Clinical performance guarantees playoff appearance

London power past Seef 18-14 in a commanding performance to punch their ticket to Sunday’s knockout stages.

In their first-ever meeting, London took full control against Seef in a crucial matchup that doubled as the Bahraini side’s last chance to stay alive after a loss to Toulouse. For London, it was an opportunity to showcase their new-look line-up, playing without Ashley Hamilton but welcoming back Jerome Desrosiers.

London came out firing, playing beautiful team basketball to open up an instant two point lead. Ryan Langborg’s strong take to the rim and a pinpoint assist from Justin Pierce to Jerome Desrosiers set the tone, before Pierce made his presence felt on defence with a rejection to deny Seef any early offensive success of their own.

Evan Walshe’s introduction off the bench only raised the intensity as his immediate offensive rebound led to a simple score for Desrosiers. This was Desrosiers’ third bucket in a game which saw him tally up a monstrous 11 points and an even more impressive 9 rebounds on his way to a game-high player value of 13.1.

London’s cohesion and confidence were on full display. Walshe forced a turnover that led to a highlight-reel Desrosiers block on Sadiq Shukralla, while Pierce orchestrated the offense with five key assists - threading backdoor passes that teammates converted with precision. London’s confidence was sky-high, perfectly captured when Evan Walshe sent his defender flying with a shot fake before calmly sinking a step-back jumper that never looked like missing.

Seef kept things competitive from long range, but Desrosiers was relentless inside. Sayed Hameed knocked down a tough two-pointer, only for Desrosiers to respond immediately with a contested two of his own and yet another finish at the rim.

With Pierce’s vision unlocking the defence and Desrosiers applying constant pressure, London closed out the contest in style. Their sharp execution of backdoor cuts and aggressive rolls proved too much for Seef, capped by an easy Walshe drive to seal the victory and book a playoff berth.

London will look to repeat this electric performance in their final pool game against world number 4 Toulouse in what promises to be another exciting battle.