1995–96 British Basketball League season

1995–96 British Basketball League season
League	British Basketball League
Sport	Basketball
Roll of Honour
BBL champions	London Towers
Play Off's champions	Birmingham Bullets
National Cup champions	London Towers
BBL Trophy champions	London Towers

The 1995–1996 BBL season was known as the Budweiser League for sponsorship reasons. The league featured a total of 13 teams, playing 36 games each. The division retained the same thirteen teams as the previous year after the BBL rejected an application from Crystal Palace who had sealed the National League Division One (the second tier) title. The main change saw the Sunderland Scorpions renamed the Newcastle Comets due to a change of franchise and venue, their new home would be in Gateshead until the newly built Newcastle Arena opened on 18 November. The Manchester Eagles also had a new home at the Nynex Arena and the sport was boosted by the return of TV coverage by Sky Sports.^[1]

London Towers clinched a treble, winning the National Cup, 7 Up Trophy and finishing top of the regular season standings. They were defeated in the Championship Play-off final by Birmingham Bullets.^[2]

Budweiser League Championship (Tier 1)

Final standings

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	Percentage
1. London Towers	64	36	32	4	0.889
2. Sheffield Sharks	60	36	30	6	0.833
3. Birmingham Bullets	52	36	26	10	0.722
4. Leopards	46	36	23	13	0.638
5. Manchester Giants	42	36	21	15	0.583
6. Derby Storm	42	36	21	15	0.583
7. Worthing Bears	38	36	19	17	0.527
8. Thames Valley Tigers	32	36	16	20	0.444
9. Newcastle Comets	22	36	11	25	0.305
10. Leicester City Riders	22	36	11	25	0.305
11. Doncaster Panthers	20	36	10	26	0.277
12. Chester Jets	16	36	8	28	0.222
13. Hemel Royals	12	36	6	30	0.166

	= League winners
	= Qualified for the Play-offs

The Play-offs

Quarter-finals

(1) London Towers vs. (8) Thames Valley Tigers

Thames Valley Tigers

87–118

London Towers

London Towers	94–81	Thames Valley Tigers
London win series, 2–0

(2) Sheffield Sharks vs. (7) Worthing Bears

Worthing Bears

75–78

Sheffield Sharks

Sheffield Sharks	79–60	Worthing Bears
Sheffield win series, 2–0

(3) Birmingham Bullets vs. (6) Derby Storm

Derby Storm

78–92

Birmingham Bullets

Birmingham Bullets	96–88	Derby Storm
Birmingham win series, 2–0

(4) Leopards vs. (5) Manchester Giants

Manchester Giants

72–76 (OT)

Leopards

Leopards

74–83

Manchester Giants

Leopards	73–75	Manchester Giants
Manchester win series, 2–1

Semi-finals

London Towers

95–86

Manchester Giants

Wembley Arena, London

Sheffield Sharks

68–82

Birmingham Bullets

Wembley Arena, London

Final

05 March 1995^[3]

Birmingham Bullets	78–72	London Towers
Pts: Nigel Lloyd 23, Tony Dorsey 22, Emiko Etete, Trevor Gordon, Stedroy Baker		Pts: Tony Windless 19, Steve Bucknall, Martin Atlan

Wembley Arena, London
Attendance: ?
Birmingham Coach Nick Nurse
London Coach Kevin Cadle

National League Division 1 (Tier 2)

Final standings

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	Percentage
1. Crystal Palace	44	22	22	0	1.000
2. Coventry Crusaders	38	22	19	3	0.864
3. Ware Rebels *	33	22	17	5	0.773
4. Cardiff Phoenix	28	22	14	8	0.636
5. Bury Wildcats	26	22	10	12	0.455
6. Stockton Mohawks	20	22	10	12	0.455
7. Brixton TopCats	18	22	9	13	0.409
8. Mid-Sussex Magic	18	22	9	13	0.409
9. Nottingham Knights	14	22	7	15	0.318
10. Plymouth Raiders	14	22	7	15	0.318
11. Oldham Celtics	10	22	5	17	0.227
12. Solent Stars	6	22	3	19	0.136

= League winners

One point deducted *

Sainsbury's Classic Cola National Cup

Fourth Round

Team 1	Team 2	Score
Derby Bucks	London Towers	65-82
Hemel Hempstead Royals	Coventry Crusaders	101-73
Sheffield Sharks	Chester Jets	71-40
Worthing Bears	Leopards	82-87
Newcastle Comets	Manchester Eagles	107-121
Ware Rebels	Thames Valley Tigers	71-103
Crystal Palace	Doncaster Panthers	82-81
Birmingham Bullets	Leicester Riders	94-72

Quarter Finals

Team 1	Team 2	Score
Thames Valley Tigers	London Towers
Crystal Palace	Leopards	80-75
Sheffield Sharks	Manchester Eagles
Hemel Royals	Birmingham Bullets	72-84

Semi Finals

Team 1	Team 2	1st Leg	2nd Leg
Crystal Palace	Sheffield Sharks	63-70	68-74
Birmingham Bullets	London Towers	79-77	77-99

Final

03 March 1996^[4]

London Towers	70–58	Sheffield Sharks
Pts: Martin Henlan (MVP), Neville Austin, Roger Dulhaney, Tony Windless, Danny Lewis, Steve Bucknall		Pts: Roger Huggins, Todd Cauthorn

Sheffield Arena
Attendance: ?
London Coach Kevin Cadle
Sheffield Coach Jim Brandon

7 Up Trophy

Group stage

Northern Group

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	Percent
1.Derby Storm	8	4	4	0	1.000
2.Chester Jets	4	4	2	2	0.500
3.Doncaster Panthers	4	4	2	2	0.500
4.Leicester City Riders	2	4	1	3	0.250
5.Newcastle Comets	2	4	1	3	0.250

Southern Group

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	Percent
1.Worthing Bears	6	3	3	0	1.000
2.Birmingham Bullets	4	3	2	1	0.667
3.Leopards	2	3	1	2	0.333
4.Hemel Royals	0	3	0	3	0.000

Chester finished ahead of Doncaster by having the best head-to-head record between the teams. London, Manchester, Sheffield and Thames Valley all received a bye into Quarter-finals.

Quarter-finals

Chester Jets vs. Birmingham Bullets

Chester Jets

89–108

Birmingham Bullets

Birmingham Bullets	92–89	Chester Jets
Birmingham win on aggregate, 200–178

Manchester Giants vs. Sheffield Sharks

Manchester Giants

78–81

Sheffield Sharks

Sheffield Sharks	77–66	Manchester Giants
Sheffield win on aggregate, 155–144

Thames Valley Tigers vs. London Towers

Thames Valley Tigers

82–89

London Towers

London Towers	85–66	Thames Valley Tigers
London win on aggregate, 174–148

Worthing Bears vs. Derby Storm

Worthing Bears

86–88

Derby Storm

Derby Storm	93–99	Worthing Bears
Sheffield win on aggregate, 185–181

Semi-finals

London Towers vs. Birmingham Bullets

London Towers

64–62

Birmingham Bullets

Birmingham Bullets	75–92	London Towers
London win on aggregate, 156–137

Worthing Bears vs. Sheffield Sharks

Worthing Bears

86–87

Sheffield Sharks

Sheffield Sharks	69–72	Worthing Bears
Worthing win on aggregate, 158–156

Final

13 January 1996^[5]

London Towers	90–84	Worthing Bears
Pts: Tony Windless (MVP), Steve Bucknall, Danny Lewis, Martin Henlan, Roger Duhaney		Pts: Colin Irish

National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham
Attendance: ?
London Coach Kevin Cadle
Worthing Coach Colin Irish

Seasonal awards

Most Valuable Player: Tony Dorsey (Birmingham Bullets)
Coach of the Year: Kevin Cadle (London Towers)
All-Star Team:
- Tony Dorsey (Birmingham Bullets)
- Karl Brown (Leopards)
- Steve Bucknall (London Towers)
- Todd Cauthorn (Sheffield Sharks)
- Roger Huggins (Sheffield Sharks)
- LaKeith Humphrey (Derby Storm)
- Colin Irish (Worthing Bears)
- Danny Lewis (London Towers)
- Mark Robinson (Manchester Giants)
- Tony Windless (London Towers)

References

↑ "Nicholas Harling. "Basketball shooting high as TV returns." Times [London, England] 9 Sept. 1995". The Times Digital Archive.
↑ BBL Media Guide 2003/04, page 11
↑ "Nicholas Harling. "Bullets triggered by Dorsey's power." Times [London, England] 6 May 1996". The Times Digital Archive.
↑ "Nicholas Harling. "Towers stay on track for a clean sweep." Times [London, England] 4 Mar. 1996". The Times Digital Archive.
↑ ""Towers leave it late to rise to the challenge." Times [London, England] 15 Jan. 1996". The Times Digital Archive.

Preceded by 1994–95 season	BBL seasons 1995–96	Succeeded by 1996–97 season

British Basketball League

Bristol Flyers Cheshire Phoenix Glasgow Rocks Leeds Force Leicester Riders London Lions Manchester Giants Newcastle Eagles Plymouth Raiders Sheffield Sharks Surrey Scorchers Worcester Wolves

Competitions	BBL Championship (Play-off Finals) BBL Cup BBL Trophy Cup Winners' Cup (defunct) Women's British Basketball League

Seasons	1972-73 1973-74 1974-75 1975-76 1976-77 1977-78 1978-79 1979-80 1980-81 1981-82 1982-83 1983-84 1984-85 1985-86 1986-87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17

Awards	Individual: Coach of the Year Most Valuable Player Team: British Team of the Year Defensive Team of the Year Team of the Year

Other	BBL TV Expansion British Basketball Union English Basketball League Scottish National League National Cup National Basketball League

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