Basketball: London City Royals enjoy debut at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre
BY GEOFF SWEET
London City Royals completed a terrific weekend double to make it three wins in a row to hit the top of the British Basketball League.
On Saturday they made a fabulous debut at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre by beating the Surrey Scorchers 91-85.
Power forward Matt Bryan-Amaning top scored with 20 points and 24 hours later led the way with 29 points in the 96-92 triumph at the Manchester Giants.
No-nonsense centre Will Neighbour weighed in with 31 points over the two games and point guard Ed Lucas 25.
The two victories followed an opening day triumph at the Bristol Flyers.
Said coach Jay Williams: “We’ve shown what we can do. When we get more time and really start clicking we can be a very dangerous team.
“I was delighted our first home produced a home victory in front of many new fans.”
The Royals’ two latest signings, US collegiate recruits Lamar Wofford-Humphrey and Dayshonee Much, both featured over the weekend having only flown in on Thursday.
But it was Bryan-Amaning, 6ft 9ins and boasting a wing span of 7ft 4ins, who led the way.
His homecoming to London comes on the back of a brilliant college career and trophy-laden spells on four different continents… and the South London born star is already averaging 25.67 points a game.
A crowd in excess of 500 heralded – including Peaky Blinders actor Jack Rowan and singer Lucy Kane – the Royals’ first home game.
Bryan-Amaning and 6ft 11ins Neighbour led the charge as the rampant Royals recovered from 72-66 down to turn the match on its head in the final seven minutes.Bryan-Amaning said: “It was a beautiful homecoming to the Palace. The crowd was more than we expected and playing in front of family and friends was simply fantastic.
“We were down but we have utmost confidence in our ability. We battled through and came up with the ‘W’.
“The coach told us to be more aggressive, get to the rim and get those baskets and we did that. We were very impressive.”
The Royals faced second-placed Esh Group Eagles Newcastle on Friday. The next Palace home date is a cup tie versus Worcester Wolves on November 3.