The London Lions were able to protect their home court, beating the Caledonia Gladiators in game week two of the British Basketball League.
Caledonia Gladiators couldn’t hold off the dominant interior play of the London Lions, who won the game to the score of 93-65.
Starting Five
London
Lions starting five: Luke Nelson, Mo Soluade, Conor Morgan, Gabe Olaseni, Tarik
Phillip
Caledonia Gladiators starting five: Ian Dubose, Patrick Whelan, Prince Onwas, Lukas Palyza, Fahro Alihodzic
First Half
The two
teams that currently hold all the silverware, the Lions and Gladiators, both
started off fast. Caledonia came out hot from beyond the arc, making four of
their six attempts from the three-point line, while the Lions kept the pace
from all over the field, making 68% of their shots.
Credit was due to Patrick Whelan’s scoring to get the Gladiators off fast, while Jordan Taylor received praise from former NBA star, Evan Turner, courtside after Taylor racked up nine points in the first quarter.
The
scoreline was looking quite close by the end of the first at 27-19 in the Lions’
favour, however, the second quarter couldn’t be any more different.
While
London kept up their scoring ways, scoring another 26 points to total up to 53
by the end of the first half. However, Caledonia couldn’t say the same, only
scoring 10 points in the second quarter.
The 24-point
lead could’ve easily been attributed to their inside scoring and hard-nosed
rebounding. London were conquering the rebound numbers, having a 15-rebound
advantage over the Gladiators at the half with the Lions having notched up 26
rebounds.
Lions MVP of game week one, Gabe Olaseni, put in 12 points with eight rebounds in the first half.
Evan Turner 🤝 #BritishBasketballLeague!
10-year @nba @thekidet in the house at the Copper Box for tonight’s @skysports game between @londonlions and @Cal_Gladiators, and joins @drew21pink on the mic!
How much would you love to see Turner in the League!? 🤩👀#UNBEATABLE pic.twitter.com/tktMmOT88u
— British Basketball League (@britishbasketm) September 21, 2023
Second Half
Caledonia were not going to go down without a fight though. The Gladiators stopped this game from becoming a rout, scoring 24 points in the third quarter. Ian DuBose seemed to be getting active again after a quiet first half, finishing the third quarter with 17 points.
Although the Gladiators could still not properly catch up to the Lions, London were able to dominate the inside, putting up 32 points in the paint in comparison to Caledonia’s four by the end of the third quarter.
The fourth
quarter saw the game close out with Lions coach Petar Božić opting to
rotate for the final minutes of the game to see the Lions protect their home
court and pick up the win over the Gladiators.
Tonight’s MVP was Gabe Olaseni after the big man put up 14 points on seven shots, as well as 10 rebounds to complete the double-double. The centre also added a steal and a block to show his all-round game that picked up the win.
Here are tonight’s top performers from each team:
Team | Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
London Lions | Gabe Olaseni | 14 | 10 | 2 |
London Lions | Luke Nelson | 13 | 1 | 1 |
Caledonia Gladiators | Ian Dubose | 17 | 2 | 7 |
Caledonia Gladiators | Patrick Whelan | 13 | 4 | 1 |
With the new season here, you can still get your British Basketball fix by following the League on social media or heading to our YouTube channel to relive all of the best moments from last year!