Teesside Lions faced Leicester Warriors at home, losing 66-73 .
The Lions managed to outscore the Warriors 30-17 in the fourth but it was not enough to overturn the tie against the league leaders.
Missing top scorer Brendon Patrick due to injury, the Lions would lead the game 5-4 in the first quarter. However, a 12-0 run from the Warriors put the visitors into a comfortable lead.
Into the second quarter, Emmanuel Kabengele responded well for Teesside, scoring four points and displaying impressive strength in the post.
However, the Warriors maintained a 10 point lead going into the half time break.
The Warriors would continue to impress in the third quarter, extending the lead to 20 points, but a series of exciting fast breaks in the fourth quarter for Teesside saw them bring the lead down to 8 points.
However, a series of free throws for the Warriors saw them maintain their lead.
On the result Teesside Lions head coach Serge Bojev said: “We had a really slow start, baskets were not falling for us.
“We changed the tempo in the forth quarter, we brought it quite close.
“The baskets were falling for us, finally but unfortunately the slow start hurt us in winning the game.”
On the fourth quarter forward Emmanuel Kabengele said: “The crowd got into it going into the fourth (quarter) and we picked up the energy in the process.
“We fed of each other so that made it easier to mount that almost comeback.”
Teesside’s next game is away to Bristol Flyers 2 on February 22.
Hi, I am a student sports journalist at Teesside University and here to deliver you the best quality news. I have a big interest in local issues and my favourite football team Middlesbrough FC. I hope you enjoy my posts and that you find them informative.
