London Lions used a strong third quarter to create space between them and the Leicester Riders to go 2-0 in the British Basketball League Trophy on Sunday.

A 13-0 start to the second half, leaving Leicester scoreless for nearly six minutes, lifted the Lions to an 89-74 win at the Copper Box Arena.

Matt Morgan came back from injury with a bang, leading the Lions with 15 points with Donte Grantham adding 14.

Teddy Allen had 19 points in the first half but settled for 21 in the end to lead the Riders.

It was a scrappy first four minutes with London defending free-scoring Allen well, as he hit all his four points from the foul line, starting 0-4 from the field.

As the first timeout loomed, Leicester were only shooting 1-9, whereas the Lions were able to take a 10-7 lead with Tarik Phillip scoring four of those, going 50 per cent overall.

The introduction of Blake Bowman off the bench injected some life into the visitors, but on the other side, Luke Nelson did the same for the hosts, commanding the court on both sides.

As was the case with Josh Sharma as he got two quick buckets, the latter being a tip off the lob from Nelson to give London a 25-19 lead after one.

The gap jumped to 31-19 as London got good second chances, taking advantage of isolation plays from the Riders that came to nothing, and it was 50-40 at half-time.

The interval seemed to rejuvenate the Lions as they raced to a 13-0 start, hitting three from range as Leicester were sluggish, unable to get the ball in the hoop despite decent looks.

It wasn't until the sixth minute of the third qurter when the Riders finally got their first basket when Miryne Thomas got a tough lay-up to drop, followed by a triple from the wing by TJ Lall.

But London's hot start to the quarter was a huge difference maker, taking a comfortable 70-49 cushion after three.

Sharma brought the house down with a one-handed slam off the pick-and-roll to provide a highlight play, but Riders managed to claw the deficit a little with Kimbal Mackenzie and Allen narrowing the gap to 14 points having trailed by as many as 23.

However, the start of the third quarter proved to be the game-changer, as London made it two straight wins in the BBL Trophy.