Cheshire Phoenix enjoyed a fantastic double-winning weekend to not only influence the title race but their own Playoff hopes.
The North-West side toppled Newcastle Eagles 89-103 in overtime at Sport Central on Friday before beating Sheffield Sharks 100-83 on their home floor two days later.
Earl Brown starred with 28 points and 14 rebounds as Phoenix survived a late comeback, from Newcastle that forced overtime, by dominating the extra period.
On Sunday, Mike DiNunno poured in 29 points and dished out nine assists with Cheshire leading by as many as 20 points in the third and were able to close it out in regulation.
Meanwhile, Leeds Force bounced back from a crushing 112-62 defeat away at Worcester Wolves by beating Plymouth Raiders in convincing fashion with a 99-69 triumph.
Robert Sandoval top scored with 22 points with Force joining Cheshire on seven wins as they both keep alive their hopes of making the top eight.
Plymouth have hit a bad run of form ahead of next Sunday’s BBL Trophy Final having also suffered a 99-88 loss at London Lions.
Alex Owumi posted a triple-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists with Zaire Taylor adding 10 assists to his 16 points.
“It was good execution today,” said Nigel Lloyd. “With our guys in foul trouble, the bench came in and played tremendous and it was a great all-round team effort.
“Alex was great and it was long overdue for him – he works real hard in practice.
“Alex shows up in the big games and I’m proud of his him for the way he stepped up.”
Elsewhere, Glasgow Rocks’ losing run hit four games after suffering a 98-90 loss in Sheffield before going down 68-76 at home to Bristol Flyers as Aaron Cosby netted 20 points in the win.
Surrey temporarily moved into the top eight after they recorded a 76-90 success over Manchester Giants with Jordan Williams leading the way with 23 points and 12 rebounds.
