BBL Championship Play-off Semi-Final, Second Leg

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 97 (19,44,77) (Rundles 36, Sullivan 17, Wierzbicki 14)
Glasgow Rocks 72 (13,36,56) (Green 21, Harrison 16, Cranston/Murray 13)
(Riders win 173-149 on aggregate)

The Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders booked their place at the NIA, Birmingham next Saturday as they overcame a first leg deficit to defeat the Glasgow Rocks 97-70 at Loughborough University on Sunday afternoon. 

The result meant that the Riders secured a 173-149 aggregate score over the two legs. 

With the Rocks leading by a point heading into the second leg, both sides traded baskets through the early exchanges before a Gareth Murray three-pointer got the visitors in front 9-11.  This only sought to spur the home side into action as they rattled off a 10-2 finish to the opening quarter to lead 19-13 at the end of the first. 

In the second period, Yorick Williams and Mychal Green traded three-pointers at the start of the quarter before a Bradd Wierzbicki bucket sparked a 12-1 run from the home side to take the score out to 34-17 midway through the second stanza.  A pair of Cameron Rundles free-throws kept the home side in front at 44-29, but the visitors bagged the final seven points of the half, including five from EJ Harrison, to trim the deficit back to just eight points on the night at 44-36 at the half. 

In the second half, an Andrew Sullivan three-pointer helped the home side extend their lead out to 15 points at 56-41, but the Rocks would not go down without a fight as they helped themselves to an 8-2 run of their own in an immediate response to trim the deficit back to single figures at 58-49 midway through the third quarter.  That was as close as the visitors would get for the remainder of the period as a Rundles basket from behind-the-arc helped the Riders end the quarter strongly with a 13-2 burst to take the score out to 77-56 heading into the final stanza. 

In the final period, the Rocks tried valiantly to get themselves right back into the contest and a pair of DeAundre Cranston free-throws trimmed the gap back to 16 points at 86-70 with four minutes left in the game, however that was as close as the visitors would get as the Riders stormed ahead in the closing stages enjoying a 11-0 burst to give them their biggest lead of the game at 97-70 with 35 seconds left and book their place at the NIA, Birmingham next Saturday. 

A 36 point performance from Rundles led all scorers for the Riders, while Green was the top scorer for the Rocks with 21 points.

(Report courtesy of www.bbl.org.uk)