The Marshall MK Lions comfortably beat the Essex Pirates by 70-99 to move clear of the Newcastle Eagles in second place in the BBL Championship. The Lions have now won ten of their last eleven games in all competitions, while the Pirates remain outside of the playoffs in eleventh place.

The Lions were led by 28 points from EJ Harrison, while Dawud Morris added 21 and Frank Holmes scored 16. The hosts were led by Walid Mumuni’s 13 points.

The Lions established a double digit lead in the opening quarter and never looked back: they led 18-28 after the opening ten minutes. The lead reached twenty points in the second stanza before a rally from the Pirates before half time saw the teams enter the locker rooms at 34-47.

The Lions halted that immediately after the break with a dominating 22-12 third quarter for a 46-69 lead, before seeing the game out in the fourth and falling just short of hitting the century mark for what would have been the fourth time in five games.