BBL Play-offs Semi-Finals, Second Leg
London Lions 91-73 Bristol Flyers (23-22, 46-42, 60-55) 176-156 on agg.
(Lions – Reese 28, Williams 26, Kelley 14; Flyers – Jacob 19, Miller 15, Evans 11)
London Lions booked their place in the 2021/22 BBL Play-off Final after an incredible fourth quarter performance over Bristol Flyers cemented their place in next week’s showcase final at the O2 Arena.
Friday’s first leg saw the Lions take a slender two-point advantage into the second leg after Julian Washburn’s late dagger. London will be looking to go one better than last year after they lost the final to Newcastle Eagles.
Bristol started the game well and went off an 8-2 run to start the ballgame. London regrouped and the game was quickly tied in an enthralling opening 10 minutes.
Trejon Jacob and Isaiah Reese found their footing early, Reese leading the Lions with 16 first half points whilst Jacob racked up 14 personal on 6-7 shooting off the bench. Both sides traded punches throughout the first half before Reese beat the buzzer to spur the Lions.
London held a four-point lead on the night and a six-point lead on aggregate going into the break, and they added an extra point to the gap in a low scoring third quarter. The sensational Reese and the Lions then erupted in the final quarter, stringing three triples in a row on their way to outscoring the Flyers 31-18 to book their final berth.
🎥@isaiahreese13 doing a bit of everything! He’s up to 2️⃣8️⃣ points and has 6️⃣ steals🤯
📺@SkySports Arena
🖥https://t.co/jhR3RBwUI0
📊https://t.co/OKxWaSNKKq#BritishBasketball pic.twitter.com/HGQ8nlSQ1B— British Basketball League (@BBLofficial) May 8, 2022
Reese finished with 28 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and an incredible six steals in a dominant showing, whilst Dirk Williams added 26 points of his own.
The Lions will play the winner of Leicester Riders and Glasgow Rocks, with the Riders taking a 21-point lead going into Monday’s showdown.