Basketball: Mims inspires Riders to find winning form

Leicester Riders' coach, Billy Mims, was back to his inspirational best at Loughborough University on Saturday night, where his struggling defending champions came from behind to defeat the Northern Conference title challengers, Sheffield Sharks, 87-80 for their first win in a month and only their second from the last 12 games.

Mims turned the game around back in the locker room at half-time, with Riders trailing 43-32. His players, understrength after last week's walk-out by the American Tim Moore, responded with runs of 15-5 and 7-0 to lead 56-53. Larry Johnson inspired a late 9-2 burst for the match-winning 77-70 lead and he led all scorers with 26 points as the Riders held on to secure the win from the foul line.

The victory became even more vital with Edinburgh Rocks, in fifth place and challenging Riders for the remaining play-off slot from the North, winning 106-92 at London Leopards in Saturday's other surprising result. Leopards' defeat left them one of four clubs on 12 wins in the South, behind leaders London Towers and second-placed Brighton, who won 125-98 at Derby Storm. Towers lost 89-93 at Birmingham Bullets, who sprinted for the line with 11-1 start to the fourth for a 71-62 lead.