Clapham aren’t accustomed winning without Jeremy Gill.
They’ve grown quite familiar losing to Lakers though – regardless of his status.
Ricardo Jemmott had 14 of his season-high 30 points in the fourth quarter, including 12 of his team’s last 14 points, as Lumber Company Lakers continued their recent Premier League basketball dominance of Act II Popcorn Clapham Bulls via Saturday’s 78-64 win at the YMCA.
The result was the Husbands side’s eighth victory in the last nine meetings with Clapham, who only just ended a seven-game losing streak in the series last season.
And Bulls were never likely of bucking the recent trend without the suspended Gill, following last Thursday’s ejection of their leading scorer and playmaker from the Pinelands game.
But it’s not certain what difference if any, Gill’s presence would have made in the face of Jemmott’s onslaught, which began with a towering ten-point third-quarter showing.
However, Jemmott’s real worth came over the final 5:43 minutes, as the sweet-shooting six-foot-nine forward routinely shot over the top of each clueless Clapham forward to change a tense 58-56 contest into a 72-58 rout.
Shooting guard Adrian Allman actually sparked the run, scoring a pair of transition lay-ups and two free throws in a stretch of six unanswered points that ended a back and forth start to the period.
But it was Jemmott who had the real foray in a spell that included two free throws, a put-back and an acrobatic catch and finish off a high-arching lob from Allman.
He even blocked the trash-talking Mark Foster for good measure, all the while Bulls could only manage a Rahiim Gibbons floater in that span.
Stefan Yarde finally ended the drought with a neat, twisting drive and score, but Clapham still had no answer for Jemmott, who responded with a pair of short jumpers and an uncontested dunk to wrap up the proceedings.
This was after Clapham had actually led by as many as 13 (41-28) in the third quarter following a 9-0 burst from Gibbons and Sydney “Bouncer” Rowe to start the half.
However, Derek Browne hit a rare triple in reply, before Jemmott sank two midrange jumpers as part of the Lakers’ sequence of 11 unanswered points.
Jemmott eventually put Lakers ahead on yet another short jumper before reserves Jamar Grazette and Ormond Haynes cemented their 51-48 advantage.
Jamar King added 12 points and Allman finished with ten for Lakers, who improved to a 3-2 record. Gibbons had a team-leading 18 points for Clapham (6-2), who lost the league lead with that defeat.
Earlier, Kirk Shaw had ten third-quarter points and Andre Pierre added eight of his season-high 16 in that period as First Works Warriors recorded a league-best sixth straight win in a 75-68 victory over Co-operators General Tridents.
Nicholai Williams added 14 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks in a triumph that put Warriors (6-1) at the top of the standings.
Dario Cumberbatch led Tridents (3-5) with 15 points and Mark Bridgeman had 12 points and 18 boards.
