Phoenix take north-west derby honours
BBL Championship
Manchester Giants 85-93 Cheshire Phoenix (19-21, 44-45, 59-72)
Winning a derby encounter at Manchester Giants was not the only sources of satisfaction on Friday night for Cheshire Phoenix as they also avenged a league defeat by their rivals earlier in the campaign.
While the home side found their range with some nice offensive play and made Phoenix sweat in the last quarter with their comeback charge, they could not slow down the visitors under the basket.
Leading scorers – Kadiri 20, Jones 20, Okoro 15 (Giants) Gettys 32, Jackman 25, Riley 10 (Phoenix)
Turning point – The run by Phoenix either side of the third and fourth quarter break gave them the big 17-point cushion which proved vital in staving off the Giants’ late rescue mission.
Key stat – Cheshire killed Giants on the glass 46-28 and went to the free-throw line a massive 30 times.
Game hero(es) – CJ Gettys showed his class with a dazzling 32 points and 7 rebounds, while frontcourt partner Orlan Jackman dropped 25 points and 9 boards.