<\/p>\n
BBL Trophy: First Round<\/strong><\/p>\n Manchester Giants 107 \u2013 114 Leicester Riders (18-28, 46-50, 76-78, 99-99) B. Braun Sheffield Sharks 98 \u2013 66 Thames Valley Cavaliers (35-13, 58-30, 73-47) Cheshire Phoenix 129 \u2013 80 Nottingham Hoods (44-24, 74-45, 104-65) Leicester Riders<\/a>\u00a0outlasted the Manchester Giants<\/a> 107-114 in a fast-paced, competitive overtime victory in the First Round of the BBL Trophy.<\/p>\n One of three Riders players to finish with at least 20 points, Marc Loving, put on a fantastic performance tallying 32 points, 13 rebounds, converting seven shots from outside the arc \u2013 registering two career-highs in points and three-pointers.<\/p>\n Not to The Green With Manchester Williams With Leicester\u2019s But Typifying The Jackson But in With a Jackson Riders On the Trailing Though Riders Overtime, Equally motivated, Whelan replied with a pair of two-point efforts to keep the Giants fans in awe.<\/p>\n Establishing One of B. Braun Sheffield Sharks<\/a> hosted NBL D1 side Thames Valley Cavaliers in the first BBL-NBL clash of the day.<\/p>\n Ending the Providing Sheffield Cavaliers Despite a quick surge from the visitors, Sharks centre Bennett Koch proved difficult to contain, receiving an interior pass off a pick-and-roll play to finish with a defiant two-handed dunk.<\/p>\n Sharks Despite While Koch The From With a The As well Meanwhile, While In the second BBL-NBL contest of the day, the Cheshire Phoenix<\/a> earned an emphatic 129-80 victory over the Nottingham Hoods.<\/p>\n Despite Headlining Jack, a BBL rookie out of Buffalo, joined starters Lloyd Daniels and Jamell Anderson as the only players to draw at least 27 points.<\/p>\n The Anderson Jousting However, With a Cheshire Despite Cheshire move onwards in the competition in style, while Nottingham will have to bow out to a remarkable Phoenix shooting clinic.<\/p>\n Never miss a BBL Trophy game \u2013 click HERE<\/a><\/strong> for the official BBL YouTube channel.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
(Giants: Green, 38; Williams, 23; Roberson, 15 \u2013 Riders: Loving, 32; Jackson, 25; Whelan, 20)<\/strong><\/p>\n
(Sharks: Ratinho, 17; Nichols, 15; Koch, 14 \u2013 Cavaliers: Olarerin, 20; Hart, 15; Roberts, 10)<\/strong><\/p>\n
(Phoenix: Anderson, 30; Jack, 29; Daniels, 27 \u2013 Hoods: Campbell, 22; Hall, 21; Guddemi, 14)<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nbe outdone, Manchester\u2019s Tajh Green, who delivers flair and eye-catching
\nhighlights on a regular basis for the Giants, provided 38 points, 14 rebounds,
\nand two big-time blocks.<\/p>\n
\ngame got off to a promising start for the visitors, a 9-3 lead midway through
\nthe opening quarter had the Riders hedging forward \u2013 with guard Kimbal
\nMackenzie adding six quick points.<\/p>\n
\nresponded energetically for the trailing Giants, reaching double figures in
\nscoring without virtually breaking a sweat.<\/p>\n
\nthe Riders ahead, recent signee Devonte Bandoo entered the game for his first
\ntaste of BBL action, draining his first shot ambitiously from three-point range
\nto extend Leicester\u2019s lead.<\/p>\n
\npulled together during the second quarter, outscoring the visitors by six
\nbehind a handful of crisp shots from Dirk Williams to lag behind by just four
\nentering halftime.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\ncontinued to flaunt his shooting capabilities to begin the second half, knocking
\ndown a pair of triples in the blink of an eye to get the home crowd roaring.<\/p>\n
\nthe scoreline creeping towards Manchester\u2019s favour, Leicester\u2019s Zach Jackson
\nsunk a dagger solo three-point effort to kickstart a second pull-away attempt
\nfor the visitors.<\/p>\n
\nmomentum lasted mere minutes, after an 8-0 Giants run catalysed by Rahmon
\nFletcher\u2019s passing expertise, propelled Manchester into the lead.<\/p>\n
\nbefore Giants fans could applaud their player\u2019s heroism, Loving and Jackson \u2013
\nagain \u2013 returned fire with a parade of three-point shots.<\/p>\n
\nan immense matchup, the Riders entered the fourth quarter with a fragile
\ntwo-point advantage.<\/p>\n
\nGiants started out the stronger side, with Fletcher and Green combining for six
\nquick points.<\/p>\n
\nreappeared to coax the score in Leicester\u2019s favour, delivering a crucial
\nthree-point play, while Mackenzie used his toughness inside the paint to get
\nawarded free throws, missing his first one of nine attempts during the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nless than a minute, Green struck again, tearing down an offensive board and
\ngoing back up for a defiant layup.<\/p>\n
\nsuspenseful back-and-forth period, the sides were level 95-95 with just over a
\nminute to spare. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\nfound himself at the free-throw line after drawing contact from Fletcher,
\nconverting both to put the Riders ahead at a quintessential moment.<\/p>\n
\ndoubled their chances of winning with Patrick Whelan\u2019s transition layup to go
\nup by four.<\/p>\n
\nvery next Giants possession, however, Williams was able to get to the
\nfree-throw line for three attempts, knocking them all down.<\/p>\n
\nby two, Mackenzie was forced into a missed layup \u2013 Callum Jones secured the
\nball for the Giants.<\/p>\n
\ndishing out 14 assists in total, Fletcher found himself as the saviour for the
\nGiants, getting a layup to drop in the last 30 seconds to tie the game up
\n99-99.<\/p>\n
\ntried to end the game at the buzzer by getting the ball to experienced guard
\nMackenzie, but was denied a game-winning jump shot by springy defender Anthony
\nRoberson.<\/p>\n
\nin similar fashion to the previous quarter, had Manchester as the strong
\nstarters \u2013 Green surfacing yet again to knock down two quick buckets for the
\ndetermined hosts.<\/p>\n
\na small lead with seven points via free throws, and Giants going cold from
\ndeep, the Riders prevailed in securing the win, despite the constant comeback
\nefforts by Manchester.<\/p>\n
\nthe best contests of the BBL Trophy so far, Leicester have firmly established
\nthemselves as a contender for taking home the silverware.<\/p>\n
\ngame as comfortable victors, with a score of 98-66, the Sharks progress through
\nthe next stage of the competition.<\/p>\n
\nfor the Sharks across the board, Illinois alumni Kipper Nichols delivered 15
\npoints, eight rebounds, four assists, and a steal, while shooting an efficient
\n75% from the field.<\/p>\n
\nbegan the match-up very confidently \u2013 Nichols and Jordan Ratinho recording the
\nfirst few baskets forced Thames Valley into an early timeout.<\/p>\n
\nleading scorer Victor Olarerin, who finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds,
\ngot the NBL D1 side out of the starting blocks, converting a tightly contested
\nthree-point effort from the top of the perimeter.<\/p>\n
\ncoach Atiba Lyons then subbed in new arrival Devearl Ramsey.<\/p>\n
\nonly being in the United Kingdom for a matter of days, there was no off switch
\nfor Ramsey, providing immediate impact as he bounded down the floor and
\ndistributed the ball out to his open teammates.<\/p>\n
\nthe Sharks edged out by nearly 20 points, Jarrett Hart fought hard to complete
\nan and-one play over the mountainous Sharks centre Koch.<\/p>\n
\nreplied on the next defensive possession with a well-timed block. Then, on the
\nattacking side, he finished strong to get the and-one post move to fall his
\nway.<\/p>\n
\nCavaliers turned up their defence in the second quarter with Olarerin able to
\npick off a Sharks pass easily.<\/p>\n
\nthere, it was off to the races for Olarerin, soaring high to flush home a nice
\ndunk. Cavaliers forward Aiman Rezk got a clean three-point effort to fall
\nallowing the visitors to bite back.<\/p>\n
\n14-2 frenzy for the Sharks, Thames Valley trailed by nearly 30 at the halfway
\npoint.<\/p>\n
\nwell-established lead for the Sharks enabled young homegrown hopefuls Nathaniel
\nMontgomery and Hensy Sako to see respectable court time.<\/p>\n
\nas training a corner three in the opening half, Montgomery proved his toughness
\nin drawing fouls from Cavaliers solid defenders.<\/p>\n
\nSako provided some sound defence to constrain the Thames Valley offence
\nproviding an acrobatic block in the process.<\/p>\n
\nThames Valley, behind a handful of threes from Olalerin and Aiden Saunders,
\noutscored the Sharks by two in the third quarter, the hosts managed to hold on
\nto a comfortable 22-point lead to see themselves advance to the second round.<\/p>\n
\nfielding a depleted eight-man roster, Cheshire recorded their highest score in
\na BBL competition since September 2008.<\/p>\n
\ntheir emphatic victory, Phoenix guard Maceo Jack managed 29 points, five
\nrebounds, five assists in 23 minutes of gametime from the bench.<\/p>\n
\ngame became competitive and well-contested in the opening stages.<\/p>\n
\nand Daniels combined for Cheshire\u2019s first 18 points, scoring exclusively from
\nthe three-point line.<\/p>\n
\nwith the stellar Cheshire start, Nottingham guards Seth Hall and Johde Campbell
\ncombined for a quick 10 points to keep it anyone\u2019s game early on.<\/p>\n
\na 15-0 finish for Cheshire combined with a strong shooting start launched the
\nhosts into a 20-point lead, with 42 first-quarter points.<\/p>\n
\ncombined 12 three-pointers through the first two quarters, Cheshire rounded up
\nthe first half with a staggering 74 points and a 29-point advantage over the
\nHoods.<\/p>\n
\ncontinued to nail three-point shots all night long, reaching 100 points before
\nthe third quarter buzzer sounded.<\/p>\n
\nan admirable shooting performance from the visiting Hoods \u2013 with Campbell and
\nSeth Hall reaching 22 and 21 points, respectively, on efficient shooting
\npercentages \u2013 Cheshire\u2019s team total of 21 threes posed no match.<\/p>\n