Return to home comforts gives Leeds Force the chance to arrest slide

The Force return to the Carnegie Sports Arena after being on the road against the Leicester Riders and the London Lions.

Coach Newby’s men are looking to get back to winnings ways as they have not won since the opening week and sit second bottom of the BBL table.

Leeds put in a strong display in the capital when they took on the Lions on Wednesday and for periods of the game looked like they could end their unbeaten run.

Jack Isenbarger, above, had an incredible first quarter where he never missed the basket, scoring 10 of the Force’s 16 points.

The Force were just outscored by the hosts thanks to Zaire Taylor scoring with two out his three free-throws right at the end of the period.

The second quarter wasn’t as close as the first as London outscored Leeds 
28-15 to open a 15-point lead at the break.

Rashad Hassan maintained his 100 per cent record on the floor with 14 points in the third quarter as London closed out a 91-65 win. Isenbarger top scored for the Force with 22 points, Rob Marsden and Rob Sandoval also scored with 11 and 10 respectively.

The focus now turns to the Surrey Scorchers who have played four more games than the Force but only picked up one more victory.

Despite having just two more points than the Force, Surrey have shown glimpses of what they can do as they took the Leicester Riders to overtime earlier this season, only to go down 79-88 in the end.

Surrey will be the fresher of the two sides as their last game came a week ago when they beat the Cheshire Phoenix to pick up their first home win of the season.

If history is anything to go by Leeds cruised to the series win last year, but both teams have made roster changes.

Tomorrow’s game at Carnegie Sports Arena (tip-off 4pm) will be the first time the Force have played in front of their own fans since their drubbing by Leicester.

Coach Newby will again be without captain Armand Anebo and Oliver Hylands who remain injured.