London Lions basketball team maintained their perfect record with a 88-73 victory over Surrey Scorchers after a dominant first-half on Friday evening.

The victory saw the Lions improve to 4-0 in the BBL Cup group stage, securing them a place in the quarter-finals.

Additionally, a home win against Bristol Flyers on Sunday is going to go a long way towards securing home-court advantage in the last eight.

After both Lions and Scorchers players, staff and fans remembered London’s assistant coach Andrea Boreland who died last week with 24 seconds of applause, the home side produced a stunning first period.

The always reliable Chris Tawiah got the hosts off to a great start, with dunk and scores from Isaiah Reese and Jordan Williams which saw them rush into a 6-0 lead.

Saiquan Davis got the visitors off the mark, but Lions replied with a 7-0 run capped by a Dirk Williams triple and it was one-way traffic as Julian Washburn’s three made it 22-6 on the five-minute mark.

Inevitably Scorchers did manage to slow the hosts down after such a blistering start, but a Dirk Williams lay-up sent Vince Macaulay’s team into the first break 29-14 ahead.

Dirk Williams quickly added to that lead with a trey to open the second period.

Kylor Kelley made it 40-18 midway through the quarter and Lions remained in control as Lorenzo Cugini’s triple sent the home side into the locker room leading 52-29.

A triple from Dirk Williams opened the second half but it was Scorchers who started the third period well, as Martelle McLemore’s floater made it 56-43 with five minutes on the clock.

The visitors got the margin down to nine points with 86 third-period seconds remaining, but Lions finished strongly as Kelley’s ally-oop from Reese’s assist sent them into the final break with a 63-50 lead.

Scorchers refused to go quietly with Lamar Hamrick and Tayo Ogedengbe hitting treys to make it 67-58 with just over two fourth-period minutes gone but that was as good as it got for the away side as another Kelley dunk got the crowd on their feet.

A step back trey from Washburn saw Lions take a 73-60 lead into the final three minutes.

Dirk Williams joined in the fun from downtown to make it a 17-point game with four minutes on the clock and effectively wrap up the win.