BBL Weekend Round Up: Sharks Sheffield take control of BBL Trophy semi-final

In a packed fixture list on Sunday, the One Health Sharks Sheffield took control of their BBL Trophy semi-final, while in the BBL Championship there were victories for the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders, Newcastle Eagles, London Lions and Worcester Wolves.

The Sharks made a big step into the BBL Trophy Final thanks to a hard-fought 60-74 victory over the Cheshire Phoenix at the Northgate Arena on Sunday evening.

After a close first half which saw the Sharks leading 31-32, the visitors took control of the contest as they opened the third quarter with a 12-2 tear to take the score out to 33-44 and they did not relinquish their lead from that point onwards.

The second leg will take place on Friday evening at the EIS, Sheffield with the winner sealing a place in the Final to take place at the Emirates Arena next month.

In the BBL Championship, the Plymouth Riders came from behind to eventually overcame the Glasgow Rocks by a score of 72-76 at the Emirates Arena on Sunday and remain in top spot in the table.

22 points from Pavol Losonsky was the leading scorer for the Riders in the victory as they overturned a 13 point deficit in the second quarter, but a 15-4 tear in the third quarter bought the Riders back into the contest as they lead 54-55 heading into the final period.

A 10-2 burst in the final quarter from the visitors gave them a 59-65 lead and they would not relinquish their lead for the remainder of the game.

Newcastle Eagles kept up the pressure on the Riders at the summit thanks to a 78-90 victory over the Surrey Heat at Surrey Sports Park on Sunday afternoon.

A 33-point haul from Charles Smith was the leading scorer from the Eagles, while Frank Holmes’s 20 points was the main shining light for the Heat.

The Eagles started the game strongly and continued in the same vein for much of the contest, but the Heat were not to go away easily as back-to-back three-pointers from Travis Holmes and Caylin Raftopoulos bought the home side to within two points at 64-66 with eight minutes remaining in the game.

A 10-2 burst from the Eagles midway through the quarter helped the Eagles extend their lead out to 67-81 and they held on for the all-important victory.

The London Lions enjoyed a slightly more comfortable victory as they defeated the Manchester Giants 81-64 in front of a sold-out crowd at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre.

An impressive 31-point haul from Adrien Sturt gave the crowd plenty to cheer about as the Lions went from strength-to-strength throughout the game and maintained their stranglehold on seventh position in the BBL Championship table.

In the final game of the evening, the Worcester Wolves got themselves to within two points of the top four in the table thanks to a hard-fought 79-83 victory over the Durham Wildcats at the Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre.

24 points from Alex Owumi was the leading mark for the Wolves in the victory, while Mike Baldarelli led the home side with 23 points personal.

With the Wolves leading 56-68 with six minutes left in the contest, the home side began to claw their way back into the game as three-pointers from Brad Guinane got the home side to within three points at 73-76 with 1:02 left.

That was as close as the Wildcats would get however as the Wolves held on for the all-important victory down the stretch.