BBL: GB's Ovie Soko makes winning start at London Lions

Ovie Soko opened his London Lions account with a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds

Love Island star Ovie Soko opened his London Lions career with 18 points as the team won their opening league game of the season 88-72 against Glasgow.

The Lions, who were knocked out of the BBL Cup last weekend by Leicester, are the reigning BBL champions.

There were also wins for Bristol, Cheshire, Sheffield, Worcester, Leicester and Newcastle as the 2019-20 league season got under way.

In the WBBL Cup, holders Sheffield made the semi-finals by beating Nottingham.

The Lions beat Glasgow to get back on track after their defence of the BBL Cup, the first of the two trophies they won last season, came to an early end.

Brandon Peel was joint top scorer for the Lions with 18 points while Soko, who has played at the highest level in Europe and was described by coach Vince Razaq as "a major cog in the wheel", marked his BBL debut with a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Soko is expected to be named in the Great Britain squad for February's two internationals against Montenegro and Germany

Last season's runners-up, the Leicester Riders, also began with a win, 97-79 against Plymouth, Namon Wright and Jamell Anderson top scoring with 23 points apiece.

Plymouth lost 110-103 at home to Newcastle, Rahmon Fletcher scoring 32 points for the visitors.

Cup semi-finalists Bristol Flyers also lost twice, 93-87 at Surrey, and 85-71 at home to Sheffield, the team they knocked out of the cup the previous weekend.

In both games, Bristol were caught after the half-time interval, losing their two weekend third quarters by a combined score of 52-27.

The WBBL Cup semi-finals will be drawn on Tuesday night with holders Sheffield joined by Sevenoaks, Newcastle and Durham.

The closest of the quarter-finals was at Newcastle, where WBBL coach of the month Chris Bunten had a 16-point contribution from player of the Mmonth Georgia Ohrdorf to help beat Manchester Mystics 63-52.

"They had [GB international] Georgia Jones on our Georgia [Ohrdorf] and both teams struggled to score in a fantastic defensive game," said Bunten.

"The last few minutes Mante Kvederaviciute took over with eight points and that sealed the win for us."

Asha Thomas hit 27 points in Sheffield's 76-54 win over Nottingham, while Sevenoaks Suns rebounded from their first league defeat in 21 months by winning a potentially tricky tie at Leicester.

Great Britain international Janice Monakana led the Suns with 23 points in an 81-66 win. Elsewhere, Durham were always in control against Oaklands, with Betsy Macdonald's 25 points driving a 94-55 win.