Cheshire Phoenix increased their hopes of claiming the second seed on Saturday after a thrilling win against the Surrey Scorchers.
The Nix started poorly, finding themselves down 33-45 at halftime; however, an inspired Laquincy Rideau evoked an unbelievable comeback from the home side, who fought off the Scorchers, winning by five points.
It was a disappointing first quarter for the Nix with the best action coming from Aaryn Rai, who had a lovely euro-step finish inside the opening two minutes.
The Canadian bullied his way through the Surrey defence, converting the layup with ease.
Just before halftime, Laquincy Rideau pulled up from beyond the arc, and the ball swished through the net before the Surrey defence could make a contest.
After the break, the home side started to up their tempo, they found themselves down 16 points, however they cut the lead down to just seven points by the end, setting up an interesting last 10 minutes.
It was then down to the execution of the players, every minute the lead was being cut down, until finally, with two minutes left on the clock Cheshire retook the lead for the first time since the first quarter, up 76-75.
The Scorchers couldn’t deal with Rideau, the American refused to give up with 20 of his 32 points coming in the last quarter.
The momentum had fully shifted by this point, and with the Nix faithful behind them, Cheshire saw out the win and kept themselves undefeated against Surrey with the final score 86-81.
There were two massive performances from Cheshire’s Rideau and Rai, which sparked the resurgence, they combined for 58 points and 22 rebounds on the night.
It wasn’t just high numbers for the pair, they were extremely effective with their shooting, Rai shot 75% from the field while Rideau shot 58%, both way above the team average of 45%.
Cheshire’s number three was unstoppable from downtown, sinking five of his seven attempts from beyond the line.
It wasn’t just Rideau and Rai who won the game for the Nix, everyone played their part, Ethan Chargois and David Ulph especially, who made crucial blocks in the game.
Ulph managed a season high three blocks for the Phoenix, proving vital on the defensive end, which sometimes goes unnoticed.