Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Basketball: Leicester Riders aim to shoot down Newcastle Eagles in Wembley ... - This is Leicestershire


Leicester Riders will bring the curtain down on their season with a trip to a sold-out Wembley Arena to take on Newcastle Eagles in the BBL Championship Play-off final.


A victory for Riders on Sunday would be the cherry on the cake of their best-ever season.


They got to Wembley courtesy of two wins in the semi-finals against Plymouth Raiders at the weekend, winning by 30 points on aggregate. They will now play second-placed Newcastle before a crowd of 8,500.


It will be a repeat of the BBL Cup final, in January, which Riders won in the final minute of the game. It is also a repeat of last year's Play-off final, which Eagles edged on their way to a clean sweep of the last season's four trophies.






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The Eagles got to Wembley after splitting a pair of games with Surrey Heat in the semi-finals, winning by 24 points on aggregate.


For the Jelson Homes DMU-backed Riders, Wembley is the culmination of a stunning seasons, with 41 wins already in all competitions, and with just five defeats.


The one loss that hurt the most was the defeat by Sheffield Sharks by a single basket at the Emirates Arena in the BBL Trophy final last month, a game that Riders were hot favourites to win.


Riders head coach Rob Paternostro paid tribute to the never-say-die attitude of his team.


"These guys have been like this since we got together last September," he said.


"They have come to do a job and have remained focused throughout the season. It has been a pleasure to coach them.


"We never really believe we are beaten, and always have confidence that we can come back, just by squeezing harder on the defence.


"On any night, we have different guys who can step up – it means teams can't focus on one or two guys to try to stop us."


But Paternostro also has huge respect for Sunday's opponents Newcastle, and said: "We know we will have to be at our very best to win.


"But this will be Riders' fourth big final in a row, and we have the confidence that two trophies this season brings – so we should have nothing to fear.


"It will be all about on that day – who can step up and make the big plays at the right time.


"I am telling the guys to soak it all in, and enjoy it – they deserve to be there, and we need just 40 more minutes of focused play to cap a tremendous season."



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