Lions' week of basketball woe
Championship dream looks to be over
Unfortunately for Lions the week which was meant to propel them into Championship title contention actually had the adverse effect and two big defeats in three days have all but ended their bid.
Lions lost to Everton Tigers and Newcastle Eagles at Middleton Hall as they played two of their catch-up matches in a bid to bridge the gap between themselves and the only two sides above them – Eagles and Sheffield Sharks.
Everton left thecentre:mk with a huge 122-82 win on Friday night in a game that turned on a second period injury to Lions' only bright spark Frank Holmes.
That defeat was hard to take for another full house in the city, and although further disappointment followed with Sunday's 101-87 loss to Newcastle, there were at least positives to take from it, according to coach Vince Macaulay.
The Lions chief insists it's too early to admit defeat in the title chase, but did accept that it would take an incredible run of form for them to get back in the race, especially having now fallen to fourth place behind Glasgow Rocks.
He said: "I'm offering no excuse but a couple of things went against us over the two games, not least the injury to Frank which really threw us off our game. He was taken to hospital, but thankfully he hasn't broken anything and will only be out for a couple of weeks.
Eagles made their intentions clear from the outset as they exploded out of the blocks and took a 15-4 advantage inside the opening four minutes on Sunday.
EJ Harrison, who didn't deserve to be on the losing side after his super solo effort of 30 points on the night, got Lions back in the contest, but by then the damage had been done and playing catch-up has rarely been their strong point.
The defeat leaves Lions 14 points off Sharks at the top with just three games in hand.
But Macaulay says he won't give up on the title chase just yet. He said: "There are lots of games to play yet and the sides above us will obviously take points off each other, so we're not ready to say it's over yet.
"There are so many positives to take out of the week. We've had two more sell-out crowds which makes it five in a row, plus I'm pleased with how we bounced back from Friday's loss, albeit after a bad start.
"We certainly have lots to look forward to, not least the BBL Trophy semi-final coming up."
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Weather for Milton Keynes
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
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Temperature: -6 C to 0 C
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