FIBA EuroCup Women
Castors Braine 70-67 London Lions (20-13, 38-31, 56-48)
(Braine – Konig 18, Berezhynska 16, Dornstauder 10; Lions – Leedham-Warner 25, Stewart 13, Beckford-Norton 12)

London Lions came heartbreakingly close to a comeback victory over hosts Castors Braine in their final EuroCup group game on Wednesday night.

The loss now means that London’s EuroCup Play-Offs qualification now falls out of their hands and awaits the results of other games to confirm whether they’re qualified or not.

The three-point loss comes especially bitter to swallow for coach Mark Clark’s side, as the team came ever so close to capturing a remarkable comeback victory.

Backed by a powerhouse performance from Jo Leedham-Warner, who lead her team with 25 points, seven rebounds, and nine steals, the fighting spirit of the Lions side began to roar to life in the fourth and final quarter, as both Warner and Shanice Beckford Norton – who’s 12 points and five rebounds also provided a key assist to Lions – combined to bring the visitors within four points of the hosts.

With additional baskets from Azania Stewart and Cassie Breen, London suddenly found themselves just one point behind, having trailed by as much as 15 at one point during the contest, with the Lions defense managing to keep the home side at bay.

As the clock trickled away, with just under 15 seconds remaining, Lions trailed by just two points, and as they broke away on the offense, Kennedy Leonard desperately threw up a two point jump shot but sadly bounced off the board and into the hands of the Castors defence, who then successfully converted one of two free throws and managed to hold off the Lions offense until the final buzzer sounded.

Lions must now await the result of the Zabiny Brno vs. Rutronik Stars Keltern game on Thursday night, where they’ll be hoping Zabiny emerge victorious, and hope they finish above one other team amongst the third-placed teams in Conference 2.