A season of occasional promise ended with an inevitable sense of disappointment as Glasgow Rocks exited the BBL Playoffs at the quarter-final stage last night despite a 71-62 victory over London Lions.
Overturning a mammoth first-leg deficit was always likely to be mission improbable for the Scots. So it proved. Relentless defensive graft at the Emirates Arena could not overcome a plethora of shots missed as their rivals wrapped up a 153-141 aggregate victory that sends them onward to a semi-final date with treble-chasing Leicester Riders next weekend.
And although Glasgow basked in a glimmer of hope when they led here by 12 early in the fourth, the one last great push they required never materialised, leaving the Rocks streak without a major trophy to continue into a 15th year.
“It’s definitely not what we wanted,” admitted Rocks coach Sterling Davis. “We’ve had a lot of ups and downs through the course of the season but I thought we’d got back in a rhythm for the playoffs so this is disappointing. But the first leg killed us. It made this about the scoreboard. Shots didn’t fall. We won here but we didn’t get enough to survive. We’re going to look back and regret the position we put ourselves in.”
London, with the comfort of defending a 21-point advantage, were able to ease 29-22 ahead in the second quarter to deepen the hole in which Glasgow languished and it took until the third for the hosts to exhibit the sense of urgency they truly needed. A 13-3 run, inspired by Neil Watson, eventually pushed the Rocks 61-49 in front but despite a game-high 23 points from the American, making only 4 of 25 three-point attempts doomed their hopes.
Davis, at the end of his tenth season in charge, remains without silverware with his contract soon to end. However public assurances have come from the club’s new owner Duncan Smillie that he will be given another opportunity to regroup and rebuild. “I can only say I appreciate he’s been vocal that he wants to keep me around, He’s got a vision of what he wants for next season. His passion for the Rocks is big and I think that’s going to be good going forward.”
The other semi will pit Worcester Wolves – held off Sheffield Sharks 159-155 on aggregate - against Newcastle Eagles who avoided an upset by edging out Bristol Flyers 84-82 for a 181-176 margin.
BASKETBALL RESULTS
BBL Playoffs, quarter-finals 2nd leg. Glasgow Rocks 71 London Lions 62 (London win 153-141 on aggregate), Worcester Wolves 86 Sheffield Sharks 84 (159-155), Leicester Riders 94 Surrey Scorchers 58 (167-131), Newcastle Eagles 84 Bristol Flyers 82 (Newcastle win 181-176). Semi-finals: Leicester v London, Newcastle v Worcester
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