Basketball: Lloyd bows out with final defeat

Nigel Lloyd's 18-year playing career in the BBL ended at Coventry's Skydome with a dramatic 85-81 defeat for his Milton Keynes Lions against Sheffield Sharks in the second round of the play-offs yesterday.

The Lions' 40-year-old Barbadian player/coach seemed set to extend his career for at least one more game before retiring, but the Sharks fought back from 14 points down to earn a place in Sunday's semi-finals against London Towers.

Three technical fouls in 76 seconds straddling the first and second quarters cost Sharks their coach Chris Finch and 12 points as the Lions went 34-20 ahead. Finch's two technicals for dissent within 17 seconds brought automatic expulsion from the game. But with assistant Brian Aldred taking over on the sidelines, the Sharks out-scored the Lions 23-13 to trail only 47-43 at half time. Sheffield continued to roll in the third with a 23-13 quarter to lead 66-60.

Edinburgh's bid to win the title at Wembley from fourth place in the Northern Conference failed only in the final seconds of Saturday's first round game against the Lions. With 21 seconds left, Ted Berry failed to tie the game from the foul line and Lloyd steered the Lions home for a 69-64 win.

Jeremy Hyatt sparked a decisive 10-3 Newcastle Eagles run as they defeated London Leopards 94-88 in the other first-round game on Saturday.

Birmingham Bullets' coach Lance Randall yesterday finished the Paris Marathon in four hours and 19 minutes, but could run into trouble this week at a meeting with club owner Craig Bown. Randall has completed the second season in a three-year contract, but the relationship could end after the Bullets failed to reach the play-offs for the first time in their history.

Leading scorers - Milton Keynes: Alleyne 22, Brown 17, Lloyd 16. Sheffield: Stewart 20, Phoenix 15, Reinking 15.