Super League Basketball Championship
The boys are back in town! The B. Braun Sheffield Sharks take their home bow at the Canon Medical Arena this Sunday when Newcastle Eagles are the visitors for a 3pm tip off. Firstly however, Atiba and the team need to negotiate a tricky visit to Leicester Riders on Friday evening as the first double-header of the campaign plays out. Not only can you see the Sharks this coming Sunday, we also have Sheffield Steel netball against Huddersfield Hi-Tec and the B. Braun Sheffield Hatters against Manchester Basketball – all on the same day. A Sharks ticket gets you into all three games – unmissable stuff!
Friday – Riders v Sharks – Mattioli Arena – 7.30pm
Watch – https://www.dazn.com/en-GB/fixture/ContentId:1ednd1bxpab2jcnjde9zpb3700/1ednd1bxpab2jcnjde9zpb3700
Ones To Watch
Travis Evee – Plenty of new faces in the Riders line-up and Evee was the most impressive of all with 22 points against London Lions. He connected on 4 of 6 from deep as Leicester were edged out by 72-79 against the men from the capital.
Flynn Boardman-Raffet – Was perfect from the field after coming off the bench but couldn’t stop the Riders sliding to a first defeat. Hit a 100% 2 of 2 from behind the arc to finish with 10 points in a shade under 22 minutes of action last Friday.
Duke Shelton – A Riders returnee who has also tasted British basketball life in Newcastle. Had Leicester’s second best index for his 6 point, 5 rebound, 2 block display, shooting at 60% in the paint.
Nathaniel Martin – Joint second top scorer for Leicester with 10 points, who also went perfect from the field against the Lions. Four of eight from the charity stripe was the only blot on his copybook as the forward also weighed in with 3 rebounds, an assist and a steal before fouling out.
Last Meeting
May 11th 2025 – Leicester Riders 97 B. Braun Sheffield Sharks 77
Sunday – Sharks v Eagles – Canon Medical Arena – 3.00pm
Tickets - https://app.fanbaseclub.com/Fan/Fixtures?fanStoreType=Fixtures&clubId=216
Ones To Watch
Marco Anthony – Newcastle came up good in overtime at Caledonia by 104-109 and Anthony was one of their keys to success. His statline filling outing produced 24 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals with an eye-popping index of 28 as the Eagles got the job done in the extra five minutes.
Maceo Jack – The former Cheshire man was introduced as a late recruit but showed he had lost none of the talent that shone in the North West. His 23 points included a successful 8 of 10 from inside and Newcastle were +18 while ever he was on court.
Ray’sean Taylor – The new starting guard was very effective on debut, finishing with 19 / 4 / 6. Made his points at a solid 42% and racked up a bit over 33 minutes of court-time as the Eagles grabbed an opening weekend win.
Josh Ward-Hibbert – The Newcastle skipper was once again the glue that held his side together in claiming that first victory of the campaign. It isn’t always about the numbers with Ward-Hibbert but he did finish with a very creditable 12 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocked shots to cap another very effective display.
Last Meeting
April 13th 2025 – B. Braun Sheffield Sharks 90 Newcastle Eagles 79
Shark Bites
The Sharks start their season with 2 away games at Bristol and Leicester. This is just the third instance of them beginning with back to back road games in 32 years. This previously happened in 1998 and more recently in 2023, while waiting for the Canon Medical Arena to be finished.
Last season, the Sharks started their Championship campaign with what turned out to be their biggest loss, by 68-92 at London. Having suffered an 18 point defeat at Bristol on Friday, the Sharks will be hoping that this season will continue on a more positive trajectory too.
On their two previous visits to Leicester this calendar year, the Sharks have suffered defeat after overtime. This brought the total number of games between an Atiba Lyons-coached Sharks and a Rob Paternostro-led Riders that have gone to overtime to seven.
The Sharks make their home bow on Sunday against Newcastle having won the last 14 home games played on a Sunday. A win against Newcastle would be the Sharks 300th home win on a Sunday since joining the league in 1994.
SharkNation
It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for – the Sharks are back at the Canon Medical Arena! We’ve got the Sharks On Tour crew heading down to Leicester on Friday night and we need a full and rocking Shark Tank to follow on Sunday afternoon when Marc Steutel’s Newcastle come to town. Don’t forget, a ticket to the Sharks game (3pm tip off) gets you into the Sheffield Steel netball game at 10am and the B. Braun Sheffield Hatters game against Manchester Basketball at 6.00pm. Hit the link higher up the page to take advantage of this unbelievable offer! We’ve got the finest in ball sports for you – all you have to do is turn up in your numbers and bring the noise. We’re raring to go, we hope you are too. It’s time to #FearTheFin!
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Adam Bates
