Pirates hang on against Raiders to move off foot of table

ESSEX Pirates survived a late onslaught to hold off Airwaves Plymouth Raiders and move off the bottom of the BBL Championship table.

The Pirates led for most of the game with Tanner Adu bagging 25 but they never put the game beyond the Raiders and needed two late free throws from Dean Williams to seal a 79-75 win.

Florentino Valencia impressed for Plymouth with 24 but the home side never regained the lead after going 21-18 behind in the first quarter.

Elsewhere, there were wins for third placed Marshall MK Lions and fourth placed Glasgow Rocks.

The Rocks had no problems dismissing Worthing Thunder with Rob Yanders netting 23 in a 106-68 win.

The Lions were pushed closer by Cheshire Jets before prevailing 71-70 courtesy of two Dawud Morris baskets.

There was nothing to pick between the two sides throughout as a half-time tie of 35-35 progressed to 55-55 at the end of the third quarter.

But with the Jets leading 68-76 coming into the last four minutes, Morris struck consecutive two-pointers to put the Lions in charge and the home side could only manage one Colin O'Reilly score before the buzzer.

Meanwhile, there were wins for Worcester Wolves, who stole the points with a 76-67 victory at Everton Tigers, and Guildford Heat, who cruised past PAWS London Capital 85-52.