Double disappointment at home for Raiders
BBL Championship
Plymouth Raiders 70-83 Cheshire Phoenix (12-17, 31-34, 56-56)
Plymouth Raiders suffered more misery at the Pavilions as they were beaten on their home floor by Cheshire, just 48 hours after being eased out of their BBL Trophy Quarter-Final by Leicester Riders.
A poor start to the last quarter proved pivotal for Raiders as they allowed Phoenix to take the initiative. That is now 6 straight league defeats for Plymouth, while Cheshire move to an improved and impressive 7-4 league record.
Leading scorers – Jarvelainen 18, Bowman 15, Watson 13 (Raiders) Riley 24, May-Thompson 24, Jackman 14 (Phoenix)
Turning point – When Raiders hit a triple to move 59-56 in front at the start of the fourth quarter, everything looked set to push on for a win. However, they went into meltdown in the blink of an eye and allowed Cheshire to score the next 14 points with reply and the visitors didn’t look back.
Key stat – Cheshire Phoenix punished the sloppiness of the home side with 26 points from turnovers.
Game hero(es) – Malcolm Riley was one rebound away from a double-double after netting those 24 points, a tally also reached by Raheem May-Thompson prior to fouling out. Orlan Jackman had 14 points and 10 boards which was also vital.