South west revenge mission beckons for Sharks

BBL Championship

Friday 18th January 2019

Bristol Flyers v DBL Sharks Sheffield

The DBL Sharks Sheffield head down to the south west on Friday for this rearranged encounter against the Flyers. The Sharks come into the game off a split weekend last time out and with memories of a significant thumping last time they were at the SGS WISE Arena.

What to expect

The Flyers sit in seventh having only played 12 games; a 7-5 record is the result. They have lost their last three games but lack of game time may have hampered them given they made a decent start to the season. Their last run out saw them push Leicester Riders all the way before falling 64-63 – their final shot rimming out by millimetres. Fred Thomas top scored with 20 in that low-scoring affair but it was a different story when the Sharks visited earlier in the season. Jalan McCloud poured in 21, backed up by Thomas’ 17 and Delpeche with 15 as Bristol took a 92-60 win. Delpeche (11 rebounds) and Edozie (9 rebounds) dominated the Sharks on the boards that evening and it is a result that the Sharks must use as a spur to better things if they are to come away with anything from the compact and intimidating Flyers arena.

Shark Watch

It was a split weekend last time out with the Sharks taking down Worcester comfortably by 114-76 on Friday before fading away in the final quarter against London City Royals to lose by 83-70 on Saturday. Still key to the Sharks scoring are Chris Alexander and Dirk Williams. Alexander is currently second in the league to Plymouth’s Rashad Hassan with 20.1 points per game and one above Dirk Williams, who is currently putting up 19.9 per game. The Sharks have a different look from the last time they faced Bristol, shorn of Rene Castro-Caneddy and Matthew Don. Anthony Collins is now pulling the strings to good effect from the point but since the departure of Leslee Smith, the front court is in need of support. Atiba Lyons and the organisation are working hard to remedy this but if this can’t be done by Friday, they still have the talent to bring the points back from Avon.

Last time out

Bristol Flyers (McCloud 21 Thomas 17 Delpeche 15) 92 DBL Sharks Sheffield (Williams 17, Alexander 14, Castro-Caneddy 11) 60

Fans corner

The Sharks were originally without a game this weekend but the Flyers game has been brought forward to fill the gap. Tune in on www.livebasketball.tv to see how the action unfolds from 7.30pm on Friday. And don’t forget we welcome in-form Plymouth Raiders to the Tank the week after (Friday 25th January). There’s no dry-January in Shark land – the games just keep coming!

Next home game

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Andy Chubb