Twitter Timeline: The BBL Cup Final and the aftermath

Last night at the NIA in Birmingham saw Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders loosen Newcastle Eagles’ strangle hold on BBL silverware, with an 85-80 win in the BBL Cup Final.

It was the club’s first trophy in 11 years and the celebrations on the floor at the buzzer showed how much it meant to the East Midlands club.

The party continued long after the Trophy had been lifted, as the team headed back to Leicester with sporadic Twitter updates keeping fans abreast of what was happening.

Here’s what went down, from the final buzzer to this morning, courtesy of Twitter:

The official Leicester Riders account (@ridersbball) announces the win at the buzzer by simply saying:

They then go on to thank the very people who helped spur them on in the final period:

Spanish point guard, Jorge Calvo (@jcalote) iced the win at the free throw line and then celebrated in style:

Former players congratulated the Riders – Ayron Hardy (@ahardy10_), Cameron Rundles (@coachrundles) and Andy Betts (@Bigab51), to name a few:

Fallen Rider, John Fraley, (@leeboy_21) congratulated his guys on the win –

While GM Russell Levenston (@ruslev1) tweeted out a photo of the trophy –

Which is something that Captain Barry Lamble (@Barry_lamble) did, but with a twist –

Jamell Anderson (@jamell_UK) got emotional after the W –

And Drew Sullivan (@drewsullivan8) got his point across –

And as with any final, there will always be a losing team. The Newcastle Eagles Joe Chapman (@joechap32), top scorer in the game with 29 points, was consoled by former team-mate, Andy Thomson (@andythomson1984) after he gave this warning shot to the rest of the league: ‘if you saw what I saw we have hearts of champions never quit mentality won the battle not the war congrat leicester xtra motivated watch out’ –