In the BBL Cup, the One Health Sharks Sheffield, who have won the competition twice in the last three years, progressed by beating the Cheshire Jets 90-59.

Gage Daye led their scoring with 19 points, supported by 16 from Mike Tuck and 13 from Andrew Bridge.

The Sharks did most of the damage in the first half, despite a slow start that saw them trailing 3-8 after 4 points from Alif Bland got the Jets going.

But the Sharks hit back with the next 9 points, including 5 for Bridge as his triple gave them a 12-8 lead and set the tone for the remainder of the first half.

Bridge hit another three for a 17-11 lead, and then scored again to make it 23-15 before the quarter was up as he already had 11 points. That pattern became even more profound in a second stanza which the Sharks won by 15 points.

Olu Babalola immediately sent their lead into double-digits and it stayed of that magnitude until midway through the quarter at 30-20.

From there, the Sharks broke the game open with the next 13 points, sparked by 5 in a row from Micah Williams and including another 4 for Babalola.

The lead stayed at that margin through to half time, at 49-26.

Despite a fairly even third quarter, the Sharks outscored their visitors by 20-10 down the stretch to see the game out.

Elsewhere, the Eagles have now recorded six wins out of six in the defence of their BBL Championship crown, after overpowering their North East rivals the Durham Wildcats by 99-75.

Joe Chapman led their scoring as eight three-pointers helped him to 30 points, including a staggering 25 in the first half as the Eagles took control. Charles Smith added 22 points and Damon Huffman scored 18.

The first quarter was tight, with neither team establishing more than a one possession lead up to 12-11 in favour of the hosts midway through, before Chapman’s three-pointer changed the tone as the Eagles pushed into a 20-13 lead, Smith capping that run with a triple of his own.

But the second quarter was where the game was blown open, despite the Wildcats opening the scoring with Brad Guinane’s triple. The Wildcats didn’t score for the next six minutes, as the Eagles scored 23 unanswered points in a run that included 7 points for Smith and a trio of triples from Chapman, including two back-to-back that made the score 46-20.

Chapman added another two three-pointers, for four in just two minutes, as the lead reached 54-22, staying at that margin to the half at 56-24. The Eagles had won the second quarter 33-7 and up to that point Chapman and Smith – the duo that fired the Eagles to the title last year – had 40 points between them. There was no way back for the visitors, despite a spirited second half.

Finally, the Surrey Heat – BBL Cup winners in 2006/07 – progressed to the last eight of the competition with an emphatic 51-103 rout of the Mersey Tigers. Chavis Holmes led the Heat with 19 points, supported by 16 each from Sam Cricelli and Julius Joseph; every Heat player got on the scoresheet in the game. Eboige led the Tigers with 10 points, but he was their only player in double figures.

The visiting Heat asserted themselves on the game immediately, storming out to a 9-28 lead in the first quarter. The second quarter was the only bright spot for the Tigers, and it included an 8-0 run as they nearly matched their visitors, the score being 22-25 over the ten minutes and seeing the Heat maintain a comfortable lead at 31-53 at the halfway point.

But the Heat closed the game down after the break as they opened the third period with a 14-4 spell to make the score 35-67. And they only compounded their hosts’ misery as they pushed further ahead in the fourth quarter, winning it 27-9 for a winning margin that more than doubled the Tigers’ score.

Story – BBL

Photos – MPhotography

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