REPORT: Sharks take another defensive affair against Plymouth

Wednesday 8^th December 2021

BBL Championship

Plymouth City Patriots 61 B. Braun Sheffield Sharks 66

The swift rematch with the Plymouth City Patriots proved to be an equally as defensive affair as the first game but once again, it was the B. Braun Sheffield Sharks who toughed out a 61-66 win. A 2-10 run either side of the third and fourth quarters got the Sharks noses in front and led by a Sharks-best 18 points from Rodney Glasgow Jnr, an outright hold on second place in the BBL Championship was confirmed.

Starting Fives

Patriots: King, Dusha, Hart, Graham-Bell, Carpenter.

Sharks: Anderson, Nichols, Ratinho, Glasgow Jnr, Delpeche.

Key Moments

Home court advantage buoyed the Patriots in the early stages of the opening quarter as Rowell Graham-Bell took them out to a 6-0 lead. Threes from Rodney Glasgow Jnr and Aaron Anderson reversed that as the Sharks went ahead by 9-13 and four points from Bennett Koch saw the Sharks in charge by 12-19 after ten minutes play.

To their credit, Plymouth belied their lower-table status to take the second quarter by 17-9. Joe Hart’s three in transition kick-started their fightback and it took four points from Jonathan Williams to keep the Sharks in front by 23-26. That didn’t last long as Graham-Bell’s ‘and one’ play plus another Hart triple saw the home side with a half time 29-28 advantage.

In the same vein as Friday’s encounter, there was little to choose between the two teams in the third quarter. Plymouth’s defence forced the Sharks into their sixth shot clock violation and it was a Jordan Ratinho trey that tied matters at 35-35. Aaron Anderson’s stepback three edged them back into the lead and Glasgow Jnr in the last minute matched his effort as the Sharks went into the final stanza up by 40-43.

The veteran wiles of Sharks skipper Mike Tuck put the Sharks into an eight point lead a 42-50 and capped a 2-10 run either side of the quarters. Jordan Ratinho extended that to ten at 47-57 and it looked like the visitors had finally broken the Devonians. The mercurial Elvisi Dusha had other ideas, clawing the Patriots back to 57-61 but with Plymouth in the penalty, the Sharks were able to run the clock out to a 61-66 success.

MVP

A second low-scoring, defensive affair again tested the Sharks mettle but to their credit, they again showed their resilience to go 5-2 and into outright second in the BBL Championship. An eight of sixteen three point shooting effort was a big contributor and for the second game running, it was Rodney Glasgow Jnr who took the MVP award. His 18 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal on an index of 20 was a Sharks career best and saw his side into an eleven day break before they return to take on London Lions on December 19^th.

Next game

London Lions v B. Braun Sheffield Sharks, Sunday 19^th December 2021, Copperbox Arena, 4.00pm Tip Off.

Image

Adam Bates