May 2, 2001 14:18: The 2000/2001 basketball season has been the most ambitious ever for HARIBO London Towers writes Peter Scrimgeour.

The Crystal Palace-based club has competed in the British Basketball League (BBL), uni-ball trophy, ntl National Cup, in addition to two European leagues, the Euroleague the premiere basketball competition in Europe, and the Northern European Basketball League (NEBL).

The demanding schedule saw the Towers play a total of 66 games all over Europe from Edinburgh to Estonia, Spain to Sweden, and as far east as the Ukraine.

With 40 wins, Towers finished the season with a success rate of 60.6 per cent.

The Towers won the BBL's Southern Conference Championship for the second straight year.

They dominated the league taking 27 out of 34 games and won 20 consecutive BBL games during a stretch mid-season.

The streak was a club record, beating the previous streak of 19 games, which was set during the 96-97 season.

Unfortunately, they were upset 87-79 by Leicester Riders in the BBL semi-final and knocked out of the Championship play offs.

In their debut NEBL season, Towers secured fifth spot in the 16-strong league after the regular season to advance through to the first round play-offs.

It was a fantastic achievement that was made even more remarkable by the fact that 13 of their games in the NEBL were on the road.

In the two-game play-off, Towers fell short in their efforts to overturn a massive 27 points first leg deficit winning 97-81 at home to lose on aggregate 178-167 and thus, were eliminated from the quarter finals.

In the highly competitive Euroleague, Towers recorded a historic first victory over German side, Opel Skyliners of Frankfurt, 86-61. The win was to prove the only one of the competition, however, Towers have been rewarded for their competitive debut Euroleague campaign with a place in the competition for two seasons

Towers' pair ok Kendrick Warren and Steve Bucknall were voted by all 13 head coaches of the BBL as the second and third best players in the BBL All Star Team.

American forward, Warren, 6ft 8ins, joined the HARIBO London Towers at the start of the season and has proved the Towers' best scorer with 20.66 points per outing.

Teammate Bucknall, a former England international, was another of Towers' best players, with an average of 15.97 points per game.

London Towers Supporters Club voted Steve Bucknall HARIBO London Towers' Most Valuable Player, and Wayne Henry was voted Most Improved Player.

By Peter Scrimgeour