Cheshire Phoenix lost ground in their bid to secure a top-five spot in the BBL after falling to defeat in a low scoring game against the Riders.
It was the third time this season that Rob Paternostro’s Leicester side have got the better of John Lavery’s men.
The defeat, coupled with London Lions victory over Surrey United on Friday night, saw the Nix fall two points behind the Lions – although the two sides have to face each other twice in the remaining five games of the BBL regular season.
In front of an enthusiastic crowd at the Northgate Arena on Sunday, the Nix were made to pay for a slow start, with the Riders going in at the end of the first period 19-9 to the good thanks to some clinical shooting and excellent defensive work.
The second period began in a similar vein, with the Nix unable to find their rhythm and the influential talents of Victor Moses being kept relatively quiet by the Riders.
With the Nix heading into the locker room 40-27 down at the half-time break, head coach Lavery must have been fearing another offensive lock-out by the Riders, who limited the Nix to just 43 points at the Northgate Arena back in October when they romped to a 78-43 triumph.
However, the Nix side that took to the court on Sunday night is made of sterner stuff nowadays and rallied in the third period.
Michael Creppy’s early three set the Nix on their way to eight unanswered points as they chipped away at the Riders lead.
The home side enjoyed a period of dominance on the court, where they shut out the Riders in a three minute spell of excellent defence, narrowing the deficit to just four points at 41-37.
The visitors were not to be denied, however, and put together a 9-0 run of their own to stretch the lead to 62-46 going in to the fourth.
Despite the offensive efforts of Nix high-scorer Donatas Visockis (17), Creppy (14) and the league’s leading scorer this season, Moses (14), the home side couldn’t claw back the deficit in the fourth.
The Nix had narrowed the gap to 10 but Jay Couisnard inspired the Riders offence to a 77-57 lead before the Nix ended the game with five unanswered points.
The Riders victory kept alive their hopes of a second-place finish.
Nix head coach Lavery said: "It was a tough game but we didn't play particularly well if I'm honest.
"We just weren't strong enough and our offensive game just wasn't good enough and we didn't make them pay. Defensively we were very good and did well to keep them under 80 points. When you do that, you expect to run a team closer than we did.
"I thought beforehand that it was a game that we could have won and we see it as a chance lost. We just couldn't get things clicking offensively and we just weren't getting any joy. Sometimes you have one, two or three players who are posting big numbers but we just didn't have that.
"Taking the positives, it was a good defensive effort and we can take that into the game against the Lions on Friday night."
The Nix face a double-header with the Lions this weekend, visiting London on Friday night (7.30pm) before entertaining Vince Macauley’s charges at the Northgate Arena on Sunday (5.30pm).
