The Cheshire Phoenix were able to fight off a resilient Surrey Scorchers side and come away with one of the toughest wins of the British Basketball League season so far, winning away from home 101-103.
With this win the Phoenix improved to a record of 3-2 while the search for the Scorcher’s first win continues as they drop to 0-4.
Starting Five:
Surrey Scorchers starting five: Cameron Gooden, Saiquan Jamison, Josh Steel, Tayo Ogedengbe, Justin Robinson
Cheshire Phoenix starting five: Cam Christon, Laquincy Rideau, Maceo Jack, Ej Stephens, Skyler White
First Half:
The first five minutes saw the two teams go neck and neck as they kept exchanging buckets.
Surrey managed to break away slightly as the quarter progressed, going up by seven (17-10) when Padiet Wang scored off the offensive rebound.
Laquincy Rideau kept Cheshire close (26-23) with two easy layups after stealing the ball twice.
But the home side managed to extend their lead at the end of the period to eight (33-25) when Jeron Quin Cooper faked his defender and drained the triple on the buzzer.
The start of the second quarter saw the Scorchers reach their biggest lead of the game when Cooper hit another three, bringing the difference to double digits for the first time (36-25).
The Phoenix fought back quickly and within two minutes went on a 13-1 run, taking the lead (37-38) after Jack Hudson converted both his free throws.
Rideau kept putting on a clinic, finishing the half with 17 points and six assists, providing some big highlights, twice finding his teammates with beautiful passes.
As the half was drawing to a close, the two teams kept exchanging baskets, with the visitors taking a four-point lead going into the break (52-56).
Second Half:
The second half saw Surrey chip away at the lead, coming to within one point of their opponents (57-58), when Cameron Gooden scored an and-one.
A couple of minutes later saw the hosts take the lead (62-61) for the first time since the middle of the second quarter after Tayo Ogedengbe converted both of his free throws.
Cheshire weren’t going to surrender their lead that easily however and on the back of a 13-2 run, managed to take their first double-digit lead of the game (64-74) when Rideau finished the fast break with a euro-step.
The American put his team up by as many as 13 points (64-77) following an and-one on the next play.
The highlight of the period belonged to the Scorchers, when Josh Steel stole the ball and passed it to Andrew Lawrence, who threw the alley-oop pass to Wang for the monster dunk (71-79).
Surrey entered the final 10 minutes with all to play for nine points down and chipped away at the lead after two consecutive threes by Cooper and Steel, before a layup by Lawrence (82-86) forced Coach Thomas into calling a timeout.
The hosts clawed it back to within two (89-91) when Wang converted from beyond the arc with five minutes left.
The Phoenix increased their lead back up to nine (92-101) when Maceo Jack dunked on the fast break.
With two minutes left to play the Scorchers gave it their all and went on a 9-2 run, but fell just short after Cooper missed a floater with 0.6 seconds left on the clock, allowing Cheshire to come away with the 101-103 win.
Player of the Game:
Tonight’s Player of the Game was Laquincy Rideau. The Cheshire Phoenix guard had a double-double of 27 points and 12 assists, as well as six rebounds.
Team | Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
Surrey Scorchers | Josh Steel | 20 | 3 | 3 |
Surrey Scorchers | Andrew Lawrence | 17 | 2 | 4 |
Cheshire Phoenix | Laquicy Rideau | 27 | 6 | 12 |
Cheshire Phoenix | Maceo Jack | 26 | 15 | 3 |
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