Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders enjoyed a perfect weekend with victories in two vital games.

They landed a 82-63 home victory over Essex Pirates on Saturday and followed up with a 92-87 success at Guildford Heat yesterday.

Saturday's win was built on some tenacious defence and an impressive third-quarter spell from back-up centre Barry Lamble.

Randy George proved a handful for Riders in the first quarter, netting 12 points as Essex opened up a 22-12 lead.

But the combination of Bradd Wierzbicki and Jason Johnson helped Riders turn a 19-26 deficit into a three-point lead with a spell of 15-5.

Led by the Westbrooks brothers, Riders stepped up their defensive intensity in the second half and it was too much for the Pirates to cope with. Lamble played a pivotal role as Riders made their decisive move late in the third period.

In the last three minutes of the quarter, Riders outscored Essex 13-2 with Lamble netting six and the Westbrooks hitting the other seven to open a 64-53 lead.

Riders' advantage did not dip into single figures after that as they held the Pirates to just 10 fourth-quarter points.

Johnson recorded 17 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks but, perhaps most impressively, netted 11 of his 12 foul shots, an area that has been his Achilles heel this year. Coach Rob Paternostro will be delighted with a performance in which every player made a key contribution.

Riders: Johnson 17, Wierzbicki 13, Lamble 12, I Westbrooks 12, A Westbrooks 8, James 7, Windless 5, Durant 5, Williams 3.

Pirates: George 17, Adu 11, Hundert 10, Rodrigo 8, Mumuni 8, Sing 6, Metcalfe 3, Wallace, Williams.

Wierzbicki led they way in Surrey yesterday.

He was in sensational form with 36 points, including hitting all 15 of his free-throw attempts and bagging three of his four attempts from long range.

Riders led for most of the second half, but found themselves 84-82 behind in the closing seconds. Wierzbicki levelled the match and then, after a Heat turnover, he nailed two foul shots to give Riders the lead.

Riders again forced Guildford to concede possession and Duane James doubled the advantage with 18 seconds remaining. LaTaryl Williams made it 89-84, but a three-point play from Tayo Ogedegebe with five seconds left reignited Guildford's hopes. Isaac Westbrooks had the chance to seal the win from the foul line and, although his second attempt rimmed out, Tony Windless was on hand to rebound and score with 1.2 seconds remaining.

Guildford had opened a double-figure lead in the first few minutes, but Aaron Westbrooks and Lamble helped Riders cut the gap to 22-19 at the end of the first quarter.

After a tight second quarter, Riders gained the upper hand in the third, leading by as many as six, thanks to some excellent play from Wierzbicki.

But they could not finish off the Heat and Julius Joseph's triple inside the last two min-utes set up the dramatic finale.

Heat: Langhorne 23, Joseph 17, Martin 14, Drakeford 8, Ogedegebe 8, McKnight 8, Popoola 7, Jordan 2, Ociepa, Sandell, Poskus.

Riders: Wierzbicki 36, Johnson 15, James 12, A Westbrooks 9, I Westbrooks 7, Lamble 6, Williams 3, Durant 2, Windless 2.