Leeds Carnegie now have sole possession of second spot in Division One following their 85-78 win at Tees Valley Mohawks.

 

Matt Newby's side did most of the damage in the first half, rushing into a 30-7 first period lead before increasing the margin to 55-27 at half-time.

 

Led by 18 points apiece from Brian McCotter and Steve Leven, Mohawks trimmed the deficit with a 19-15 third period, and although they outscored the visitors 22-15 in the fourth period, it was too little, too late.

 

The EBL's third top scorer, Adrian Fenyn, again topped Carnegie's charge with 37, with Zoltan Supola adding 13 and Dave Siddall ten.

 

Leicester Warriors moved up to joint fourth in Division One after a 65-57 victory at Taunton Tigers on Saturday.

 

Defences were definitely on top in this closely-fought clash at Wellsprings and things started brightly enough for the Tigers. Three successful close range shots from Chris Page and five early points from Richard Anderson helped them race out to a 15-8 lead, midway through the first quarter. 

 

Thereafter the momentum of the game changed quickly and decisively following a three pointer from Warriors' Tom Fowler. A technical foul on the home bench after a foul on captain Paul Yabsley saw Warriors hit one of the free-throws before sinking a trey from the in-bound.

 

The ever-dangerous Yabsley briefly reclaimed the lead, making it 17-15. That was the last time the home side led in the game as Warriors scored the final four points of the period and, having gone on a 11-2 run, were up 19-17 at the first break. 

 

Leicester scored two quick treys in the opening minutes of the second quarter to put pressure on the Tigers, who found it difficult to respond. Despite six more points from Yabsley, that was all the Tigers managed to muster in a spell where turnovers helped Leicester pull away with a 24-37 lead. Added to this, Leicester were picking up second chance opportunities with the effectiveness of their offensive rebounding.

 

A trey  from Adam Rickwood (one of only two in the whole game for Tigers) and a long-range 2 pointer from Sean Clifford then helped Taunton to rally slightly, but they were still 29-39 behind at the half. 

 

That lead proved decisive, however. Although Tigers edged the second half, they just couldn't overhaul their opponents. They did manage to claw back to within four points halfway through the third quarter, as they enjoyed an 8-1 run, which included two unanswered three-point plays from Clifford.  

 

At that stage the comeback looked on, but Leicester dug deep and made their opponents work exceptionally hard for open shots for the rest of the game, closing it out with an eight point margin in a low-scoring game.

 

Yabsley led all scorers with 18, while Page chipped in with 12 and Clifford ten. Mike Martin topped Warriors with 16, while MD Janiska added 15 and Emile Hopkins 13.