
Injury Report - Smith set to return against Rocks
Posted: Saturday, November 11th 2017
Saturday, November 11th 2017
Bristol Flyers secured their third straight win, coming back from 11 points down in the fourth quarter to beat the visiting Glasgow Rocks 74-71.
Flyers were led by Rohndell Goodwin, who took over the final period, with 21 points and 4 rebounds. Flyers move to 4-2 for the season.
Tonight's key #BristolFlyers plays pic.twitter.com/uua8AZU6KI
— Bristol Flyers (@BristolFlyers) November 11, 2017
Coming off an impressive win against Worcester on Friday night, Glasgow came into the contest with the same intensity.
The game started at a furious pace, Brandon Boggs got on the scoreboard first with a fantastic backdoor cut and an alley-oop to send the home crowd into a frenzy.
Flyers came back on the following possession on the fastbreak but Rocks' Earl Brown blocked the lay-up attempt and silenced the crowd.
Flyers were impressive on the defensive end, challenging shots and forcing turnovers, holding Glasgow to just ten first quarter points.
Offensively, Bristol were clicking and Adam Weary caught fire off the bench scoring eight first quarter points and shooting 100% from the field for the opening period.
Unlike their Friday night effort, Rocks struggled to find the basket and only shot 23% for the quarter.
Bristol took advantage and built an eight point lead to go into the second quarter, capped off by a buzzer beating three-pointer from Jordan Davis.
Rocks began the second quarter strong, with Brown getting deep post position and dunking the ball on the contesting Boggs.
Flyers tried to answer on the following possession but they struggled against the Glasgow zone defence. Not to be unsettled the change in Rocks' defence, Flyers ran the open floor and Vigor executed a perfect behind the back pass to Daniel Edozie for a highlight dunk.
Boggs continued the collective assault on the rim, by stuffing a put back dunk following a Panos Mayindombe miss.
Although Rocks went 9 for 29 from the field for the half, they were still very much in the game. The visitors closed the gap with five straight points by Gareth Murray, a short two point jump shot and a three-pointer forcing Coach K to call for time. As the teams re-entered the game, it was the visitors who took advantage by cutting into the Flyers' lead and made it a one possession game; heading into the second half 30-28.
Goodwin opened the scoring for Bristol, curling off a screen and bulldozing his way to the basket for a two-pointer. But this was matched by two inside scores and a three-pointer from Jalen Billups, to tie the game up.
Goodwin responded again with a deep three-pointer to re-establish the Flyers' lead, but Glasgow had caught Bristol and they proceeded to draw fouls,getting to the free-throw line almost at will.
The visitors scored with enough regulatory to build an eight point lead towards the end of the third quarter and punctuated their second half dominance forcing the home team into a shot clock violation.
Rocks outscored Flyers 25 to 15 for quarter to give them a 45-53 lead heading into the final period.
Glasgow pushed their lead to double figures after Keiron Achara converted on an And-1.
Boggs tried to counter with a fastbreak score but was fouled and sent to the line, where he went two for two. Bristol stepped it up defensively and made it difficult for Glasgow to build on their lead. On multiple possessions the home team closed the door on Rocks' attack, putting up a phenomenal defensive effort.
Flyers put together a short run to cut the Rocks' lead to just five mid-way through the fourth, forcing a time out call from Rocks' Head Coach Tony Garbelotto.
But it was Bristol's turn to take advantage, Goodwin splashed another three-pointer and connected with a baseline driving lay-up to re-capture the lead.
Flyers found success by driving into the heart of the Rocks' defence and drawing contact to get additional foul shots. In the penalty, the visitors sagged back on defence and allowed Flyers to shoot from the outside.
Flyers' capped off their comeback with the returning Leslee Smith effectively put the game to bed with a deep three-pointer. Flyers put the contest away from the free-throw line, 74-71.
Someone order SGS a new roof - gonna need it after the reaction to this Goodwin three... pic.twitter.com/JXGZCBnkFG
— Bristol Flyers (@BristolFlyers) November 11, 2017
Watched a bit of @BristolFlyers-@rocksglasgow and it’s amazing how far the Flyers have come. When I watched them at WISE back in the NBL, you would be lucky to have 50 people there and I nearly always had balcony to myself. Great to see full houses there whenever they’re at home.
— John Hobbs (@johnswisshobbs) November 11, 2017
Bristol Flyers v London Lions (H)
BBL Cup
Friday, November 17th 2017 (7.30pm)