Game Report: Surrey Scorchers 80-85 London Lions

London Lions‘ late comeback saw the defending British Basketball League champions tip off 2024 in style, with clutch fourth-quarter play sealing an 85-80 New Year’s Day win over Surrey Scorchers.

Gabe Olaseni was talismanic for the Lions, finishing with 25 points in 25 minutes, along with eight rebounds. Surrey’s valiant effort was a selfless one with three players finishing in double-digits for points, and another three adding nine each.

Surrey Scorchers had an impressive 12-1 record on New Years Day coming into this game. London Lions were the only side to have beaten them on January 1st, back in 2017.

Starting Fives
Surrey Scorchers: Padiet Wang, Cameron Gooden, Josh Steel, Abdul Mohamed, Jordan Hunt.
London Lions: Jordan Taylor, Luke Nelson, Conor Morgan, Ciaran Sandy, Gabe Olaseni.

First Half

Surrey’s Cameron Gooden got 2024 off to a great start, driving inside and picking up the first points of the new year from the foul line. London’s response was jammed home by Ciaran Sandy off the pinpoint feed to the back door.

Threes were falling early at Surrey Sports Park, with the majority of them coming from the home side who kept a one-score lead through the opening five minutes of the game. London were forced to work the ball down low for their points; Gabe Olaseni did just that off another dime from Luke Nelson.

The lead seemingly changed with every offensive set as Josh Steel worked his way inside and finished neatly off the glass.

Out of a Lions timeout, Surrey blew the game wide open and got every shot they wanted. They shot five-of-10 from outside the arc in the first period, and closed the quarter with a 10-point run which went unanswered to put them 29-18 going into the first break.

London sliced the lead with an eight-zero run, as Conor Morgan started bearing the scoring load. Surrey had moved to small-ball and Lions started to pick the defence apart as Scorchers struggled to deal with the height and physicality in transition.

The scoring dried up as both teams ramped up their defensive efforts, but the hosts’ reintroduction of Gooden sparked a mini-run to make it 40-36 in their favour.

Surrey’s first three of the second quarter came with 30 seconds left on the clock in the half. Steel took thee ball off the inbound and found nothing but nylon with the quick-release jumper.

Luke Okosieme had a big impact in the game with star-rebounder Saiquan Jamison out of action. His season-high was four points before this game, but managed nine in just the first half, capping off the second quarter with a three-point play to give Surrey a 46-38 lead.

Second Half

Both sides’ big men opened the second half scoring. Hunt battled his way inside for the finish through contact, before Olaseni retaliated with a pair of his own in the paint.

Despite the triples continuing to fall for the Scorchers, Lions held their own an kept working he ball inside to stay within touching distance. Olaseni took his total past 20 points, and was the focal point of the London offence as they took their first lead since the first quarter.

Padiet Wang grew into the game with his scoring, making good of some transition opportunities to ensure London didn’t move out of sight. Both teams resorted to taking the ball inside as shots slowed down from outside. Surrey’s defence stayed resolute as they had the advantage going into the final quarter, 62-60 up.

The scoreboard lit up in the final period, Lions started with a five-point run but were immediately reeled in as Okosieme elevated for the stuff and Quin Cooper drained three-straight long-range bombs to make it a six-point game.

Morgan and Olaseni combined again to bring the Lions back within a score of the lead, but Andrew Lawrence had different ideas and strung the triple to make it 76-72 before the media timeout.

London’s backcourt duo of Taylor and Nelson came up clutch to give the visitors leads on a couple of occasions in the closing minutes. The lead continued to switch between the sides who were level-pegging for much of the final five minutes.

Taylor held his nerve and gave Lions a two point lead with a nice finish, and the result was sealed by Olaseni and Morgan at the line with Surrey going cold at the wrong time. The late comeback spoiled the Surrey New Years celebrations, as London ran out 85-80 victors.

Player of the Game

Gabe Olaseni was the player of the game, proving to be dominant in the paint with a wide array of different types of scores to spearhead Lions’ impressive comeback with 25 points.

Name	Team	Points	Rebounds	Assists
Josh Steel	Surrey Scorchers	14	5	1
Padiet Wang	Surrey Scorchers	9	5	9
Gabe Olaseni	London Lions	25	8	2
Conor Morgan	London Lions	18	8	3

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London Lions‘ late comeback saw the defending British Basketball League champions tip off 2024 in style, with clutch fourth-quarter play sealing an 85-80 New Year’s Day win over Surrey Scorchers.

First Half

Second Half

Player of the Game

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