One Health Sharks Sheffield moved level with Worcester Wolves at the top of the BBL Championship after an 81-70 victory over London Lions.

At the heart of everything the Sharks did was skipper Mike Tuck and point guard BJ Holmes.

The pair showed their quality late in the match with a play that gave Sheffield a 76-68 lead to seal the victory.

Holmes shook off the attentions of three Lions defenders to make a precision pass to Tuck who made the difficult finish look simple.

The teams had entered the fourth quarter tied at 51-51 and were still level at 58-58 before Sharks’ Demetrius Jemison (Pictured throwing another one down) had all the points in a 6-0 burst.

A 4-0 Lions run cut a 10 point deficit back to six at 74-68 before the Holmes to Tuck play sparked a 7-2 finish to the match for Sharks.

London, with Chez Marks making an impressive debut, led 15-9 in the first quarter before Sharks rattled off the next six points to level the match at 15-15 after ten minutes.

Sheffield were again behind in the second period before a 10-0 burst put them 32-28 on top. A two by Jeremie Simmons edged Sharks 38-35 in front at half time but the third quarter saw the lead exchange hands several times before finishing 51-51.

Marks ended with 19 points and five of ten from the three-point line. Both teams made frequent, successful, trips to the free throw line with Sheffield ending with 18 of 24 and Lions 18 of 22.

Worcester Wolves will finish 2013 atop the BBL Championship table after beating Birmingham Knights 102-72, behind Alex Owumi’s 24 points.

They have finished the year with five straight wins, scoring more than a century in four of those, to pace One Health Sharks Sheffield, Leicester Riders and Esh Group Eagles Newcastle.

The last round of BBL Championship fixtures in 2013 were all about teams making up ground as Leicester Riders closed the gap on Worcester Wolves at the top, and both London Lions and Plymouth University Raiders made progress in their pursuit of the top four.

The Riders overcame Glasgow Rocks 60-70 at the Emirates Arena to finish the year in a strong position, just one win behind the Wolves with two games in hand. Jay Couisnard’s 18 points and 8 rebounds helped them to their fifth straight win, and fifth road win in a row dating back to the start of October.

Rod Brown, in his 200th BBL Championship game, led fifth-placed London Lions to a crucial 96-82 defeat of Esh Group Eagles Newcastle, the team that they are chasing. It ended a run of three consecutive losses to other top four teams, as the Lions led for much of the game and Brown had 21 points and 11 assists.

Finally, the Raiders also maintain a pursuit of the top four after beating Manchester Giants 90-74 in the South West, with a dominant third quarter. They were led by the performance of the day from Matt Pressey who had 27 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists.