BBL: Heat prove too much for Sharks

Surrey Heat made sure to burn up any chance One Health Sharks had of racking up their first BBL Championship, tipping them to a 79-63 win last night.

Heat’s Creon Raftopoulos and his team are flying high, having chalked up a fourth league success in five games to cement themselves as one of the early season pace-setters.

Heat have been particularly potent at Surrey Sports Park, where they remain unbeaten, and, having already defeated Sharks earlier in the season on the road, they completed a double after blasting their opponent with a stunning 26-11 final period.

For the most part, it had been a relatively tight contest, with the Sharks buoyed by their convincing BBL win against Cheshire Jets 24 hours earlier. And, for 30 minutes or so, they looked good value for pushing Heat right down to the wire.

The hosts shaded the first period 16-14 having always had their noses in front after scoring the first five points of the game. Similarly, the second quarter saw neither team able to establish any real daylight whatsoever with the Heat still only marginally ahead at the interval by 35-33.

It was then an even tighter affair year again during the third quarter as Sharks ensured it was a one-point game going into the last ten minutes. But, they imploded and found scoring difficult as Heat turned the defensive screw and began to dominate inside.

With the usually red-hot Gage Daye having a rare off night for Shark,s and both Mike Tuck and Olu Babalola playing on four fouls, they just couldn’t find the answers when Heat stepped things up, mainly through the excellent work of Martelle McLemore.

In addition to the top scoring McLemore, there were solid contributions from Chavis Holmes who dished up six assists, Frank Holmes who had a double-double and Albert Margai who hit three triples in a nice cameo from downtown.