Glasgow Rocks moved themselves above the Marshall MK Lions into third position in the BBL Championship table thanks to a hard-fought 75-83 victory over the Airwaves Plymouth Raiders at the Plymouth Pavilions on Sunday afternoon. 

In the first quarter, the Raiders came out of the blocks the quickest as they rushed out to an early 9-2 lead, but the Rocks responded immediately with a 10-0 tear of their own to take the lead at 9-12.  Both teams traded baskets for majority of the quarter that remained, but it was the Rocks who ended the period the stronger as they netted nine of the last thirteen points of the quarter to lead 19-24 at the end of the first period. 

In the second quarter, the Raiders re-took the lead midway through the period at 37-34 off the back of a 13-3 tear.  A three-pointer from Jessie Sapp tied the game at 39-39 inside the final minute of the half, but a Terry Horton basket with 30s remaining gave the Raiders the lead at 41-39 heading into the locker rooms at the half. 

In the second half the home side opened with an 8-2 burst to take the score out to 49-41, but the Rocks once again responded immediately with a 10-0 run, including eight points from Rob Yanders to give them the lead back at 49-51.  Both sides again traded baskets for the remainder of the quarter and a Florentino Valencia basket tied the game up at 58-58 with 50s remaining, but a Mike Crowell three-pointer right at the end of the third period gave the Rocks a slender three-point advantage at 58-61 heading into the final stanza. 

In the final period the Rocks extended their advantage over their hosts to fifteen points at 64-79 off the back of a 15-4 burst.  The Raiders trimmed the deficit down to six points thanks to a 11-2 tear to get the score back to 75-81 inside the final ten seconds, but they could not get any closer as Sapp secured the victory for the Rocks from the foul-line. 

Yanders led all scorers in the game with 30 points, including 7 three-pointers, while the Raiders scoring was led by a combination of Andrew Lasker and Valencia who scored 20 points a-piece.

Match Photos