PREVIEW: Sky Sports Baby! And the Sharks finally return home

BBL Championship

A monster weekend of BBL Championship action for the B. Braun Sheffield Sharks, who appear before the Sky Sports cameras on Friday evening in Newcastle before finally returning to ‘The Tank’ on Sunday afternoon with a mouth-watering game against Leicester.

Friday – Eagles v Sharks – Vertu Motors Arena – 7.30pm

Watch – Sky Sports Arena / Sky Sports Mix / www.bblplayer.co.uk / YouTube

Ones To Watch

Brandon Peel – The former London Lion was added to the Eagles roster prior to their recent break and was immediately effective with a 14 point, 10 rebound double-double in the 74-99 win over the Plymouth City Patriots.

Rahmon Fletcher – The two-times MVP has clearly returned to full fitness following the injury he suffered at Ponds Forge last time out. His 21 points and 6 assists were key to the Eagles getting that win in Plymouth.

Duke Shelton – Another guy who didn’t suit up against the Sharks last time out but was highly influential against the Patriots. A big 20 point, 10 rebound outing showed why he is coveted on Tyneside.

Corey Johnson – The former Leicester Rider is deadly from downtown and added the third double-double to the stat sheet in the Plymouth win with 14 points and 10 rebounds plus 6 useful assists to boot.

Last Meeting

October 15^th 2021 – B. Braun Sheffield Sharks (Williams 20 Koch 15 Anderson 14) 85 Newcastle Eagles (Johnson 23 Person 13 Vinson 11) 64

Sunday – Sharks v Riders – Ponds Forge – 4.00pm

Tickets – B. Braun Sheffield Sharks v Leicester Riders – BBL Championship Tickets, Sun 28 Nov 2021 at 16:00 | Eventbrite

Special Offer! – Buy One, Second Half Price! 28th Nov & 3rd Dec Tickets, Sun 28 Nov 2021 at 16:00 | Eventbrite

Ones To Watch

Marc Loving – Impressed against the Sharks in pre-season and racked up a huge 32 points with 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals as the Riders took down Cheshire by 94-72 last Friday evening.

Conner Washington – GB point guard Washington is consistently deadly from downtown and made four of his eight shots from beyond the arc on Friday on his way to 14 points in the win over the ‘Nix.

Geno Crandall – reigning MVP back for his second season in the Midlands. 11 points in the Cheshire win but as usual did a bit of everything with 5 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 steals and a block to pack the statline.

Patrick Whelan – brother of Manchester’s Jordan, who added to a solid team display with 11 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists as Cheshire were to put to the sword.

Last Meeting

February 14^th 2021 – B. Braun Sheffield Sharks (Lillard 23 Hemsley 21 Lewis 18) 93 Leicester Riders (Nelson-Henry 23 Crandall 20 Johnson 19) 107

Shark Bites

The Sharks have won seven of their last eight Championship matches with Newcastle.

The Sharks have won eight of their last twelve in all competitions in the North East having lost all of the previous sixteen!

The Eagles and the Sharks have met eighty eight times in the BBL Championship, recording forty four wins each.

The Sharks have met Leicester in more finals (four) than any other team during their twenty seven completed campaigns in the BBL.

SharkNation

The Sharks are back in the Tank! Remember that wonderful atmosphere four weeks ago when we beat Manchester in game one of the league season? Well we’d like you to repeat that on Sunday when Leicester Riders are the visitors to Ponds Forge. Check out the ticket links on this page for details of a terrific offer where you can buy one ticket and get a second at half price! And before all that, don’t forget you can catch Atiba, Mike and the guys on Sky Sports this Friday when we head up to the North East to take on the Newcastle Eagles. Sharks weekends don’t get any better than this one! Miss it and miss out!

Image

Adam Bates