Week 10 – Wolves Stay Top, Phoenix Crush Eagles

The BBL Cup semi-finalists – who, between them, have held that piece of silverware for the last four years – remain finely poised after their first leg games, on the same night that Worcester Wolves went top of the BBL Championship after serving up the highest scoring game of the season so far.

One Health Sharks Sheffield will take a three-point margin up the A1 after beating Esh Group Eagles Newcastle 82-79 at the English Institute of Sport in their first leg clash, behind 18 points each from Patrick Horstmann and Jeremie Simmons. The tight scoreline masks a game in which the teams traded substantial runs as both sought to secure a big lead. The Sharks held a double-digit lead at 37-27 in the second stanza, but were pegged back, and tried to make something stick later on as they scored the last five points of the third period. They carried a ten-point lead into the last four minutes at 76-66, but Malik Cooke scored nine late points for the Eagles and Paul Gause netted a pair of free-throws with one second to play to keep them within one shot for the second leg.

In the other semi-final Leicester Riders, the holders of the BBL Cup, took a step towards their fifth consecutive major final with an 89-95 defeat of Plymouth University Raiders in the South West. The Riders inflicted a first home defeat since the end of September on their hosts, as Jay Couisnard – MVP in last year’s Cup Final – posted a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds. After being held at 41-43 at the halfway point, Couisnard pushed the visitors into a double-digit lead by scoring five in a 7-0 burst, and they looked like they were going to carry a significant double-figure lead into the second leg of this tie as, entering the last minute, they led by 12 after Sullivan’s ‘and-one’ play. But Matt Pressey and Donald Robinson each scored triples late on to give the Raiders a real shot in the return fixture.

Finally, the Wolves sit atop the BBL Championship, for at least 48 hours, after beating the Manchester Giants by 118-102 at the University of Worcester Arena. Zaire Taylor inspired the win, live on BBL TV, with 37 points and 8 assists, shooting 8/9 three-pointers. And that was the story of the game: they raced into a 36-27 lead after the first quarter, having been rampant in the last four minutes with an 11-2 run including triples from Daniel Belgrave, Alex Owumi and Taylor. They completed possibly the best long-range shooting display of the season in the first half as Taylor opened the second stanza with two more triples and Wolves made four more in a 12-3 surge to lead 68-52 at the half. Going into the break Taylor had shot 7/7 from three-point range and the team were 12/17 (71%), better than their 12/23 (52%) effort from two-point range. The pace slowed only slightly in the second half, but the Giants could not get to within single-figures at any point. Taylor eventually missed from beyond the arc with two minutes to play.

Leicester Riders moved to with two points of BBL Championship leaders Worcester Wolves after a narrow victory over Manchester Giants in the East Midlands.

The Riders needed a basket 14 seconds from the final buzzer by Drew Sullivan to finally hold off the Giants 89-87. Manchester led going into the fourth quarter and also battled back from 83-78 but couldn’t edge ahead again as Sullivan worked his magic to give Leicester a vital win.

In the night’s other match Plymouth University Raiders turned on an offensive masterclass to beat Surrey United 105-59 at the Pavilions.

Gabriele Haskins was top scorer for the Raiders with 18 points as all five starters made double-figures and all 11 players named by coach Jay Marriott had at least two points. Brandon McGill had 31 of United’s points who slipped to their tenth league defeat.

Worcester Wolves and One Health Sharks fortified their positions at the top of the British Basketball League (BBL) standings, as Glasgow Rocks and Cheshire Phoenix defeated teams with better records to start December on a positive note.

The current league leaders Wolves eased past Durham Wildcats, taking a 100-86 victory behind a combined 62-point effort by Will Creekmore and Alex Owumi.

The game was close in the opening quarter, with the Worcester club leading only by five points at 23-18, but Wolves found their rhythm after a rough start and improved to a 10-3 mark.

The second-placed Sharks were forced to work hard for the 88-70 victory by the winless Surrey United, who made it a close game until the final quarter, when the Sheffield side pulled away.

Jeremie Simmons collected a team-high 20 points for Sharks, who are now 9-2, hitting five three-pointers, as Mike Tuck added 14 points and eight rebounds.

Elsewhere, London Lions had their six game winning streak snapped by Rocks, who broke away to an 82-73 victory late in the final period.

Daniel Northern paced the winners with 26 points and eight rebounds, with EJ Harrison adding 16 points and eight assists.

In the last game of the day, Cheshire Phoenix registered an 87-79 upset against Esh Group Eagles Newcastle, who are 8-3 now and share the fourth place in the standings with Lions.