BBL: London Lions slay Manchester Giants to stay perfect

Without head coach Petar Bozic due to illness, Lions maintained their unbeaten start to the BBL campaign with a 94-89 win at the CopperBox Arena.

Led by assistant coach Robert Youngblood, Matt Morgan continued his tremendous start to the season with a team-high 28 points, going 5/10 from three-point range.

Morgan’s tally cancelled out Nick Lewis’ solid 23-point effort for Manchester off the bench.

Buoyed by their opening 76-69 win over Venice in the EuroCup, in which Donte Graham scored 23 points, the Lions’ fast and sublime ball movement was on display early on as they raced into a 10-0 lead with Manchester missing their first five attempts.

The hosts were able to lead by double digits for the majority of the first quarter, primarily due to their accuracy from deep, but the Giants recovered and a score inside from Darius McNeil narrowed the gap to 23-16.

The visitors kept fighting in the second and, with 1.21 left, were rewarded for their all-around hustle at both ends as baskets from Mason Bourcier and Nick Stampley at the second attempt narrowed the gap to 39-36.

Luke Nelson answered for London out of the timeout with a triple, but as the half-time buzzer sounded, the hosts looked a little static with a 44-36 lead.

Determined not to get into a shooting contest with London, Manchester were patient offensively as they continued chipping away at the deficit.

The champions did get brief opportunities to break in the open floor, highlighted by Josh Sharma catching and flushing the ball home from a lob by Tarik Phillip.

But the third showcased the team play at both ends from Manchester as they shrunk the gap after a three in the corner from Harris with 4.39 left.

Taking a narrow five-point lead into the final quarter, the Lions looked comfortable despite the pressure the Giants were putting them under.

At one point it was a one-possession game, thanks to a Lewis three with 6.20 left, but Lions held their nerve and Matt Morgan restored their double-digit lead with 3.40 left.

Lions visit Hamburg in the EuroCup on Wednesday, then host BBL rivals Cheshire on Friday (7.45pm) and Newcastle on Monday (7.30pm).