Lancashire hosts National League’s second-placed Derby at Castle Leisure Centre on Saturday to start double-header weekend, which includes a Sunday trip to Reading. Tipoff is 5:45pm.
The Spinners (4-8, 3-4 NBL1) can reach .500 in league play for the first time this season and extend their winning streak to three games following victories by a combined six points over Manchester and Hemel. Lancashire is 3-2 since starting the divisional schedule.
First-year guard Jack Hudson leads five Spinners scoring in double figures at 16.1 points in seven league games on 40.7 percent (37-of-91) shooting. He is first on the team with 28 assists and 14 steals, and ranks third in rebounding with 5.9 per game.
Swingman Mark Rangeley is second in scoring and rebounding at 15.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Starting in all seven division games and off a 24-point effort at Hemel, Rangeley is shooting 45.9 percent (39-of-85) from the floor and 34.1 percent (15-of-44) beyond the arc.
David Walsh was four points shy of tying his career-high of 27 points in Lancashire’s latest triumph. The guard, averaging 10.2 points and 1.8 steals per game, and Rangeley each connected on 5-of-9 3-pointers at Hemel and he finished 8-of-13 from the floor with four steals.
It will be the fifth overall meeting between the two teams with four coming during the 2015-16 season. Derby eliminated Lancashire from the playoffs on Apr. 2 in a lopsided affair making it two-straight wins in the series.
Former Spinners guards Steven Gayle (21 points) and Kyle Carey (15 points) were the only two to reach double figures. David Watts led Derby with 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
Derby (12-1, 7-1) enters having suffered its first league defeat of the league season at London on Nov. 19. Despite 30 points from Brian Ambilino-Perez, the Trailblazers lost 86-78 at NewVic College.
Joshua Ward-Hibbert leads Derby averaging 18.8 points per game and Rema Lascelles is adding 12.3 points in just over 30 minutes of action.
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