Raiders destroy Phoenix streak at ten

Jordan Clarke scored 28 points and had 10 rebounds for Raiders while Taylor King matched his scoring in a losing effort for John Coffino’s side.

Raiders’ accuracy from beyond-the-arc was surpassed by Glasgow Rocks, who connected on 20 of their triples to thrash Scottish rivals Falkirk Fury 112-46 to reach the final eight.

Worcester Wolves began their defence of the BBL Trophy with a hard-fought 86-84 win at Durham Wildcats.

Newcastle Eagles are still competing for all four pieces of BBL silverware after winning their first-round Trophy tie 112-90 against Reading Rockets.

Sheffield Sharks prevailed in the other Trophy contest against Manchester Giants, holding on for a 79-76 success behind 25 points from BJ Holmes.

Quote of the Week

Everybody in the League knows Sheffield are a very good team with a lot of veterans.

They just brought in Mike Cook, who will definitely help them out. I have been in this league a long time and I know that going away to Sheffield is always a difficult game, every year.Riders’ Head Coach Rob Paternostro

Raiders stop Phoenix in their tracks

‘NIX’ big three amass 75 pts but it’s not enough

BBL Trophy
Plymouth Raiders 109 (27, 59, 85) (Clarke 28, Hampton 23, Benson 20)
Cheshire Phoenix 100 (29, 49, 76) (King 28, Watt 24, DiNunno 23)

Plymouth Raiders produced a superb shooting display to end Cheshire Phoenix’s winning streak at 10 games, and advance to the quarter-finals of the BBL Trophy with a 109-100 success.

Raiders Head Coach Jay Marriott. Photo via Plymouth Herald

Jay Marriott’s men looked in danger of slipping to a fourth defeat in six games as they fell 16 points behind in the first period.

But sparked by the introduction of new signing Gareth Murray – who started the season with John Coffino’s side – Raiders rallied and connected on 11 first-half three pointers to move in front. It was always going to take something special to bring Phoenix’s phenomenal run to an end, and so it proved.

Pierre Hampton hit all five of his long-range attempts as Raiders made 16 in total.

Cheshire were by no means struggling to score however. Taylor King had 28 points, 15 of those from beyond-the-arc, while Demond Watt had 24 to go with his game-high 14 rebounds.

But on the night Plymouth always had a man willing to hit the big shot at the right time and on more than one occasion that was Brent Benson, although Hampton’s dagger triple to restore a double-digit lead with four minutes to play was key.

Jordan Clarke was instrumental inside and out for Raiders with 28 points and 10 boards in a win that could have a big impact on the club’s season.

Merciless Rocks destroy Falkirk

BBL Trophy
Falkirk Fury 46 (15, 25, 36) (Munnoch 14, Gibson 8, Foussas 7)
Glasgow Rocks 112 (30, 64, 89) (Huffor 19, Ogedengbe 18, Jonny Bunyan 15)

Another trophy slips through the fingers of the Rocks. Photo by Dave Moore.

Glasgow Rocks’ hopes of a second straight BBL Trophy Final on their home floor are still alive after they cruised into the quarter-finals with a 112-46 victory at Falkirk Fury on Sunday.

Rocks lost out to Worcester Wolves in the 2014 showpiece at Emirates Arena, but wasted no time in asserting their dominance in their opening tie of this year’s campaign, connecting on six three-pointers in the first quarter, and from there they never looked back.

Sterling Davis’ men would hit 20 of their 36 attempts from long range by the end of the contest while making each of their eight free-throw attempts and shooting 60% from the field as a whole.

The Scottish league champions simply could not live with Rocks’ rapid rate of scoring and trailed by 29 points at half-time.

With the result beyond doubt, Davis took the opportunity to share the load, with all nine players seeing at least 16 minutes of action, eight of them scoring in double figures.

Jonny Bunyan had 15 points off three-of-three three-point shooting, as he played against a team coached by his father, John, and including his brother, and ex-Rock, Keith.

Huffor led all scorers with 19 as Ogedengbe added 18 while Bryan Munnoch paced Fury with 14.

Wildcats push Wolves to the brink

BBL Trophy
Durham Wildcats 84 (16, 32, 59) (Mayindombe 20, Urli 18, Puk 14)
Worcester Wolves 86 (22, 42, 22) (Owumi 22, Radojevic 20, Holmes 13)

BBL Trophy holders Worcester Wolves held off a spirited fight-back from Durham Wildcats to win their first-round tie 86-84 at Newton Aycliffe on Sunday.

Alex Owumi led Paul James’ with 22 points, include some key scores in the vital moments down the stretch.

Wolves had led by as many as 19 points earlier in the contest before Lee Davie’s men erupted into life after half-time behind Panos Mayindombe, who would finish with a team-high 20 points.

Despite being without dominant big man Robert Thurman, Wolves appeared in control early on, with new signing Dejan Radojevic a force once again, tallying 20 points.

But wildcats were not going to give up their Trophy campaign without a fight and they finished the third period on an 8-3 spurt as Mayindombe made his presence felt.

Wildcats were within a single point with 14 seconds remaining following a triple from Fran Urli. But last season’s BBL Trophy Final MVP Jamal Williams, and then Radojevic, kept their cool at the free-throw line to secure a place in the quarter-finals.

Rockets put up a good fight but Eagles move on

BBL Trophy
Reading Rockets 90 (22, 44, 64) (Zurn 27, Turman 15, Carter 14)
Newcastle Eagles 112 (29, 53, 84) (Jones 26, Smith 16, Martin 15)

There was to be no BBL Cup hangover for Newcastle Eagles on Sunday as they overcame Reading Rockets 112-90 to reach the quarter-finals of the BBL Trophy.

The Basketball England Division One club caused the newly-crowned Cup winners and league leaders real problems before Fab Flournoy’s side’s class and experience told late on.

Rockets led 16-13 early on before a burst of nine points in one minute saw Eagles wrestle the advantage.

But the hosts kept coming and it was not until a head injury to Alex Zurn forced him to leave the game in the third quarter that Eagles really took control.

Charles Smith rolled back the years to close the period with two dunks to underline his team’s new-found dominance heading into the final 10 minutes.

He would finish with 16 points, in support of a team-high 26 for Andre Jones with Eagles’ 13 three-pointers also key to victory.

Zurn had tallied 27 points before his evening was curtailed by an unfortunate injury, as Rockets gave a strong account of themselves.

Sharks hold on to win a classic

BBL Trophy
Manchester Giants 76 (18, 39, 51) (Holmes 25, Lewis 22, Cook 10)
Sheffield Sharks 79 (20, 42, 59) (Gill 16, Bankevics 13, Watts 12)

BJ Holmes sees Sharks over the line with stunning shooting display. Library photo.

Sheffield Sharks held off Manchester Giants to halt a three-game slide with a 79-76 away success, which secures their spot in the BBL Trophy quarter-finals.

Sharks set the tone from the opening tip, pouring in three three-pointers in the first 76 seconds to jump out to a 9-0 start.

Giants regrouped and transformed the contest into a nip and tuck battle, which would go right to the wire, but Atiba Lyons’ men held on.

Sharks’ refreshed backcourt of BJ Holmes and Mike Cook, along with Nick Lewis, bred the composure necessary to see their team over the line in a tense final few minutes.

Holmes finished with a game-high 25 points while Lewis added 22 and Cook had 10.

Stef Gill (16), Ignus Bankevics (13) and David Watts (12) provided Giants’ primary scoring options, often from three-point range, but they could not prevent a third consecutive defeat, which owed much to that slow start.