BBL Championship
Plymouth City Patriots 77 – 87 Manchester Giants (23-19, 43-41, 61-61)
(Patriots: Hassan, 19; Gadsden, 15; Bell/Dusha, 12 – Giants: Williams, 23; Lewis, 18; Roberson, 12)
BBL Championship
Caledonia Gladiators 88 – 70 Surrey Scorchers (23-18, 49-42, 66-65)
(Gladiators: Sloan, 22; Durham, 15; Tape, 14 – Scorchers: McFolley, 20; Carey, 18; Ogedengbe, 8)
Manchester Giants outlasted the
Plymouth City Patriots, 87-77 in a thrilling affair at the Plymouth Pavilions
on Sunday.
Dirk Williams was a deciding factor
for the Giants side, recording 23 points, four steals and a block, going 5/9
from beyond-the-arc. Nick Lewis added 18 points on an efficient 70% from the
field, coming off the bench.
Rassad Hassan led the Patriots with
19 points in a game that marked Markedric Bell’s last game for the south-west
side this season, as he will return home for personal reasons.
The impactful American forward, who
has appeared in all 23 Patriots games this season – averaging 11 points and
five rebounds per game – was welcomed with a standing ovation prior to tip-off.
The home side got off to a strong start with two three-pointers to open up the scoring, courtesy of Jules Dang Akodo and Ty Gadsden.
Soon after, guard Elvisi Dusha
choreographed a crafty drive and fake move to get to the hoop for a nice layup.
William Lee heated up for the Giants
early on, connecting well with fellow Giant Tajh Green for an inside look,
before knocking down an all-net three-point shot from deep.
A Williams steal and dagger shot
reduced Plymouth’s lead to just one, midway into the opening quarter.
Bell checked into the ball game and
opened up his scoring tally in style with a triple from the top of the
perimeter, keeping the home team ahead slightly.
Williams somehow got an awkward
corner shot to drop over multiple Patriots defenders to keep it a tight game.
But with a minute to spare, another
Patriots steal, this time from Gadsden, found Bell on the fastbreak, able to
draw a foul and visit the free throw line – the scoreline standing nervously at
21-19.
A thunderous block from Williams
kept the Patriots’ attack in check temporarily, before Gadsden got a teardrop
layup to fall over the Giants’ towering inside defenders, rounding up an
exciting first period, the Patriots nudged out in front, 23-19.
Manchester started the better in the
second period of play as centre Legend Robertin executed a clean hook-shot
inside the key, followed by a dominant putback dunk.
Patriots, however, hit back
strongly, maintaining a solid lead behind three triples from Bell, while Rashad
Hassan cleaned up the offensive boards to get the hosts up to a ten-point
advantage.
Lewis and Williams served up a pair
of electrifying triples late in the quarter for Manchester to quash Plymouth’s
lead to just two points.
On the next Giants play, relentless
rebounder Anthony Roberson battled inside to notch an equalising bucket.
Collecting an offensive rebound in
the final seconds, Dusha put away an incredible circus shot from behind the
basket to beat the buzzer which gave the Patriots a 43-41 lead at halftime.
Virtually level across the stats
board, both teams delivered a gripping second half of action. Patriots began
scoring duties for the second half, with a deep three from Dang Akodo raising
the roof of the near sell-out crowd at the Pavilions.
Replying energetically, Giants forward Green served up a poster dunk of serious proportion past a pair of Plymouth jerseys.
A few more smooth outside shots from
Williams and a Roberson dunk propelled Giants into the lead as the third
quarter timer approached the five-minute mark.
Patriots forged a swift comeback effort, capped off by a eye-catching poster dunk down the lane by Bell, with Dusha recording his ninth assist of the contest.
An exchange of deep shots between
Lee and Gadsden kept the score neck-and-neck in the closing minutes.
Isa Brandon successfully poached the
ball from the Giants attack on consecutive plays to provide the hosts with
plentiful opportunities to score, establishing a five-point lead with under a
minute to spare.
Roberson erupted for a burst of
points for the visitors in the closing 30 seconds, with the score level at
61-61 heading into the fourth quarter.
Hassan dropped the first two points
of the closing quarter from a textbook fadeaway jumper. Dang Akodo bolstered an
effective start for the home team with another three-pointer to his name.
No lead is safe when Green is on the
floor – an acrobatic putback layup followed up by a charge draw enabled the
visitors to retake the lead once again in a thrilling back-and-forth battle.
The Giants began to pull away thanks
to back-to-back conversions from Williams, while Green continued to anchor down
defensive duties.
Though Hassan’s successive buckets
closed the gap, two vital three-point efforts from Williams and Lee placed the
lead firmly in Manchester’s favour.
Coming up clutch in the closing stages, the Manchester Giants picked up their 13th win of the season. For the Patriots, they recorded their first defeat in three games.
A big fourth quarter lifted the
Caledonia Gladiators past the Surrey Scorchers 88-70 at the Emirates Arena.
Trailing heading into the fourth,
the hosts raced clear of their Surrey counterparts with a 22-5 burst in the
last ten minutes.
Helping the Gladiators record their
third consecutive home win, talented guard David Sloan contributed 22 points,
five rebounds, and five assists, while young centre Patrick Tape added 14
points, seven rebounds, and two blocks on the way to victory.
Scorchers got hot early with guards
Kyle Carey and recent acquisition Josh McFolley getting early triples to fall,
getting off to an 8-2 start.
Getting straight back into the contest, Patrick Tape did a stellar job getting his shots to drop both inside and outside the perimeter, while David Sloan’s corner three ended Surrey’s fierce start.
Al Durham provided the hosts with
their first lead of the game off the back of a nice one-dribble pull-up inside
of the arc.
Both sides exchanged buckets –
however the Gladiators put together a 10-0 run, with centre Fahro Alihodzic and
forward Prince Onwas executing some pretty moves.
Gladiators rounded off a solid 23-18
opening period with a chain of passes unselfishly, locating Fraser Malcolm on
the trail, who finished on the left-hand side.
Caledonia continued to attack
intensely through Surrey’s defence, David Sloan getting a handful of clinical
scores to get the hosts up by double-digits.
Charleston Dobbs, Josh Steel and McFolley provided the trailing Scorchers with a trilogy of three-pointers to get the visitors back within five of the hosts late in the second quarter.
Restricting the Gladiators with easy
buckets as well as another triple courtesy of Tayo Ogedengbe, the Scorchers
reduced Caledonia’s lead further with time winding down.
A pair of nice plays changed
Caledonia’s fortunes; Tape took trips to the charity stripe as he worked hard
inside, and Jonny Bunyan sank a corner three to extend the lead to eight.
Former Gladiator Boban Jacdonmi took
to the sky to deliver a strong two-handed dunk for the Scorchers, keeping the
hosts on their heels. At the half, Caledonia took a 49-42 lead.
Thrills continued in the second half
as Carey got things going for the Scorchers, getting a strong and-one play to
keep Scorchers hot on Caledonia’s tail.
A clean jumper from Sloan got the
hosts out of a scoring slump, before Surrey sharpshooter Ogedengbe stepped up
again to nail a wing triple keeping up the pressure.
McFolley’s third triple of the game,
coming from way downtown, put the Scorchers just two points behind.
Yet, a well-timed move on
Caledonia’s very next possession from Durham sent him to the line for an
and-one play, keeping the Gladiators slightly ahead by five.
Finishing the third quarter with
back-to-back scores, however, Surrey flipped the game on its head, finding
themselves trailing by a single point, 66-65.
With a display of tight, organised
defence from either side, it took just over three minutes before the deadlock
was broken by Caledonia big Alihodzic, who got an easy layup to go catalysed by
a Kyle Jimenez steal on the other end.
Edging out further, Caledonia looked
to Sloan and Onwas to tally up valuable points as mere minutes remained in the
contest.
Powering forward with a 13-0 run, the Gladiators put the game away comfortably in the end, despite a valiant effort from the Scorchers.
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