Sharks slip to narrow Manchester defeat

Friday 3rd January 2025

Super League Basketball Championship

Manchester Basketball 76 B. Braun Sheffield Sharks 72

The B. Braun Sheffield Sharks slipped to a four point defeat on the road at Manchester Basketball on Friday evening. The Sharks left themselves a big task as the improving Manchester outfit opened up a 16 point lead by half time. A much better defensive effort took the game to a single possession inside the final 30 seconds through back-to-back Prentiss Nixon triples but Manchester toughed-out their fourth win on the bounce to secure victory by 76-72. The Sharks now move to 8-4 for the season ahead of a huge clash with leaders London Lions on Sunday.

Starting Fives

Manchester: Madut, Ashton-Langford, Mitchell, Cayo, Ifejeh.

Sharks: Nixon, Chatman, Clay, Anderson, Groves.

Key Moments

It looked to be business as usual as the Sharks moved out to a 1-7 lead from Prentiss Nixon’s three on the angle. Manchester clearly had other ideas, responding with a 17-0 run that included threes from Junior Madut and DJ Mitchell. Donovan Clay broke the streak but Mitchell with the and-one and a Marcus Delpeche hook kept Manchester up by 23-11. Jordan Ratinho gave the Sharks hope with an open three but Delpeche’s late basket gave the hosts a 25-15 advantage.

Manchester also took the second quarter, this time by 17-11. Marcus Delpeche claimed his own rebound from a missed free throw to make it 28-15 and it took 5 Rodney Chatman points to give the scoreline an air of respectability at 30-24. Nathan Cayo’s first bucket was followed by and-one plays from DJ Mitchell and Ian Dubose as Manchester secured a sizeable 42-26 lead by the interval.

With a sizeable incline to climb, the Sharks almost got over the line in a much-improved second half. Defence was to the fore as Manchester were forced into an early shot clock violation and the revival was confirmed when Chatman found success from the top of the key at 48-35. The exciting guard repeated the feat at 50-40 and with Donovan Clay finding success from the line, the differential began to drop. It took an Eric Williams tip-in to keep Manchester in front by 52-45 with 10 minutes to play.

The Sharks took the first six points of the final stanza – Nixon scooping his way to the rim to make it 52-51. Makai Ashton-Langford left his man on the floor before draining the three that hauled Manchester back from the brink and another Cayo trey opened yet another gap at 64-53. Chatman’s stepback three and three from the charity stripe showed that the Sharks weren’t yet buried and when Prentiss Nixon made back-to-back triples, the scoreline read 71-69 with 24 seconds to play. Madut and Dubose made successful free throws as the Sharks were forced into fouling to stop the clock and a Mitchell dunk all-but-sealed the win with 4.8 seconds to go. Drake Jeffries hit a dagger three to end the contest but it the Sharks were left to rue a below-par first half as Manchester ran out winners by 76-72.

MVP

The bulk of the Sharks points once again came from the dynamic duo of Prentiss Nixon and Rodney Chatman. Nixon hit those two big shots down the stretch to finish with 22 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists and a steal and he was bettered by a single point by back court partner Chatman. His 23 points included four 3 point makes and he also went 5 of 5 from the line as well as providing 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. The MVP was Donovan Clay however. His big 17 point, 15 rebound double-double also came with an assist and 3 big blocked shots. Despite his overall index of 28, he was unable to drag the Sharks over the line on this occasion.

Next Game

B. Braun Sheffield Sharks v London Lions, Sunday 5th January 2025, Canon Medical Arena, Super League Basketball Championship, 4.00pm tip off

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Adam Bates