BBL Cup, First Round
Manchester Giants 82 (20,36,52) (Williams 19, Jones 18, Okoro 15)
Cheshire Phoenix 97 (23,53,76) (Anderson 25, Brown 22, May-Thompson 13)
Cheshire Phoenix defeated Manchester Giants 82-97 on the road to reach the BBL Cup Quarter-Finals, on Sunday.
Jamell Anderson played the full 40 minutes and contributed a game-high 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting with Earl Brown weighing in with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
The Giants were aiming to bounce back from Friday’s loss in Sheffield and they made a strong start in a competitive opening period, where they would fall behind by three.
Cheshire took over in the second and started with an 11-0 run to pull clear. The visitors poured in 30 points in the quarter to establish a commanding 17-point advantage at the break.
Back-to-back triples from Josh Wilcher and Anderson extended the gap early in the third and Cheshire moved to 24 points clear by the end of the period.
The Giants rallied to close to within 15 at 65-80 but the damage had been done and Cheshire secured a comfortable win.
Defending champions, Esh Group Eagles Newcastle await Phoenix at Sport Central in the Last Eight.