BURY — Jack Hudson finished with 18 points and six assists, and David Ulph had 17 points and 10 rebounds, but Lancashire lost 77-63 to Loughborough at Castle Leisure Centre on Saturday.
Ulph had his team-best sixth double-double of the season whilst David Walsh added 13 points for the Spinners (5-16, 4-12 National League 1), who were without leading scorer Mark Rangeley.
Loughborough (12-10, 11-7) was led by Levi Noel’s 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including a trio of 3-pointers. James Ward-Hibbert and Jonas Dieterich each had 11 points.
“The season really starts from here for us,” said Spinners coach Neal Hopkins. “We’ve got Worthing next weekend and then a double-header the following, so the next four games is going to tell us where we are.”
The Spinners — falling to their sixth league defeat in a row – scored the first six points of the second half to erase a 36-30 deficit before tying the game twice over a 38 second stretch.
Noel would knock down a 3-pointer to break a 40-all tie with 7:13 remaining before Hudson brought Lancashire level for a fourth time in the third quarter. Loughborough, however, closed on a 5-0 run to carry a 50-45 lead.
Lancashire would convert under the basket to trail 58-56 early in the final frame, but a 10-0 burst, sparked by a Lucien Christofis triple, helped Loughborough pull away.
“It’s frustrating knowing we’ve put in the work to keep it close for so long only to let it slip away,” said Walsh, who was 5-of-12 from the field. ”
Despite 11 turnovers, which was second fewest this season by the Spinners, the Student Riders converted those into 22 points and shot 50 percent from the field, including 60 percent after halftime.
NOTES: Connor Murtagh played 7:23 after missing four games with a shoulder injury … Mike Bernard returned to the line-up having missed consecutive games … Lancashire was just 11-of-18 at the free throw line … Entered shooting 64 percent in league play … Narrowly outscored Loughborough 26-24 in the paint, but edged 32-30 in rebounding … Led 10-8 on offensive boards … Lancashire shot 41 percent (23 of 56) … Spas Nikolov made his first start for the Spinners.
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