The Lions' Rod Brown netted the first points at their new home arena as the London outfit opened up a narrow three-point lead going into the second quarter.

The Giants came back fighting in the second period and took the lead as David Watt landed a three-pointer to make it 20-22 to the visitors, but the rampant Lions took control as they were roared on by their home crowd, netting 11 unanswered points to leave the scores standing at 47-31 going into the half-time interval, with an opening day victory now looking a formality.

Brown, who led the scoring for the Lions with 22 points, was on hand once again to extend the lead to 20 points after the break, but the Giants were far from beaten.

Manchester launched a stunning comeback on a Lions side that had looked extremely comfortable throughout the match led by debutant top scorer Rob Marsden, and when James Jones netted to put the visitors within one point of their opponents at 71-70 with over four minutes left on the clock, it looked as if the home team's fairytale start to life on the Olympic Park could be in jeopardy.

The Lions regained their composure however, led by joint-top scorer Joe Ikhimnwin- who scored 22 points and got 14 rebounds in the match- and the veteran pairing of Brown and Julius Joseph to secure an 80-75 victory.

London Lions' Rod Brown led the way to victory with 22 points on the night

Elsewhere on the BBL opening night, the Sheffield Sharks took a convincing 73-61 win over Cheshire Phoenix at the English Institute of Sport (EIS), and last year's BBL league and Cup runners-up, the Newcastle Eagles, overcame the Durham Wildcats 85-78 at Sport Central.

Tomorrow see's the rest of the sides in action for the first time this season, with the stand-out fixture set to take place in the Midlands as the league and cup holders Leicester Riders host the Birmingham Knights, who face a daunting task on their BBL debut.

Surrey United will host the Worcester Wolves at Surrey Sports Park in Saturday's final fixture, before the London Lions are in action again on Sunday against the University of Plymouth Raiders.

On the same night, Cheshire Phoenix will play host to Newcastle, and the Giants will face the Sheffield Sharks.

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