BBL Championship
BiG Storage Cheshire Jets and Jelson Homes DMU Leicester
Riders heaped the pressure on Sheffield Sharks in eighth place
after both won on Saturday night.
The Riders did both themselves and the Jets a favour by beating
Sharks 78-65 while Cheshire easily saw off Birmingham Panthers
79-117 on the road.
In the night's other match Kularoos Plymouth Raiders kept
themselves in the title picture with a 85-66 win over Everton
Tigers.
BBL Championship
Team Birmingham Panthers 79 (17,39,59) (Jules 27,
A Williams 18, L Williams 15)
BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 117 (28,53,75) (Obazuaye 22, Hamilton
21, Moore 20)
BiG Storage Cheshire Jets are still in the hunt for a play-off
place after a well-deserved 79-117 road win at Birmingham
Panthers.
The Jets closed the gap on Sheffield Sharks, who lost at
Leicester Riders, in the eighth spot to six-points and have
a game in hand thanks to an explosive offensive effort.
A tight opening quarter burst to life with a 13-4 close to
the period by Jets, which handed them a 17-28 advantage. They
stretched this out to 39-53 at half time before totally assuming
control in the third with a 15-9 burst to lead 59-75.
The match was put beyond doubt a the start of the final stanza
with a 23-3 burst by the visitors to give them an unassailable
62-98 advantage. Six Jets players scored double figures with
Jayson Obazuaye's 22 being the highest.
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 78 (20,40,60) (White
24, Wellington 16, Burns 10)
Sheffield Sharks 65 (10,22,42) (Whyte 15, Lyons 11, Graham
11)
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders scored their first league
win of 2008 with a 78-65 victory over Sheffield Sharks.
It keeps Riders in touch with the Sharks' eighth position
in the BBL table while condemning Sheffield to yet another
defeat as they battle to maintain their record of reaching
the play-offs every season.
The Riders win was based on superb defence in the first and
second quarters which saw them lead 20-10 after ten minutes
and 40-22 at half time. Sharks fought back to within 12 (43-31)
in the third before Riders moved away again to head into the
final stanza 60-42 in front.
Leicester's lead peaked at 75-54 before a 9-0 Sharks run
briefly gave the visitors hope. However, a Joel Burns three
put the match beyond doubt in the final minutes.
Carlos White was the game's outstanding player as his 24-points,
15 board and four blocks came in just 22 minutes of action.
Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 85 (18,40,64) (Lasker 22,
Moore 21, Beasley 13)
Everton Tigers 66 (20,39,52) (Davis 19, Midgley 19, Aliu 12)
Kularoos Plymouth Raiders refuse to give up on the league
title as they notched another win on Saturday night.
This time it was an 85-66 victory over Everton Tigers, which
takes their streak to seven in a row and keeps them close
enough to leaders Newcastle for them to strike if the north
east club should come unstuck.
Raiders trailed 18-20 at the end of the first quarter but
aided by an 11-2 close to the half led 40-39 at the interval.
The one-point margin quickly became double figures as Gary
Stronach's team built a decisive 64-52 advantage.
Tigers were put away for good in the fourth quarter with
Raiders' 21-points dwarfing the 14 offered by the Merseyside-based
team.
Drew Lasker top-scored for Raiders with 22 while Calvin Davis'
19 led the way for the visitors.
BBL CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE
No Team P W L Pts
1 Newcastle Eagles 25 22 3 44
2 Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 27 20 7 40
3 Guildford Heat 23 16 7 32
4 Marshall MK Lions 25 16 9 32
5 SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks 26 15 11 30
6 Everton Tigers 24 12 12 24
7 Worcester Wolves 27 12 15 24
8 Sheffield Sharks 25 11 14 22
9 BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 24 8 16 16
10 Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 28 8 20 16
11 PAWS London Capital 25 7 18 14
12 Birmingham Panthers 25 5 20 10
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