HOME   |   NEWS   |   TEAM   |   GAME NIGHT   |   INSIDE THE RAIDERS   |   COMMUNITY   |   DEVELOPMENT   |   CORPORATE   |   FANS

Match Review: Airwaves Plymouth Raiders Vs Leicester Riders
BBL Championship Match
Friday 13th November - 7.30pm - Plymouth Pavilions
Friday, November, 13, 2009

Airwaves Plymouth Raiders 78
(Valencia 20, Martin 15, Rowe 13)

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 90
(Minor 31, Johnson 21, Wierzbicki 19)

The Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders beat the Airwaves Plymouth Raiders 78-90 for their fourth win in the last five games. It is only the second time in the last three years, or fourteen games, that the Riders have beaten the Raiders.

The visitors were led by 31 points from Tack Minor and a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds for Jason Johnson. Tino Valencia's 20 points and 14 rebounds paced the Raiders.

The Riders were quick out of the blocks as Johnson made the first two baskets to initiate what became a 15-3 run to open the game. However, their scoring dried up as they scored just one basket in the next three minutes, allowing the hosts to recover with a 9-2 spell. That was soon followed by seven straight points, capped by Anthony Martin's triple, to make the score 18-19, before the teams ended the first ten minutes at 20-23 in favour of the Riders.

The game remained close in a second quarter that saw six lead changes. The Raiders took their first lead of the game at 26-25 after back-to-back baskets from Horton and Rowe, before Johnson and Minor responded in kind for Leicester. Jay Marriott came from the bench to hit a triple for the hosts, and the teams traded baskets with Minor (9 points) being the only Riders' player to score for five minutes in the middle of the quarter.

The Riders hit four three-pointers in the third quarter to edge into a more comfortable 56-63 lead. Holding a 48-49 lead midway through the period, Minor and Wierzbicki (2) hit a trio of three- pointers in a row, and the Riders established a double-digit lead at 52-62 on another Johnson basket. Martin hit a pair of free-throws with 26 seconds left to make the score 56-63 going into the decisive stanza. Tack Minor had 25 points by the end of the third quarter.

The home team made an early push in the fourth as Martin scored 4 points to help make it 60-64. However, that run was stopped by Wierzbicki's three-pointer and Johnson scored back-to-back to make it 62-71. The Riders made the decisive run with four minutes to go as they went 9-1 to make the score an insurmountable 70-86 with a little over a minute to go.