1994–95 British Basketball League season

1994–95 British Basketball League 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

The 1994–1995 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.

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

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	Percentage
1. Sheffield Sharks	58	36	29	7	0.805
2. Thames Valley Tigers	56	36	28	8	0.777
3. London Towers	56	36	28	8	0.777
4. Manchester Giants	52	36	26	10	0.722
5. Doncaster Panthers	50	36	25	11	0.694
6. Leopards	46	36	23	13	0.638
7. Worthing Bears	40	36	20	16	0.555
8. Birmingham Bullets	36	36	18	18	0.500
9. Derby Bucks	20	36	10	26	0.277
10. Hemel Royals	18	36	9	27	0.250
11. Leicester City Riders	16	36	8	28	0.222
12. Chester Jets	12	36	6	30	0.166
13. Sunderland Scorpions	8	36	4	32	0.111

	= League winners
	= Qualified for the Play-offs

The Play-offs

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

30 April 1995

Worthing Bears	77–73	Manchester Giants
Pts: Alan Cunningham 19, Colin Irish 19, Cleave Lewis 16, Herman Harried 16		Pts: Mark Robinson 28, Kevin St Kitts 20, Cam Johnson, Trevor Gordon

Wembley Arena, London
Attendance: ?
Worthing Coach Alan Cunningham
Manchester Coach Mike Hanks

National League Division 1 (Tier 2)

Final standings

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	Percentage
1. Crystal Palace	42	22	21	1	0.955
2. Coventry Crusaders	36	22	18	4	0.818
3. Ware Rebels	34	22	17	5	0.773
4. Oldham Celtics	28	22	14	8	0.636
5. Brixton TopCats	26	22	13	9	0.591
6. Stockton Mohawks	20	22	10	12	0.455
7. Bury Wildcats	18	22	9	13	0.409
8. Nottingham Cobras	18	22	9	13	0.409
9. Plymouth Raiders	14	22	7	15	0.318
10. Solent Stars	14	22	7	15	0.318
11. Slough Waterside	12	22	6	16	0.273
12. Swindon Sonics	2	22	1	21	0.045

= 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

05 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

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

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)

References

↑ ""Leopards step in." Times [London, England] 12 Aug. 1994". The Times Digital Archive.
↑ BBL Media Guide 2003/04, page 12
↑ "Nicholas Harling. "Sharks seek the big fish in Europe." Times [London, England] 7 Mar. 1995". The Times Digital Archive.

Preceded by 1993–94 season	BBL seasons 1994–95	Succeeded by 1995–96 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

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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