1994–95 British Basketball League season
Sports season
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The 1994–95 BBL season was known as the Budweiser League for sponsorship reasons. The season featured a total of 13 teams, playing 36 games each. A major change saw the Guildford Kings franchise fold due to the club being unable to negotiate a viable contract with the owners of the Guildford Spectrum.[1] The league sold Kings' licence to a group headed by Robert Earl, Ed Simons and Harvey Goldsmith, who established the Leopards. Oldham Celtics dropped down a division to National League Division One.
| 1994–95 BBL season | |
|---|---|
| League | British Basketball League |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Roll of Honour | |
| BBL champions | Sheffield Sharks |
| Play Off's champions | Worthing Bears |
| National Cup champions | Sheffield Sharks |
| BBL Trophy champions | Thames Valley Tigers |
Newcomers Sheffield Sharks formerly Sheffield Forgers won the regular season and claimed the title in their rookie season in addition to becoming National Cup champions. Seventh-seed Worthing Bears caused a huge upset in the post-season Play-off to take the Championship crown with a memorable victory over Manchester Giants in the final.[2] The Thames Valley Tigers secured the BBL Trophy.
Budweiser League Championship (Tier 1)
Final standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | % | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sheffield Sharks | 36 | 29 | 7 | 0.805 | 58 |
| 2 | Thames Valley Tigers | 36 | 28 | 8 | 0.778 | 56 |
| 3 | London Towers | 36 | 28 | 8 | 0.778 | 56 |
| 4 | Manchester Giants | 36 | 26 | 10 | 0.722 | 52 |
| 5 | Doncaster Panthers | 36 | 25 | 11 | 0.694 | 50 |
| 6 | Leopards | 36 | 23 | 13 | 0.638 | 46 |
| 7 | Worthing Bears | 36 | 20 | 16 | 0.555 | 40 |
| 8 | Birmingham Bullets | 36 | 18 | 18 | 0.500 | 36 |
| 9 | Derby Bucks | 36 | 10 | 26 | 0.278 | 20 |
| 10 | Hemel Royals | 36 | 9 | 27 | 0.250 | 18 |
| 11 | Leicester City Riders | 36 | 8 | 28 | 0.222 | 16 |
| 12 | Chester Jets | 36 | 6 | 30 | 0.167 | 12 |
| 13 | Sunderland Scorpions | 36 | 4 | 32 | 0.111 | 8 |
| = League winners | |
| = Qualified for the play-offs |
Playoffs
Quarter-finals
(1) Sheffield Sharks vs. (8) Birmingham Bullets
(2) Thames Valley Tigers vs. (7) Worthing Bears
(3) London Towers vs. (6) Leopards
(4) Manchester Giants vs. (5) Doncaster Panthers
Semi-finals
Final
30 April 1995 16:30 |
| Worthing Bears | 77–73 | Manchester Giants |
| Scoring by quarter: 23–12, 14–23, 9–21, 31–17 | ||
| Pts: Cunningham/Irish 19, Harried 17, Lewis 16 Rebs: Harried 13 Asts: Irish 5 MVP: Alan Cunningham |
Pts: Robinson 28, St. Kitts 20, Boden 10 Rebs: St. Kitts 11 Asts: Johnson 7 | |
National League Division 1 (Tier 2)
Final standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | % | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crystal Palace | 22 | 21 | 1 | 0.955 | 42 |
| 2 | Coventry Crusaders | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0.818 | 36 |
| 3 | Ware Rebels | 22 | 17 | 5 | 0.773 | 34 |
| 4 | Oldham Celtics | 22 | 14 | 8 | 0.636 | 28 |
| 5 | Brixton TopCats | 22 | 13 | 9 | 0.591 | 26 |
| 6 | Stockton Mohawks | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0.455 | 20 |
| 7 | Bury Wildcats | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0.409 | 18 |
| 8 | Nottingham Cobras | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0.409 | 18 |
| 9 | Plymouth Raiders | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0.318 | 14 |
| 10 | Solent Stars | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0.318 | 14 |
| 11 | Slough Waterside | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0.273 | 12 |
| 12 | Swindon Sonics | 22 | 1 | 21 | 0.045 | 2 |
| = League winners |
National League Division 2 (Tier 3)
Final standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | % | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cardiff Phoenix | 20 | 18 | 2 | 0.900 | 36 |
| 2 | Mid Sussex Magic | 20 | 15 | 5 | 0.750 | 30 |
| 3 | Worcester Chiefs | 20 | 12 | 8 | 0.600 | 24 |
| 4 | Liverpool Atac | 20 | 12 | 8 | 0.600 | 24 |
| 5 | Oxford Dons | 20 | 12 | 8 | 0.600 | 24 |
| 6 | South Bank | 20 | 10 | 10 | 0.500 | 20 |
| 7 | Westminster | 20 | 9 | 11 | 0.450 | 18 |
| 8 | Sheffield Forgers | 20 | 8 | 12 | 0.400 | 16 |
| 9 | Northampton 89ers | 20 | 7 | 13 | 0.350 | 14 |
| 10 | Stevenage Phoenix | 20 | 5 | 15 | 0.250 | 10 |
| 11 | Greenwich Admirals | 20 | 2 | 18 | 0.100 | 4 |
| = League winners |
National Cup
Fourth round
| Team 1 | Team 2 | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Sheffield Sharks | Derby Bucks | 57–56 |
| Hemel Hempstead Royals | Leopards | 94–120 |
| Sunderland Scorpions | Doncaster Panthers | 94–99 |
| Ware Rebels | Birmingham Bullets | 94–110 |
| Chester Jets | Manchester Eagles | 78–76 |
| Worthing Bears | London Towers | 82–94 |
| Crystal Palace | Thames Valley Tigers | 60–74 |
| Coventry Crusaders | Leicester Riders | 79–83 |
Quarter-finals
| Team 1 | Team 2 | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Doncaster Panthers | Thames Valley Tigers | 59–78 |
| Leopards | London Towers | 76–75 |
| Chester Jets | Sheffield Sharks | 73–75 |
| Leicester City Riders | Birmingham Bullets | 79–99 |
Semi-finals
| Team 1 | Team 2 | 1st Leg | 2nd Leg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leopards | Thames Valley Tigers | 86-80 | 83–99 |
| Sheffield Sharks | Birmingham Bullets | 71-72 | 73–68 |
Final
5 March 1995[3] |
| Sheffield Sharks | 89–66 | Thames Valley Tigers |
| Pts: Roger Huggins 29, Todd Cauthorn 21, Chris Finch 15 | Pts: Steve Bucknall 24, Tony Holley 20, Peter Scantlebury 11 |
7 Up Trophy
Group stage
North Group 1
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | L | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.Doncaster Panthers | 10 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0.833 |
| 2.Leicester City Riders | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0.667 |
| 3.Derby Bucks | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0.333 |
| 4.Sunderland Scorpions | 2 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0.166 |
North Group 2
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | L | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.Sheffield Sharks | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0.750 |
| 2.Manchester Giants | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0.750 |
| 3.Chester Jets | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.000 |
South Group 1
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | L | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.Thames Valley Tigers | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0.750 |
| 2.Birmingham Bullets | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0.750 |
| 3.Hemel Royals | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.000 |
South Group 2
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | L | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.Worthing Bears | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0.750 |
| 2.London Towers | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0.500 |
| 3.Leopards | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0.250 |
Sheffield finished ahead of Manchester by having the best head-to-head record between the teams. Thames Valley finished ahead of Birmingham by having the best head-to-head record between the teams.
Semi-finals
Doncaster Panthers vs. Sheffield Sharks
Thames Valley Tigers vs. Worthing Bears
Final
13 January 1995 |
| Thames Valley Tigers | 74–69 | Sheffield Sharks |
| Pts: Peter Scantlebury 21, Steve Bucknall 15, Tony Holley 14, Neville Austin | Pts: Garnet Gayle 23, Roger Huggins 13, Ploutos Vourliotis, Todd Cauthorn |
National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham Attendance: 4,000 Thames Valley Coach Mick Bett Sheffield Coach Jim Brandon |
Seasonal awards
- Most Valuable Player: Roger Huggins (Sheffield Sharks)
- Coach of the Year: Jim Brandon (Sheffield Sharks)
- All-Star Team:
- Roger Huggins (Sheffield Sharks)
- Karl Brown (Leopards)
- Steve Bucknall (London Towers)
- Chris Fite (Doncaster Panthers)
- Herman Harried (Worthing Bears)
- Nigel Lloyd (Birmingham Bullets)
- Mark Robinson (Manchester Giants)
- Peter Scantlebury (Thames Valley Tigers)
- Tony Windless (London Towers)
- Robert Youngblood (Leopards)