BBL Championship
Glen Luss Glasgow Rocks 83-75 London Lions (30-16, 44-34, 59-49)
(Rocks – J. Johnson 29, Harris 23, Hillsman 15; Lions – Robinson 17, Washburn 17, Reese 13)
BBL Championship
Manchester Giants 85-67 Surrey Scorchers (31-15, 44-27, 60-44)
(Giants – Artison 17, Anderson 14, Clark 11; Scorchers – Thomas 20, Ogedengbe 16, Mclemore 15)
BBL Championship
Cheshire Phoenix 71-76 B. Braun Sheffield Sharks (17-15, 35-39, 56-62)
(Phoenix – Wright 17, Okereafor 15, Bradley 15; Sharks – Nichols 22, Johnson 16, Glasgow Jr 13)
Glasgow Rocks made it six wins on the bounce with an impressive home victory over London Lions on Sunday, in an action-packed afternoon that also saw big wins for Manchester Giants and Sheffield Sharks.
The win sees the Rocks strengthen their Playoff case even further, as the Giants and Sharks kept their places in the top three of the Championship.
The day’s action tipped off at the Emirates Arena with the Lions looking to make up for Wednesday’s loss to Bristol Flyers, however a blistering Rocks start was capped by a 12-0 run late in the first period to heap the pressure on the Lions.
London made a tighter game of it in the later stages and cut the Glasgow lead to as small as two points with just over five minutes to go in the final quarter. Glasgow would hold on for a huge victory, led by a hugely impressive performance from Jordan Johnson.
Johnson posted a game-high 29 points as Jaycee Hillsman posted a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds for Glasgow.
London could have leapfrogged Manchester in the standings with a win over the Rocks and a Surrey Scorchers win over the Giants, however Manchester ensured they would end the weekend four points clear of London with a dominant performance over the Scorchers.
The Giants outscored the Scorchers 31-15 in the first quarter which set the tone for the early stages of the match, with Manchester leading by as much as 23 points during the ballgame.
Surrey improved as the game went on and made it a much more competitive affair after the break, however Manchester’s incredible start ensured the damage had been done and the game was over as a contest.
Geno Artison led the Giants with 17 points as Jamell Anderson was a rebound shy of a double-double, racking up 14 points and nine rebounds.
The day’s final game was a thriller, as Sheffield Sharks held off a late Cheshire Phoenix charge to make it a four-point weekend. A back and forth tie for 40 minutes, Sheffield just edged a tight first half with a 7-0 run late in the second period.
The Sharks shared the ball extremely well throughout the ballgame, and outscored the Phoenix 21-12 on assists as Rodney Glasgow Jr led the way with nine personal as Sheffield clinched a huge win.
Kipper Nichols was extremely efficient for the Sharks on Sunday, posting 22 points on 10-13 shooting, with Glasgow Jr adding 13 points of his own.