PLYMOUTH Raiders’ play-off hopes suffered a major blow when they were heavy beaten 109-75 at second-placed Leicester Riders.

The only way injury-hit Raiders can now claim a top eight spot is to win their remaining three matches and hope Bristol lose their final two fixtures.

On Wednesday night, Jay Marriott’s side had to take on in-form Leicester without Pierre Hampton, Brent Benson, Jordan Clarke and Louis Sayers, who were all either injured all ill.

The city side battled hard in the first quarter and only trailed 29-23 at the end of that period, but then Leicester turned on the style. The home side powered to a 57-35 half-time lead and never looked back.

TrayVonn Wright topped scored for Leicester with 21 points, while Ben Mockford was Raiders’ leading scorer with 20.