BBL
Trophy
Plymouth City Patriots 113-66 Basketball Wales (34-18, 70-29, 99-45)
(Patriots – Josephs 22, Ubiaro 20, Hassan 14; Wales – Porter 16, Arthur 9, Kinder 9)
B. Braun Sheffield Sharks 77-90 Manchester Giants (20-21, 47-51, 57-72)
(Sharks – Delpeche 16, Nichols 14, Anderson 12; Giants – Clark 26, Steel 16, Artison 13)
Cheshire Phoenix 123-65 Sony Centre Fury (30-20, 58-31, 96-47)
(Phoenix – Okereafor 20, Bradley 16, Wright 15; Fury – Whitley 22, Burroughs 21, Dauksas 8)
Looking to build momentum ahead of their return to action in
the BBL Championship with a crunch fixture against the Surrey Scorchers next
week, the Plymouth City Patriots blew Basketball Wales away with a commanding
performance in Round One.
With six Patriots notching double-digit scoring totals
across the 40 minutes, Plymouth bagged the bulk of their points in the first
half with 70 in total after 20 minutes to the Welsh side’s 29, with the duo of
Kofi Josephs and Denzel Ubiaro combining for 42 points overall for the hosts.
The visitors looked more comfortable in the second half and
gave the Patriots more of a battle as Wales found their range from the
perimeter, but the damage was done in the first half by Coach Paul James’ side
and his Patriots saw out a comfortable win to book a place in the next round
and build some vital momentum ahead of next week’s Championship showdown with
Surrey.
Lloyd Gardner’s Manchester Giants continued their fine form
with a 13-point win at Ponds Forge against the B. Braun Sheffield Sharks in a
very entertaining clash between two of the BBL’s top sides this season.
A nip-and-tuck first half that saw both sides separated by
just four points at half-time was blown wide open by the Giants in the third quarter
as they held the Sharks to just 10 points and added 21 of their own to take a
lead of 15 into the final period.
The visitors saw out a 13-point win behind a dominant
performance inside, out-rebounding the Sharks 41-28 and winning the battle of
the paint with 44 points inside compared to Sheffield’s 30. Dan Clark stole the
show for Manchester behind 26 points, seven rebounds and six assists – and an
electric 80% clip from three-point range – as all five starters scored in
double digits for Manchester.
Ellesmere Port Sports Village was the scene for today’s
final BBL Trophy clash, as the Cheshire Phoenix welcomed the Sony Centre Fury
from Falkirk, and Ben Thomas’ hosts wasted no time in asserting their dominance
on the fixture.
Eight of Cheshire’s 10 players in this fixture scored in
double digits, and Teddy Okereafor was the second Great Britain star of the day
– following his GB captain Dan Clark’s performance earlier – to have themselves
a big game. The star guard bagged 20 points, seven rebounds seven assists and
three steals in 23 minutes to power the Phoenix to victory.
Bantu Burroughs and Trey Whitley combined for 42 of the
Fury’s 64 points on the day, but despite their spirited performance the Phoenix
cantered through to the next round of the competition.