Sheffield Sharks moved up to third in the BBL Championship standings Friday evening, after beating Newcastle Eagles in front of the Sky Sports cameras – while Leicester Riders extended their 100% record with a comfortable victory over Surrey Scorchers.
The Eagles, playing at their home Vertu Motors Arena a day after Great Britain’s historic victory over Greece which also took place at the same venue, failed to take the lead once through the game as the Sharks made a brilliant start which saw Jordan Ratinho string his first three three-point attempts to put some distance between the two sides.
Ratinho ended the night on a game-high of 22 points, while Rodney Glasgow Jr was also very impressive on the offensive end as he contributed 17 more.
Meanwhile, experienced BBL veteran Darius Defoe was in fine form as he put up 19 points, including one highlight dunk that almost brought the rims down – while Duke Shelton also impressed as he managed a double-double before half-time.
Over in Leicester, the Riders outscored the Scorchers in all four quarters, with the home-side lead by the ever-impressive Geno Crandall who scored 24 points while going 5-7 from behind the arc.
Mo Walker also was red-hot, as he dropped 14 points despite only playing 15 minutes of the ball game, while Conner Washington matched his teammates total from off the bench.
The Scorchers did take a couple of positives from the match, as Saiquan Jamison dominated the backboards with 21 rebounds, and Tayo Ogedengbe and Martelle McLemore put up a combined 27 points.
And Leicester Riders beat B. Braun Sheffield Sharks 80-72 in a thrilling BBL encounter on Sunday Evening.
Sharks settled into the game quicker than Riders and after a fast-paced opening quarter, they led their opponents by nine points with the score at 30-21.
Riders, however, hit back in the second. The away side outscored Sharks 22-12 in the period to overturn the deficit and take a narrow one-point lead of 43-42 into the half-time break.
The tide turned again in the third quarter. Sharks responded well to Riders second quarter and battled back to take a 57-55 lead into the last and set up a nail-biting finale.
Despite a spirited Sharks comeback, it was Riders that would kick on late in the fourth and take a 80-72 win back to Leicester.
Marc Loving finished with a game-high 23 points for Riders, whilst Geno Crandall narrowly missed out on a double-double performance with 20 points and nine assists. For Sharks, Aaron Anderson finished with a team high 14 points.
