Friday 30 October 2009 (7.30pm) @ Bletchley LC. Whilst the Marshall MK Lions currently sit third in the BBL Championship Table, with wins over Airwaves Plymouth Raiders, Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders, Guildford Heat, Worthing Thunder and Worcester Wolves so far this season. Their opponents on Friday night, the Sheffield Sharks, have taken the league by storm once again this year, as new signings Mike Cook, Ryan Patton and Tafari Toney have helped them record six wins in eight games. However, they are only placed further up the Championship table based on the number of opportunities they have had to win, so Friday's tie is crucial for both teams.
The overall head to head between the two clubs is heavily in the Sharks favour at 45-10 in all competitions, but with the Lions coming off a convincing 102-80 win against the Plymouth Raiders last Saturday evening, and the Sharks tasting defeat for only the second time this year against the Newcastle Eagles last Friday evening, Lions coach Vince Macaulay is ready for the challenges that Friday night's game will bring. He said: 'The Sharks have developed into a core unit of 6 or 7 and they all know their roles on the team, whilst (Mike) Cook has been the scoring star of the show you have to be aware that it is their collective team effort that has served them well so far.
Macaulay added on the Raiders game last weekend: 'I was very pleased with the way we played last weekend against Plymouth; we travelled all the way there, played in a partisan atmosphere and stayed with our plans. We stayed focussed enough to win the game.'
The Sharks did manage to bag a win against the Airwaves Plymouth Raiders, 67-55 on Sunday, and Macaulay's Sheffield counterpart Atiba Lyons, said he has mixed feelings on the games last weekend. He explained: 'I feel we had a split weekend. Against Newcastle we had a poor second quarter and were never able to recover. Sunday we had a terrible offensive night. We couldn't throw the ball in the ocean but defensively we played superb especially in the third quarter.'
Lyons, whose team is injury-free at the time of writing, sees the Lions' mix of experience and youth as key to the way they play. He added: 'MK are very savvy team with a nice blend of veterans and newcomers. EJ Harrison is playing great basketball at the moment and producing big scoring nights for them.'
Source: www.bbl.org.uk
