Friday 13th March 2020
BBL Championship
Worcester Wolves (A Williams 21 Hughes 15 Josephs 11) 89 B. Braun Sheffield Sharks (Cashaw 25 Ndiaye 15 Lewis 12) 70
On a difficult day for sport and the country in general, the B. Braun Sharks went down to an in-form Worcester Wolves. Matt Newby’s side went out to a double digit lead early in the first quarter which the Sharks struggled to recover from. The Sharks now move to a 7-6 record with seven regular season games remaining.
Starting Fives
Wolves: A Williams, Bouwknecht, Hughes, Van Sauers, Edwards.
Sharks: Cashaw, Lewis, McKnight, Koch, Marsden.
Key Moments
Sharks Coach Atiba Lyons called for time as early as the second minute on Van Sauers’ score at 8-0 but things didn’t really improve out of the break as Mark Hughes’ triple soon turned that into 16-2. It took six points from Bouna Ndiaye in the final two minutes to give the Sharks a glimmer of respectability as the quarter ended at 26-11.
There was a distinct improvement in the second period but the Sharks still faced an uphill task. Amir Williams, a thorn in the side all night, gave Worcester a 34-17 lead on the alleyoop but treys from Connor Cashaw and Nick Lewis just about kept the Sharks in contention at 42-27. Ndiaye drained another out of the corner but it was Cortez Edwards for the home side who saw them in at half time by 48-32.
An 8-0 start to the third quarter continued to emphasise the Wolves dominance and it took four and a half minutes until Cashaw finally got the scoreboard moving. Edwards and Raheem May-Thompson came up with and one plays as Worcester forged into a 67-42 lead but Connor Cashaw’s three plus one play saw the quarter end at 69-48.
Amir Williams alleyoop sent the Sharks into another timeout at 78-53. Kofi Josephs huge three made that 82-55 and it took five points from Cashaw as the Sharks pulled back to 82-62. Nick Lewis hit a three and the ever-involved Cashaw rounded off events but it was Worcester, who came away more satisfied with an 89-70 success.
MVP
A difficult night for the Sharks but there were a couple of performances of significant merit. Bouna Ndiaye came off the bench to good effect, kickstarting the offence on his way to 15 points and 5 rebounds. As often this season however, the MVP award clearly went the way of Connor Cashaw. The former Rice University man again filled the statlines with 25 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists but was unable to inspire his team to the win on this occasion.
Next home game
B. Braun Sharks v Cheshire Phoenix, Friday 20th March 2020, Ponds Forge International Sports Centre, 7.30pm Tip Off
Ticket Link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/b-braun-sheffield-sharks-v-cheshire-phoenix-tickets-90956287705
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Andy Chubb
