PREVIEW: Christmas in Caledonia? The Sharks head north on Friday

BBL Championship

The B. Braun Sheffield Sharks go north of the border this Friday in search of a pre-Christmas win against the Caledonia Gladiators. The Scots are unbeaten at home so the Sharks will have to claim another big scalp if they are to hand out an early Christmas present to the SharkNation. After Friday, just one game remains in the calendar year of 2022 – a home match-up against Cheshire Phoenix on December 29^th.

Friday – Gladiators v Sharks – Emirates Arena – 7.30pm

Watch – British Basketball League – YouTube

Ones To Watch

David Sloan – The Gladiators guard was on fire as he poured in 23 points in Caledonia’s 117-96 win over Cheshire last Friday. Add in 10 assists, 5 rebounds and a steal and it was quite some night for the former East Tennessee State man.

Princeton Onwas – Shoots 65% from inside and 42% from beyond the arc in his role as Caledonia’s do-it-all guy. Likes to pick a pocket with 1.6 steals per game and scored 18 points as the Gladiators went through the three figure mark last Friday.

Jeremiah Bailey – Speaking of big games, there was a huge one for the 24 year old forward against Cheshire. His 36 point, 11 rebound, 6 assist double-double was one of the reasons the Gladiators raced out to a big lead and took yet another home win.

Jordan Burns – Caledonia’s newest recruit is rewarding them handsomely with his displays since hitting British soil. His five games so far have garnered 15.4 points with 3.8 assists including 19 in the Cheshire victory.

Last Meeting

November 27^th 2022 – B. Braun Sheffield Sharks (Ogunyemi 20 Banks 15 Glasgow 14) 68 Caledonia Gladiators (Burns 14 Tape 12 Sloan 11) 77

Shark Bites

The Sharks play their 8^th game against the Glasgow Rocks / Caledonia Gladiators this calendar year on Friday. The Sharks have 2 wins in the previous 7 encounters.

The Sharks have 11 wins in 18 visits when playing the Scottish franchise in the Emirates Arena. In 51 games against the Scots in their 4 home venues, the Sharks have a 29-22 winning record.

The three current Sharks players with the most appearances for the club are Bennett Koch (114), Kipper Nichols (92) and Jordan Ratinho (84). After the career high BBL score of 25 by Kipper Nichols against Plymouth, they all share the same highest ever score for the Sharks at 25.

This season only Jordan Ratinho and Marcus Delpeche have been available to play in all 17 games. Indeed, neither have ever missed a game during their Sharks careers!

SharkNation

You can watch our final game before the guy in the red suit arrives live and for free on the BBL YouTube platform (see link at the top of the page). We’re looking to bring all our fans an early Christmas present so send the team as much support as you can across our social media channels – it really does inspire us! And don’t forget, you get a final chance to see us at home before 2022 is out. Cheshire Phoenix are the visitors to Ponds Forge on December 29^th (Tickets – B. Braun Sheffield Sharks v Cheshire Phoenix – BBL Championship Tickets, Thu 29 Dec 2022 at 19:30 | Eventbrite). It’s that time in between Christmas and New Year when nobody knows what day it is – so come on down and join us – what else are you going to do on a Thursday? It is Thursday right? Let’s Go Sharks! #KnowOurName

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Adam Bates