Glasgow Rock the Riders and hand them second straight defeat

The Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders suffered only their third league defeat of the season on Saturday night against the visiting Glasgow Rocks, going down in a hard fought contest, 87-82.

That result makes it back to back losses for the first time this season for Coach Paternostro’s side and has the neutrals wondering if all is right within the Riders camp. But before getting too carried away by dwelling on the negatives, let’s look at the positives.

• Brett Royster earned a double-double (10 points and 10 rebounds) tonight with some powerful dunks and monstrous boards.
• Ayron Hardy, again, showed why he is one of the premier players in the league with 12 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 6 steals and 2 blocks.
• Leicester grabbed 41 boards to Glasgow’s 33.
• They showed their athleticism in the first half on both ends of the floor in opening up a 9 point lead at one stage.

The majority of the Riders good work came in the first 20 minutes thanks to quick defensive double-teams which helped set the offense in motion and led to numerous fastbreak buckets.

But the Rocks slowed the game down and turned it into a grind it out affair, running the shot clock, spreading the floor and cutting the Riders lead to only six at the half, 39-33.

The second half was an uphill struggle for the home side who couldn’t stop the game slipping from their grasp as first Huffor and then Murray lit the Riders up, Huffor shooting 75% from three point range, while Murray was lethal from every angle, finishing the game with a game high 26 points.

The game could have been very different if the rim had been kinder to the home side on free throws, with the Riders shooting only 15/27 while the Rocks went 20/24 at the charity stripe.

The good news for the Riders is that they will have an opportunity to put this disappointing defeat behind them when they travel on Sunday to Cheshire to face the Jets who are in the midst of a six game losing streak.