Big final quarter sees Sharks back to the top of the league

Wednesday 12th February 2025

Super League Basketball Championship

B. Braun Sheffield Sharks 93 Manchester Basketball 74

A 37 point final quarter was key to the B. Braun Sheffield Sharks claiming a 19 point win over Manchester Basketball and reclaiming the joint lead of the Super League Basketball Championship alongside London Lions. The game was a tough, scrappy affair for three quarters with barely a couple of points separating the sides before the Sharks exploded into life for their 12th victory of the season. Both sides ran with 8 man rosters which allowed Jamell Anderson (13), Jordan Ratinho (17), Rickey McGill (17) and MVP Prentiss Nixon (24) to make valuable contributions in the 93-74 success.

Starting Fives

Sharks: McGill, Nixon, Clay, Ratinho, Anderson.

Manchester Basketball: Ashton-Langford, Mitchell, Cayo, Dubose, Delpeche.

Key Moments

After Manchester’s DJ Mitchell and the Sharks’ Rickey McGill had exchanged triples, it was the South Yorkshire side that ascended into the lead with Prentiss Nixon’s three from the wing and his sidestepped two that took the score to 14-8. Rodney Glasgow Jr’s kiss off the glass made it 18-12 but a Nicholas Lewis basket followed by a three on the buzzer meant that Manchester were still very much in touch at 18-17.

The Lancastrians got back to parity by half time. Jamell Anderson’s and-one play came from an expertly-drawn foul as the Sharks went on a 10-0 run at 28-17. Manchester’s reply was a 10-0 run of their own. Successful and-ones from former Shark Marcus Delpeche and Ian Dubose were followed by a pair from the line by Manchester guard Makai Ashton-Langford as the gap was nullified at 28-27. The two sides traded to the break. Lewis found success from the corner for three as Manchester edged in front by 34-36 but a Jordan Ratinho conversion meant that the teams couldn’t be separated at the interval.

The third quarter also followed the same script. Ratinho continued his rich vein of form with back-to-back treys; the second of which contained an excellent fake as the score became 42-40. A technical foul call on Lewis gave Rodney Glasgow an extra freebie from the line but Manchester’s Nathan Cayo, Makai Ashton-Langford and Zak Irvin ensured the visitors were never far away at 52-51. A big Lewis three pointer levelled the game at 54-54 but a Scottie Lindsay bucket saw the Sharks with their noses in front at 56-54 headed into the final 10 minutes.

Manchester trod a fine line with five of their eight man roster on 3 fouls as the Sharks slowly went through the gears. Donovan Clay opened the final stanza with another completed and-one and the gap became 8 at 69-61 through a deft Glasgow Jr flick. Manchester’s cause wasn’t helped by moving into the penalty with three and a half minutes to play as a big McGill three was followed by baskets for Nixon and Ratinho to make it 81-66. The Sharks probably should have used the final 2.30 to kill the game off but Cayo closed the deficit to 9 before an explosive finish to the contest. Clay dunked from a McGill assist, hooked home from another McGill dime and then provided for Ratinho to finish on the alleyoop. The full stop and exclamation mark were put on the contest with Nixon’s buzzer three that saw the Sharks to an eventually-comfortable 93-74 victory.

MVP

Extended court-time for Jamell Anderson brought visible dividends as he shot 56% from the field to end with 13 points, 3 rebounds and an assist. Bettering his conversion rate was Jordan Ratinho. The Californian went 7 of 10 for his 17 points that came with 5 boards, 2 assists and a steal in a very polished display. Also with 17 points was Rickey McGill. The guard was the prime facilitator for the Sharks with 9 assists on the night in yet another electric performance. The MVP however was Prentiss Nixon. Four extremely smooth three point shots were a key feature of his eventual 24 points which became a double-double by virtue of his 11 rebounds as well as adding 6 assists and 2 steals to see the Sharks back to the top of the standings, level with London Lions.

Next Game

Cheshire Phoenix v B. Braun Sheffield Sharks, Sunday 16th February 2025, Cheshire Oaks Arena, Super League Basketball Championship, 5.30pm tip off

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Josh Rackham