1993–94 British Basketball League season

The 1993–94 BBL season was known as the Budweiser League for sponsorship reasons. The season featured a total of 13 teams, playing 36 games each.

1993–94 BBL season
LeagueBritish Basketball League
SportBasketball
Roll of Honour
BBL championsThames Valley Tigers
Play Off's championsWorthing Bears
National Cup championsWorthing Bears
BBL Trophy championsThames Valley Tigers
British Basketball League seasons

The BBL secured a three year £1 million sponsorship deal with Budweiser and the divisions were re-organised once again.[1] The Budweiser League would be tier one with the National League Division's below. The Budweiser League increased in number with the addition of the Division One champions Doncaster Panthers. The Cheshire Jets became the Chester Jets.

Thames Valley Tigers claimed the League Trophy and stormed to the regular season title, however the Bracknell-based side suffered a shock defeat to Derby Bucks and saw them eliminated in the Quarter-final of the Budweiser Championship Play-offs.[2] Nevertheless, Tigers' Nigel Lloyd and Mick Bett were both awarded accolades as Most Valuable Player and Coach of the Year respectively. Worthing Bears also secured a double success by winning the play-offs and securing the National Cup.

Budweiser League Championship (Tier 1)

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Final standings

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Pos Team Pld W L % Pts
1 Thames Valley Tigers 36 31 5 0.861 62
2 Worthing Bears 36 30 6 0.833 60
3 Manchester Giants 36 29 7 0.805 58
4 Guildford Kings 36 24 12 0.667 48
5 London Towers 36 21 15 0.583 42
6 Birmingham Bullets 36 21 15 0.583 42
7 Leicester City Riders 36 20 16 0.555 40
8 Derby Bucks 36 17 19 0.473 34
9 Doncaster Panthers 36 13 23 0.362 26
10 Sunderland Scorpions 36 13 23 0.362 26
11 Chester Jets 36 11 25 0.305 22
12 Hemel Royals 36 3 33 0.083 6
13 Oldham Celtics 36 1 35 0.028 2
= League winners
= Qualified for the play-offs

Playoffs

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Quarter-finals

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(1) Thames Valley Tigers vs. (8) Derby Bucks

Thames Valley Tigers 79–91 Derby Bucks
Derby win series, 2–0

(2) Worthing Bears vs. (7) Leicester City Riders

Worthing Bears 104–77 Leicester City Riders
Worthing win series, 2–0

(3) Manchester Giants vs. (6) Birmingham Bullets

Manchester Giants 90–88 Birmingham Bullets
Manchester win series, 2–0

(4) Guildford Kings vs. (5) London Towers

Guildford Kings 66–53 London Towers
Guildford win series, 2–1

Semi-finals

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Final

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1 May 1994 [3]
16:00
Worthing Bears 71–65 Guildford Kings
Scoring by quarter: 10–15, 17–19, 16–11, 28–20
Pts: Cunningham 16, Irish 15, Harried 12
Rebs: Irish 12
Asts: Harried/Nelson 3
MVP: Colin Irish
Pts: Byrd 15, Politi 13, Cummings/Henlan 12,
Rebs: Henlan 11
Asts: Byrd 3
Wembley Arena, London
Attendance: 9,000
Worthing Coach Alan Cunningham
Guildford Coach Kevin Cadle

National League Division 1 (Tier 2)

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Final standings

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Pos Team Pld W L % Pts
1 Coventry Crusaders 18 16 2 0.889 32
2 Crystal Palace Mavericks 18 12 6 0.667 24
3 Cardiff Heat 18 11 7 0.611 22
4 Sheffield Forgers 18 10 8 0.556 20
5 Brixton TopCats 18 10 8 0.556 20
6 Stockton Mohawks 18 9 9 0.500 18
7 Ware Rebels 18 8 10 0.444 16
8 Solent Stars 18 7 11 0.389 14
9 Bury Lobos 18 4 14 0.222 8
10 Plymouth Raiders 18 3 15 0.167 6
= League winners

National League Division 2 (Tier 3)

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Final standings

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Pos Team Pld W L % Pts
1 Nottingham Cobras 20 18 2 0.900 36
2 Chiltern Fastbreak 20 15 5 0.750 30
3 Swindon Sonics 20 13 7 0.650 26
4 Guildford Storm 20 13 7 0.650 26
5 Liverpool Atac 20 12 8 0.600 24
6 Stevenage Phoenix 20 12 8 0.600 24
7 Mid Sussex Magic 20 11 9 0.550 22
8 Northampton 89ers 20 8 12 0.400 16
9 London Elephants 20 4 16 0.200 7*
10 Leicester Falcons 20 3 17 0.150 6
11 Lewisham Lightning 20 1 19 0.050 2
= League winners

National Cup

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Third round

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Team 1 Team 2 Score
Derby Bucks Worthing Bears 80-94
Hemel Hempstead Royals Thames Valley Tigers 75-98
Sunderland Scorpions Doncaster Panthers 83-80
Ware Rebels Leicester City Riders 56-71
Birmingham Bullets Swindon Sonics 66-54
London Towers Chester Jets 61-69
Brixton TopCats Manchester Giants 86-110
Oldham Celtics Guildford Kings 73-92

Quarter-finals

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Team 1 Team 2 Score
Sunderland Scorpions Thames Valley Tigers 80-89
Cheshire Jets Worthing Bears 79-102
Manchester Giants Birmingham Bullets 99-85
Leicester City Riders Guildford Kings 55-64

Semi-finals

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Team 1 Team 2 1st Leg 2nd Leg
Manchester Eagles Thames Valley Tigers 72-93 80-98
Worthing Bears Guildford Kings 71-68 93-77

Final

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5 March 1994[4]
Worthing Bears 92–83 Thames Valley Tigers
Pts: Nigel Lloyd 21, Peter Scantlebury 17, Michael Hayles 13, Alan Cunningham 12, Colin Irish 12, Tony Holley Pts: Herman Harried 33, Steve Nelson 20, Cleave Lewis 15
Sheffield Arena
Attendance: ?
Worthing Coach Alan Cunningham
Thames Valley Coach Mick Bett

League Trophy

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Group stage

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North Group 1
Team Pts Pld W L Percent
1.Leicester City Riders 6 3 3 0 1.000
2.Derby Bucks 2 3 1 2 0.333
3.Doncaster Panthers 2 3 1 2 0.333
4.Chester Jets 2 3 1 2 0.333
North Group 2
Team Pts Pld W L Percent
1.Manchester Giants 4 2 2 0 1.000
2.Sunderland Scorpions 2 2 1 1 0.500
3.Oldham Celtics 0 2 0 2 0.000
South Group 1
Team Pts Pld W L Percent
1.Worthing Bears 4 2 2 0 1.000
2.London Towers 2 2 1 1 0.500
3.Birmingham Bullets 0 2 0 2 0.000
South Group 2
Team Pts Pld W L Percent
1.Thames Valley Tigers 4 2 2 0 1.000
2.Guildford Kings 2 2 1 1 0.500
3.Hemel Royals 0 2 0 2 0.000

Semi-finals

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Manchester Giants vs. Leicester City Riders

Leicester City Riders 84–90 Manchester Giants
Manchester win on aggregate, 176–158

Thames Valley Tigers vs. Worthing Bears

Thames Valley Tigers 89–78 Worthing Bears
Thames Valley win on aggregate, 177–172

Final

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16 Jan 1994 [5]
Thames Valley Tigers 79–73 Manchester Giants
Pts: Tony Holley 28, Nigel Lloyd, Mike Obaseki Pts: Trevor Gordon
National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
Attendance: ?
Thames Valley Coach Mick Bett
Manchester Coach Jeff Jones

Budweiser All-Star Game

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Sky Sports
March 1994
7.05pm GMT
Northern All-Stars 140–148 Southern All-Stars
Pts: Tyrone Thomas, 26
Granby Halls, Leicester
Attendance: 2,000

Seasonal awards

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References

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  1. ^ ""Budweiser make deal." Times [London, England] 16 Sept. 1993". The Times.
  2. ^ BBL Media Guide 2003/04, page 12
  3. ^ ""Cunningham bows out on winning note." Times [London, England] 2 May 1994". The Times.
  4. ^ ""For the Record." Times [London, England] 7 Mar. 1994". The Times.
  5. ^ ""Tigers retain Trophy." Times [London, England] 17 Jan. 1994". The Times.
Preceded by BBL seasons
1993–94
Succeeded by