Leeds Force 99 Plymouth Raiders 69: BBL Trophy finalists put to the sword by the Force

Both teams came into the game on the back of heavy losses on Friday night but it was the Force who were able to recover better and faster.

Rob Sandoval – along with five other team-mates – scored double-figure points but it was the American who top scored with 22 points.

Leeds started the first quarter the quicker of the two as they raced into a 12-3 lead thanks to some aggressive basketball.

It was a low-scoring quarter as the Force looked in control as they stretched their lead to nine points.

Plymouth grew into the game in the final minutes of the period as they shut out Leeds and made it a two-point game by the end of the first 10 minutes.

They carried their form from the end of the first into the second as they went on a 13-2 run across quarters to take the lead for the first time.

The lead chopped and changed in a frantic couple of minutes in the middle of the period with both teams scoring with relative ease.

Leeds then took control by going on a 10-0 run as they took an eight-point lead. Plymouth halved that gap of the half to make it a four-point game at the halfway stage.

Donte Nicholas had levelled the game quickly after the restart but they couldn’t take the lead as Leeds pushed ahead with a 7-0 run thanks to a triple from Jack Isenbarger from way down town.

A buzzer beater basket from Sandoval gave coach [Matt] Newby’s men a lead of 12 going into the final 10 minutes.

Leeds put the BBL Trophy finalists to the sword in the fourth as they overran the Raiders to hold a 30-point lead.

Coach Newby even had the chance to use his full roster in the final minutes as they pushed for 100 points for the first time at home this season, but they fell just short.