders their eighth win of an unbeaten start to their league campaign.
Wolves roar late
Worcester Wolves outscored Cheshire 30-18 in the fourth quarter to keep their grip on a top four spot with a 97-84 victory.
Holding just a one-point lead after three periods and with the same margin between the team entering the final four minutes, Worcester closed with a 14-2 run to take the match.
A low scoring start to the first quarter which saw Paul James's Wolves lead 11-4 with three minutes remaining came to life as both sides began to find their range.
The Wolves moved out to 18-9 on a Stanley Ocitti three before a 5-2 run from Cheshire tightened the score back to 20-14.
After Kalil Irving had extended Wolves lead back to eight (22-14) Cheshire swiftly went on an 8-0 run to tie the scores.
Wolves kept their noses in front with Cheshire occasionally tying the match, but at 37-37 the visitors went 42-37 up only to be pegged back at 42-42.
However, two free throws from Chez Marks and a three from the same player gave Cheshire a 47-42 half time lead.
Once Stuart Thomson had trimmed the Cheshire lead back to three with the first score of the third quarter there was never more than one basket between the sides until late in the period.
The match was tied on six occasions and after Wolves had created a small amount of daylight at 67-63, Shawn Myers hit a three for Cheshire with two seconds to play to make it 67-66.