The above sign should have been hung outside the visitors dressing room at the Northgate Arena last Sunday as Riders took apart Cheshire on their home floor for the second time this season taking out the the BBL Cup Quarter Final by a score of 74-95.
Jets shortcomings were ruthlessly exposed by a confident Leicester display for whom all nine in white got on the scoresheet while Cheshire laboured their threadbare squad giving full forty minute workouts to Adam Brown, Colin O'Reilly, Bill Cole and Matt Schneck.
The home side came out hard from the tip with a strong Schneck move to the bucket resulting in a spurned "and 1" opportunity for the #50. The foul was called on Riders Brett Royster who seemed to attract the attention of the whistlers as he then picked up a second quick foul which earned him an early sit down. His misfortune was the green light for Barry Lamble to get the nod and he took full advantage, his strong three point play finish gave Riders a 12-16 lead with 4.41s left in the period. The lead peaked at 7 on a Ayron Hardy steal and score [14-21] but a 10-3 Jets run sparked by Adam Brown's bonus play saw the scores knotted at 24 at the end of Q1.
A tight second quarter saw the teams never more than 4pts apart until the latter stages of the stanza but the firepower of the Riders was unleashed in a blistering 4-18 tear to see out the half. This was fired by Cam Rundles as he found his stroke from deep and by the irrepressible Hardy sticking his hands in where they weren't wanted. The half ended on a real high as Tom Sherlock hit a triple on the buzzer on a peach of a Hardy assist and the healthy away support went mad as the guys in white headed for the lockers 38-52 to the good.
The third saw Riders strength in depth on show as they relentlessly kept their foot on the gas subbing fresh guys in at will, the lead peaked at 22 on the back of 5 straight from Bradd Wierzbicki and there was no way back for the flagging Jets who were relying on the gallant Brown getting to the rim and little else. A brief flurry from Jets got it back to 14 on an O'Reilly three but that was as close as it got.
Damage limitation for the Jets was order of the day in the final period as the lead hovered between 16 and 24. Riders continued to press hard and they got some easy buckets as Jets were pressured into many turnovers which led to easy 3 on 1 scores. The final score was nothing less than Riders deserved as they displayed a great team ethic and togetherness which can only bode well for the rest of the season.
Cam Rundles led the scoring for Riders with 24 including 4/8 from deep, he also added four assists. Drew Sullivan was his usual efficient self with 19pts, 6 rebs, 4 assists and a big block but the stat line of the day went to "A Force" Ayron Hardy who gathered in 15pts, a team high 10 rebs, a team high 7 assists and a team high 5 steals in another high flying display from the rookie. Bradd Wierzbicki battled hard for his 12pts and 5 assists while the big fella's both had 8pts apiece, Brett Royster recovering well from the early whistles and Barry Lamble showing well in a great display off the bench. John Griffin saw 13 minutes of action to hit 2/3 from the floor for 4pts and he also added 3 assists as he acclimatises to his new team mates, Tom Sherlock hit the big threeball for his main contribution and youngster Jamell Anderson added the final 2pts to the total in an energetic display.
I'll leave the final words to a very happy Riders Coach, Rob Paternostro.............
"It's a fun time to be a Riders fan, huh?"
Too true sir.
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