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1994–95 British Basketball League season

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Sports season
1994–95 BBL season
LeagueBritish Basketball League
SportBasketball
Roll of Honour
BBL championsSheffield Sharks
Play Off's championsWorthing Bears
National Cup championsSheffield Sharks
BBL Trophy championsThames Valley Tigers
British Basketball League seasons
← 1993–941995–96 →

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. 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.

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. 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

Birmingham Bullets 85–81 Sheffield Sharks
Sheffield Sharks 65–55 Birmingham Bullets
Sheffield Sharks 71–67 Birmingham Bullets
Sheffield win series, 2–1

(2) Thames Valley Tigers vs. (7) Worthing Bears

Worthing Bears 89–79 Thames Valley Tigers
Thames Valley Tigers 97–94 Worthing Bears
Thames Valley Tigers 81–85 Worthing Bears
Worthing win series, 2–1

(3) London Towers vs. (6) Leopards

Leopards 77–92 London Towers
London Towers 78–87 Leopards
London Towers 91–73 Leopards
London win series, 2–1

(4) Manchester Giants vs. (5) Doncaster Panthers

Doncaster Panthers 108–112 (OT) Manchester Giants
Manchester Giants 82–74 Doncaster Panthers
Manchester win series, 2–0

Semi-finals

29 April 1995
Sheffield Sharks 72–84 Worthing Bears
Wembley Arena, London
29 April 1995
London Towers 102–109 (OT) Manchester Giants
Wembley Arena, London

Final

Sky Sports 2
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
Wembley Arena, London
Attendance: 8,500
Worthing Coach Alan Cunningham
Manchester Coach Mike Hanks

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
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
Sheffield Arena
Attendance: ?
Sheffield Coach Jim Brandon
Thames Valley Coach Mick Bett

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

Doncaster Panthers 69–75 Sheffield Sharks
Sheffield Sharks 88–64 Doncaster Panthers
Sheffield win on aggregate, 163–133

Thames Valley Tigers vs. Worthing Bears

Worthing Bears 91–87 Thames Valley Tigers
Thames Valley Tigers 105–91 Worthing Bears
Thames Valley win on aggregate, 192–182

Final

13 January 1995
Report
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

References

  1. ""Leopards step in." Times [London, England] 12 Aug. 1994". The Times Digital Archive.
  2. BBL Media Guide 2003/04, page 12
  3. "Nicholas Harling. "Sharks seek the big fish in Europe." Times [London, England] 7 Mar. 1995". The Times Digital Archive.
Preceded by1993–94 season BBL seasons
1994–95 		Succeeded by1995–96 season
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