Lower Seeds Keep On fighting

The Glasgow Rocks have replaced the Surrey Heat in fourth place after beating them 98-70 north of the border, thereby settling the head-to-head between the teams. It was the Rocks’ first win in three, and the first defeat in four for the Heat. Former Heat point guard EJ Harrison led the scoring with 24 points for the Rocks, while Gareth Murray added 23 and 10 rebounds.

The Rocks dominated the game from tip to buzzer after an excellent start as they allowed their visitors just one score in the opening four and a half minutes, taking an early 11-2 lead as Murray scored 6 and Harrison 5.

They expanded their lead in the second stanza through an early 10-0 burst, sparked by another Harrison three-pointer and being capped in kind by Brice Fantazia for a score of 34-17.

And, despite the Heat holding their own in the third period, there was no respite as the hosts consolidated their lead in the final ten minutes: Robinson’s 4 points and Wedemire’s triple comprised a 7-2 run to make the score 86-62, and the lead reached its peak, going through the 30 mark, at 98-68 on Dale Grieve’s three-pointer with 1.28 to play.

Elsewhere, the Worcester Wolves have kept their hopes of a top four finish alive with an 89-69 defeat of the third-placed Marjon Plymouth Raiders. The win ties the head-to-head between the teams, with a game to play in April, and sees the Wolves bounce back from three straight defeats, two of which were at home. After dominating the first half, the Wolves won the game from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter as Alex Owumi led the scoring with 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Sherrad Prezzie-Blue scored 14 and dished out 6 assists.

The Wolves dominated the first period as Owumi’s 15 early points saw them take a 28-8 lead that they would ultimately never relinquish. They stretched their lead before half time, as Kai Williams scored 5 points to make it 52-32 at the break. Despite only scoring 9 points in the third, and seeing their lead eroded to just 7 points in the fourth, a fine display of long-range shooting won the game as they finished with a 20-4 surge with Prezzie-Blue, Owumi, Stan Ocitti and Arnas Kazlauskas, with two, all hitting three-pointers.

Finally, the Manchester Giants kept their BBL Championship Playoff hopes alive as they defeated North West rivals the Mersey Tigers 67-93. The Giants have now won two of their last three and must win all of their remaining games to make the post-season. James Jones inspired this victory with 24 points, supported by 19 and 12 rebounds from Ben Eaves.

The game was tight throughout until the Giants dominated the final twelve minutes to take the win.

Holding a 46-49 lead they rattled off 10 straight points, including consecutive three-pointers from James Jones, to help them take a 51-61 lead into the decisive quarter; and they settled the game at the outset of the fourth quarter as they scored another 10 in a row early on, James Jones adding another five after igniting that run with a three-pointer, to push their lead out to 54-73.

They won the fourth emphatically, 15-32, as Eaves scored 9 points in the period.

Story – BBL

Photo – EJ – MPhotography

Photo – Sterling – Rock’s Web Site