Ten games in four days made it one of the busiest weekends of the season with six ties in the BBL Trophy first round and a further four in the BBL Championship.
It was a great weekend for Cheshire Phoenix as they began it with a 70-67 win at Leeds Force in the Trophy and ended it with a great 94-85 victory over Worcester Wolves in the Championship.
Akeem Ellis was the key man against Leeds with 23 points while against Worcester, Kinu Rochford’s 31 points led the way.
“We pulled together as a team really well this weekend,” said Phoenix coach John Lavery.
“We are short-handed and I’m asking a lot of the guys out there as some of them are having to play forty minutes, which is tough.”
He added, “At Leeds it was a good, spirited performance. We were down by 13 at one stage, but we dug deep and brought it back, coming away with a win.
“Against Worcester, it was close with two minutes to go and anyone’s game but we executed down the stretch, took care of the ball and got the right shot at the right time.
“David Aliu made a huge three that probably killed them off.”
Back to the Trophy and Glasgow Rocks enjoyed the shortest road trip of their season, heading just over 20 miles along the M80 to Falkirk, to take on Scottish National League side, Sony Centre Fury.
Sterling Davis’ side eased to a 91-42 win over the Fury, behind 20 points from Marcus Ware and their reward is a trip to Worcester Wolves in the next round.
The Wolves booked their place after a pulsating 83-76 overtime victory at Bristol Flyers in front of a sold out Wise Arena. Jay Couisnard paced the Wolves with 22 points, while Flyers’ Tyrone Lee led all scorers with 23.
Leicester Riders await the winners of Wednesday’s Reading Rockets v Surrey Scorchers tie after they progressed with a comfortable 71-50 win at London Lions – Tyler Bernardini the main man for Riders with 15 points.
Sheffield Sharks are another team through to the Quarter-Final stage after a hard-fought 84-67 victory at Derby Trailblazers, Antone Robinson the high man for Sheffield with 22 points.
Meanwhile Andy Thomson enjoyed a 21-point haul as Newcastle Eagles secured a trip to Cheshire in the next round following their 91-75 defeat of Manchester Giants.
In the BBL Championship, Newcastle’s 99-67 victory over Surrey Scorchers saw Fab Flournoy become the BBL’s all-time leader in assists, surpassing the old record of 1909, set by Nigel Lloyd.
It was Flournoy’s first game back after an Achilles injury which had kept him side-lined since March.
Sheffield Sharks moved up to fourth in the table following their 70-43 win over Bristol Flyers and another side on the rise were Plymouth Raiders who are up to eighth after their 76-72 defeat of Leeds Force.
“Our defence was really solid and big blocks and foul shots by Cory Dixon and Daryl Corletto really sealed the win for us,” said Raiders’ Josh Wilcher, who led his side with 24 points.
“The win tonight was massive for us. We really had to work hard to earn it and feel we’re on the right track for a Play-Off push this season.”
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