BBL Championship
(AOT) Bristol Flyers 87-82 London Lions (25-21, 40-39, 55-54, 76-76)(Flyers: Olison, 26; King, 16; Watson-Gayle, 14 — Lions: Taylor, 20; Hruban, 15; Best, 13)
BBL Championship
Caledonia Gladiators 106-97 Manchester Giants (29-25, 54-52, 85-78)(Gladiators: Alihodzic, 29; Sloan, 18; Onwas, 17 — Giants: Fletcher, 26; Green, 21; Williams, 20)
BBL Championship
Surrey Scorchers 78-79 Newcastle Eagles (24-22, 41-37, 58-55)(Scorchers: Jacdonmi/Wang, 18; S.Johnson, 16; Carey, 8 — Eagles: K. Johnson, 26; French, 17; Cohn, 15)
BBL Championship
Plymouth City Patriots 85-99 Leicester Riders (16-25, 39-46, 63-74)(Patriots: Dusha, 19; Bissainthe, 18; Hassan, 12 — Riders: Jackson, 24; Loving, 15)
BBL Championship
Cheshire Phoenix 83-80 B. Braun Sheffield Sharks (20-17, 38-37, 57-56)(Phoenix: Evans, 34; Teague/Archibald, 13; Anderson, 11 — Sharks: Koch, 20; Ratinho, 16; Nichols/Ramsey, 12)
Bristol Flyers brought the newly crowned BBL champions London Lions, down to earth with an enthralling 87-82 win after a period of overtime in the SGS Campus on Sunday afternoon.
Trailing 74-73 late on, Josh Ward-Hibbert calmly drained a three to give London a two-point lead with nine ticks left, only for Jelani Watson-Gayle to score inside with 0.9 seconds to go to force overtime.
In a nervy extra period, where neither team gave an inch, finally, the Flyers made it a two-possession game with 3.9 seconds left to seal the win in an unforgettable clash between the league’s top two, providing the most incredible of adverts for the BBL.
Tevin Olison led Bristol with 26 points, going 6/8 from three-point land, with VJ King posting a double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Jordan Taylor led the champions with 20.
The champions showed no signs of slowing down in the first two minutes as they started with a 6-0 run before Olison got Bristol off the mark, to the delight of the sell-out crowd, with a three from the wing.
Olison hit from the same spot again to give the Flyers their first lead of the game as the physicality and intensity stepped up between the league’s top two sides.
It favoured the hosts, as they were feeling it from the field along with out-hustling the Lions defensively to take a 21-13 lead, highlighted by a colossal putback slam from VJ King off the miss from Watson-Gayle.
London were able to respond, led by Luke Nelson, as they took advantage of a few sloppy offences from Bristol, as a smooth jumper from Vojtech Hruban narrowed the gap to 23-19 with 57.3 seconds left in the first.
Shooting 3/7 from the three-point land compared to Lions 0/4, Bristol were comfortable from deep, and despite the champions levelling it up at 25-25 quickly in the second, King responded from the wing for a 28-25 lead with less than a minute played.
The Lions could not launch from deep as the Flyers’ perimeter defence was in check, but Olison had no such trouble, as he hit his fifth triple in six attempts to give the home side a 34-29 cushion with 4:29 remaining.
The Lions persevered, and Miye Oni knotted the game at 34-34 with 3:34 left as he hit London’s first three in eight tries, and thanks to a score from Nelson, they secured their first lead since the early stages of the first to push Flyers coach Andreas Kapoulas into a timeout.
And out of the timeout, Bristol recovered to take a 40-39 lead at the half, despite a highlight pass from Nelson to find Hruban for a four-point play for London in the last 90 seconds.
Bristol were able to extend their advantage as Brandon Mahan hit a three, only to be answered by a triple from Hruban.
It was nervy but exciting; you couldn’t take your eyes off the action as both teams fought tooth and nail to the finish.
There was no BBL Trophy hangover for the Caledonia Gladiators as they beat Manchester Giants 106-97 in an all-action affair at the Emirates Arena.
Fahro Alihodzic thrilled the Glasgow crowd with 29 points and six rebounds, going 12/17 from the field, with Trophy Final MVP David Sloan posting 18.
Rahmon Fletcher went for an explosive double-double of 26 points and 13 assists for the Giants.
The Gladiators started strong, especially inside, as they took an early lead, only for Fletcher to respond for Manchester as he single-handedly guided them with six of their first eight points.
And the Giants, who lead the league in points scored, were able to showcase their deadly transition game as Fletcher and Williams broke clear to give the visitors a 14-12 lead half-way through the period.
But with Legend Robertin out for Manchester, it opened the door for Alihodzic, who dominated the Caledonia, scoring in the first quarter with 12 of his side’s 29 points to take a four-point lead in what was an end-to-end first ten minutes.
Six straight points from the evergreen Fletcher and five from William Lee kept the Giants ahead, which was answered by Al Durham as the second quarter marked the same furious pace that was on show in the first.
Despite the fast pace, which traditionally is likened by Manchester, it was Caledonia who edged ahead at the half.
The Gladiators extended their lead to 71-64 with four minutes played in the third as the Giants could not execute from the field, but five straight points from the high-flying Tajh Green reduced the gap to a one-possession game.
And like the first two quarters, the pace and the execution never dropped, and the hosts led 85-78 heading into the fourth.
However, there was no grandstand finish as Caledonia ended the game at the foul line to get a significant victory in their battle for post-season spots.
Newcastle Eagles boosted their playoff hopes with a narrow 79-78 win over Surrey Scorchers at Surrey Sports Park.
It was ultimately another fourth-quarter collapse for the Scorchers, who had led for the majority of the game, only for Newcastle to take pole position.
Towards the end, though, the Eagles were not able to accelerate away as Surrey put together a spell to narrow the gap to 76-73 with 1:05 left.
Both teams struggled to get their offence going due to intense defence, but it was the Scorchers who reduced the deficit to a point with nine ticks left.
However, with all the confidence in a pressure situation, Jermel Kennedy drained a three in the corner with 3.6 seconds left to ice the game.
Kyle Johnson led all scorers for the winners with 26 points, supported by a 17-point, 18-rebound double-double by Hasahn French, as ninth-placed Newcastle’s win, helped by an eighth-seeded Patriots loss, narrowed the gap in the Playoff standings.
Boban Jacdonmi and Padiet Wang paced Surrey with 18 points, and the latter added nine assists.
Offensively, Newcastle seemed the more composed of the two teams taking an early lead, only for Andrew Lawrence to tie the game at 11-11 with a three-pointer.
Eagles quickly responded as French scored nine of his side’s first 13 points to retain the visitors’ advantage.
However, the overall gameplay became scrappy as both sides produced broken plays and missed attempts until Tayo Ogedengbe put the hosts ahead, followed by a score from Kyle Carey as they put together a solid sequence of team play.
And with Surrey leading as the first quarter came to a close, Newcastle produced perhaps their most excellent set as the buzzer sounded as Denzel Ubiaro fed Kyle Johnson for a beautiful reverse lay-up in traffic to give them momentum for the second.
The Scorchers managed to hang on to their lead in the first three minutes of the second, as back-to-back scores from Kyle Johnson were bettered by four points by Shakem Johnson and Josh Steel that, gave the hosts a 30-26 cushion.
Following the timeout from Eagles’ coach Marc Steutel, his side came out a better side.
The offence flowed through Johnson and French, but it worked as Scorchers’ Lloyd Gardner was forced into bringing his troops in as the visitors knotted the game at 32-32 with five minutes left in the half.
However, Surrey ended the second on a high by regaining the advantage, shooting 44% from the field, compared to the Eagles’ 40%, as they led 41-37 at the interval.
With both teams trading baskets at the start of the third, Surrey took charge with a 6-0 burst to take a 50-41 lead with three minutes of the quarter played.
Eagles recovered but still trailed as the Scorchers were the more composed of the two sides.
However, that composure seemed to fade away as both sides went cold from the field, but going into the fourth, the hosts still led by three.
That advantage was wiped away within the first minute as Justin Gordon hit from deep to tie the game at 58-58, and that was followed by a decisive 12-2 run by the visitors that proved to be the game-changer.
Leicester Riders kept their unbeaten streak against the Plymouth City Patriots with a 99-85 win at the Pavilions.
Zach Jackson led Leicester with 24 points and six rebounds, helped by 22 from Marc Loving, as the Riders claimed their 42nd win in a row against Plymouth.
Elvisi Dusha had 19 for the Patriots, but defeat, coupled with a Newcastle win, will be cause for concern for the team from the south-west.
Both teams executed in the opening plays, but the Patriots took the early initiative as scores from Elvisi Dusha and Rashad Hassan gave the hosts an early 11-8 lead.
The Riders quietly and efficiently responded with a 9-0 run, with the primary source of points coming through back door cuts and free throws to take a 17-11 cushion when a mid-range jumper from the elbow from Ralph Bissainthe stemmed the bleeding.
The pace of the game was furious, but it favoured the deeper Leicester side, as they were able to establish a double-digit advantage nearing the end of the first, which was cut to 25-16 with less than a minute left thanks to a three from Bissainthe.
As the second quarter progressed, the Riders’ lead grew as Kimbal MacKenzie drilled a three from the top, and despite a thunderous slam from James Hawthorne Jr., the visitors kept putting points on the board, leading 35-21 with 7:10 remaining in the half.
Slowly but surely, the Patriots hit back, reducing the deficit to as little as five points as they were fighting for every loose ball, attacking the basket and putting Leicester in the penalty.
And as a result, the sizeable double-digit advantage that the Riders enjoyed was reduced to 46-39 at the half.
However, Leicester restored their double-digit cushion once more, as they attacked the rim and hit their free throws as part of a 10-0 run to take a 65-51 lead with 4:20 left in the third.
The Patriots were able to shrink the deficit to single figures towards the end of the third, but the Riders still held a manageable lead heading into the fourth.
Any hopes of a comeback though from the hosts were dashed as the Riders maintained their double-digit lead throughout the final period to strengthen their top-four dreams.
Cheshire Phoenix edged the B.Braun Sheffield Sharks 83-80 in a topsy-turvy battle at the Ellesmere Port Sports Village.
Sheffield’s Jordan Ratinho tied the game at 80-80 with a three from the wing with less than a minute remaining. Marcus Evans responded by splitting his free throws, leaving the Sharks free to win the game with 13.9 seconds left.
The visitors had their chance, but a wide-open Ratinho clanged his three leaving the delighted Phoenix free to win the game from the foul line. Rodney Glasgow Jr. had another chance for the Sharks, but his three rimmed out.
Marcus Evans – who hit the game-winning free throws – led the Phoenix with 34 points as his side this time were on the winning side of the final possession as they put their BBL Trophy heartbreak behind them.
Bennett Koch paced Sheffield with 20 points.
After a cagey opening spell, it was the Sharks who broke clear first as Koch and Ratinho connected back-to-back to give the visitors a 15-9 lead.
Sheffield did enjoy an eight-point cushion as they forced the Phoenix’s starting five into early fouls, but the home side were able to respond and turned it around as a fadeaway from Amorie Archibald handed his Cheshire a 20-17 lead after one.
It was physical and closely-fought throughout, especially in the second as both teams matched each other but the Phoenix managed to stay ahead 38-37 at the half.
A three from Jamell Anderson to start the third, followed by a basket inside by David Ulph handed Cheshire a 43-37 cushion as they found their rhythm early as Sheffield failed to connect on their opening two field goal attempts.
But the Sharks hit back as the quarter wound down with a three-point play from Kipper Nichols giving them a 54-48 lead – their biggest lead of the quarter.
Like their counterparts, the Phoenix struck back themselves and took a one-point lead into the fourth.
The intensity of the game rose in the final quarter, setting the stage for an incredible ending, fitting for the final game of a remarkable day of action.
After this five-game extravaganza, the basketball world will Know Our Name. And the action will continue on Good Friday (7 April), with three more games to get excited for. Catch all the action here or buy a ticket and catch the red-hot action here.