Basketball
Weekend review
28 January 2008
The semi-final draw for the BBL Trophy is complete after the weekend's matches. BiG Storage Cheshire Jets will play Newcastle Eagles and Guildford Heat take on Worcester Wolves. Three of those four teams had already booked their place with the Jets securing their visit to Ponds Forge in Sheffield thanks to the completion of Group 1 on Sunday.
First of all Marshall MK Lions blew their chance of a Cup final rematch with the Eagles after they lost at Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders on Saturday. And to further compound both theirs and Kularoos Plymouth Raiders misery, the Jets beat Riders on Sunday.
The other Trophy matches, to complete the schedule, were Worcester's win over Birmingham Panthers on Friday and PAWS London Capital's victory over Barkers (Tarring) Worthing Thunder on Sunday. In the Championship Sheffield Sharks had their first win over a team not named Birmingham since November with a road win at Everton Tigers on Friday. It briefly moved them ahead of the Merseyside club until Tigers beat London in overtime on Saturday. Plymouth made light work of Worcester and SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks got a vital road win at Guildford on Sunday.
BBL Trophy
Worcester Wolves 114 (32,63,92) (Paez 28, Harker 26, Life 24) Birmingham Panthers 98 (21,43,76) (A WIlliams 29, Sandell 28, Paternostro 19)
Worcester Wolves ended the group stages of the BBL Trophy with a 100% record after a comfortable 114-98 victory over Team Birmingham Panthers at the University of Worcester, Walsall Campus on Friday evening. The Wolves exploded out of the blocks, and opened up an early 23-9 lead midway through the opening period. The Wolves continued their dominance of the game, and an 18-9 run in the second quarter to take the score out to 52-34. The Wolves were able to take a twenty point lead at 63- 43 in at the half. The second half saw the home side continue to hold their visitors at bay, and a 6-0 burst to start the final period took the score out to 98-76, and the Wolves held on for the victory. Antony Paez led the Wolves scoring with 28 points for the home side, but it was Adam Williams who led all scorers netting 29 points for the Panthers.
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 84 (23,43,59) (White 21, Woodyard 19, Burns/McKnight 13) Marshall MK Lions 79 (32,38,60) (New 21, Brown 18, Windless 16)
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders picked up their first victory of the 2007/8 BBL Trophy campaign, and as a result, sent the Marshall MK Lions out of the competition after a hard-fought 84-79 victory over the Lions at the John Sanford Centre on Saturday evening. Both sides traded baskets from the outset, but it was the Lions who gained the first advantage with a 7-0 tear to lead 13-24 midway through the opening period. The second period saw the home side step up their play at both ends, and outscored their opponents 20-6 in the second period to lead 43-38 going in at the half. An 11-4 start to the second half for the Lions saw them trim the deficit to two points at 51-49, and they continued to chip away at the Riders lead and went into the final stanza leading by a single point at 59-60. In the final period, the Riders broke the game open with a 8-0 burst to take the score out to 67-63. The visitors tried desperately to overturn the deficit, and got themselves to within a point at 77-76 with less than ninety seconds remaining, but the Riders held on for the all-important victory. Carlos White was the star man for the Riders, leading their scoring with 21 points personal, while Michael New led the Lions scorers, also with 21 points.
BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 86 (25,49,75) (Obazuaye 25, Otten 17, Myers 16) Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 71 (15,29,45) (Vear 14, McKnight 12, White 11)
BiG Storage Cheshire Jets are the last team through to the BBL Trophy semi-finals after a 86-71 home win against Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders. The Jets have set up a meeting against Newcastle Eagles at Ponds Forge ISC in Sheffield next weekend for the right to meet either Worcester Wolves or Guildford Heat in the final. An 8-0 start to the match against Riders was the catalyst for the Jets victory. From there they led by 10 (25-15) at the end of the first and by 20 (49-29) at half time. There was no let up after the break as the advantage went out to 30-points at the end of the third quarter (75- 45). The Jets eased up in the final stanza as Riders outscored them 11-26 to make the final scoreline slightly more respectable.
PAWS London Capital 72 (20,36,52) (Bradley 19, Perkins 16, Ataha 11) Barkers (Tarring) Worthing Thunder 56 (13,21,41) (Bates 19, Brame 10, Hildreth 9)
PAWS London Capital ended their BBL Trophy campaign on a winning note with a 72-56 home victory against Barkers (Tarring) Worthing Thunder. A 7-0 first quarter run by London helped them at an early 13-8 lead which they stretched out to 20-13 at the end of the first quarter. A further 9-0 burst broke the match open in the second period as Capital led 36-21 at half time. Worthing fought back well in the third quarter, and a 15-2 run saw them close to 42-38 midway through the period. However, Sam Bradley scored all the points in a 10-0 run to put the hosts back in charge at 52- 38. The visitors battled hard in the final stanza but couldn't get close as London ran out comfortable winners.
BBL League
Everton Tigers 87 (24,42,57) (Robertson 21, Aliu 15, Haslam 13) Sheffield Sharks 93 (24,46,69) (Graham 25, Chaney 19, White 16)
Sheffield Sharks leapfrogged over the Everton Tigers into sixth position in the BBL Championship after defeated the Tigers 87-93 at the Greenbank Academy on Friday evening. After a tight opening half, which saw the Sharks holding a slender four-point lead at 42-46, the Sharks broke the game open with a 14-6 burst towards the end of the third period. The visitors held onto a twelve point advantage at 57- 69 going into the final stanza. In the final period, the Tigers got themselves back into the game, and a 9-4 tear bought the home side to within three points at 82-85 with 1:10 remaining, but they could get no closer as the Sharks secured the victory from the foul-line. Justice Graham led all scorers in the game with 25 points for the Sharks, while Tony Robertson led the Tigers scoring with 21.
PAWS London Capital 101 (30,49,68,92) (Mbye 29, Bradley 21, Perkins 14) Everton Tigers 111 (26,47,68,92) (Midgley 37, Miller 19, Davis 18) (after overtime)
Everton Tigers went level with the Sheffield Sharks for sixth position in the Championship table thanks to a 101-111 overtime victory over the PAWS London Capital at the Capital City Academy on Saturday evening. With the game tied at 68-68 going into the final stanza, it was the home side who made the first break with an 8-2 start to the period to take the score out to 76-70, but the Tigers responded immediately with a 7-2 burst of their own to get back to within a point at 78-77. The Capital continued to keep their noses in front down the stretch, but a Tony Miller three-pointer, and two free throws from Calvin Davis in the final seconds drew the sides level at 92-92 sending the game into overtime. In the extra period, the Tigers broke the game open with a 13-3 tear to take the score out to 97-105, and ultimately hold on for the all important victory. Richard Midgley led all scorers in the game netting an impressive 37 points for the Tigers, while the Capital scoring was led by Jo Mbye with 29 points.
Guildford Heat 82 (20,41,60) (Gilbert 28, Harrison 13, Martin 11) SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks 88 (20,56,67) (Davis 24, Wohlers 21, Hampton 15)
SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks secured a vital road win at Guildford Heat to move right back into title contention. Rocks 82-88 victory sees them close to within two points of Heat in third, four points of Marshall MK Lions in second and six points behind top placed Newcastle Eagles. Heat began the match with an 11-3 run but a 12-5 burst by Rocks ensured the sides were level 20-20 at the end of the first quarter. The teams were level at 27-27 before Rocks rattled off a 20-5 run to take control of the first half. By the interval the visitors led 41-56. Guildford closed the gap in the third quarter as runs of 8-0 and 6-1 made the score 60-67 heading into the final stanza. The comeback was complete when a 12-5 Heat burst levelled the match at 72-72. However, it was Rocks who finished the stronger as four Rob Yanders points sparked an 11-2 run to put the match beyond reach.
Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 95 (26,47,68) (Lasker 25, Beasley 18, Moore 14) Worcester Wolves 77 (16,36,53) (Paez 22, Life 15, Harker 14)
Kularoos Plymouth Raiders drew level on points with third placed Guildford Heat after a 95-77 win over in form Worcester Wolves. Raiders had a 16-0 first quarter run to thank for their 26-16 advantage after 10 minutes. It was a margin that they extend by one during the second period as they went in at half time 47-36 up. The third quarter saw the home side again add to their lead to keep Worcester at arm's length. The 68-53 lead at the end of the third period proved to be insurmountable for the visitors in the final stanza as the Raiders completed an excellent night's work.
Tables
BBL Trophy tables
Group 1
1 BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 6 4 2 6
2 Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 6 4 2 8
3 Marshall MK Lions 6 3 3 6
4 Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 6 1 5 2
Group 2
1 Poujoulat Heat Guildford 4 4 0 8
2 PAWS London Capital 4 2 2 2
3 Worthing Thunder 4 0 4 0
Group 3
1 Worcester Wolves 4 4 0 8
2 Sheffield Sharks 4 2 2 4
3 Team Birmingham Panthers 4 0 4 0
Group 4
1 Newcastle Eagles 4 3 1 6
2 SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks 4 3 1 6
3 Everton Tigers 4 0 4 0
BBL CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE P W L Pts
1 Newcastle Eagles 16 13 3 26
2 Marshall MK Lions 17 12 5 24
3 Poujoulat Heat Guildford 15 11 4 22
4 Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 17 11 6 22
5 SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks 16 10 6 20
6=Everton Tigers 18 9 9 18
6=Sheffield Sharks 18 9 9 18
8 Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 19 7 12 14
9 BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 16 6 10 12
10 Worcester Wolves 19 6 13 12
11 PAWS London Capital 19 5 14 10
12 Team Birmingham Panthers 16 4 12 8
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