Mixed round for Niners and Eagles; wins for Riders, Phoenix, Lions and Gladiators

Surrey 89ers and London Lions brought in the New Year in style to begin an unforgettable round nine of Super League Basketball Championship action.

The thriller in Guildford began a seven-game slate that also included a basement battle along with a North-West derby.

Sunday’s arranged fixture between B. Braun Sheffield Sharks and London Lions was called off due to bad weather.

Surrey 89ers 80-84 London Lions (AOT)

London Lions showed tremendous grit and character to see-off the Surrey 89ers in the annual New Year’s Day game at Surrey Sports Park.

The Lions fought back from 17 points down and relied on an unstoppable performance from Aaryn Rai to secure an 84-80 win after overtime.

Rai led the way with a double-double of 29 points and 10 rebounds but it Jaiden Delaire who gave London a new lease of life as he buried an open triple with 1.2 seconds left to force overtime.

And in a game decided by the finest of margins, a 5-2 run in the final 1:07 proved to be enough for the visitors to steal a win as Surrey lost a game after leading by double-digits for the sixth time in all competitions.

Mervin James paced the Niners with 22 points.

MVP: Aaryn Rai (London Lions)

Manchester Basketball 76-72 B.Braun Sheffield Sharks

Manchester Basketball’s resurgence continues as they dented the B. Braun Sheffield Sharks’ early title aspirations with a 76-72 win at the NBPC.

Donovan Mitchell enjoyed a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds as Manchester secured a fourth straight win.

And it was no more than they deserved, leading for good from the latter stages of the first period, with that advantage peaking at 16 points, despite a strong second half showing from the Sharks.

Makai Ashton-Langford and Elijah Ifejeh each had 11 points for the winners, with the latter pulling down 12 rebounds.

Rodney Chatman III led Sheffield with a game-high 23 points and Donovan Clay posted his own double-double of 17 points and 15 boards.

MVP: Donovan Mitchell (Manchester Basketball)

Newcastle Eagles 93-90 Leicester Riders

Newcastle Eagles ended Leicester Riders’ six-game winning streak with a 93-90 win at the Vertu Motors Arena.

In a physically demanding contest, both teams were still able to shoot the ball reasonably well, with Riders marginally faring better at 49% to Newcastle’s 45%, but the Eagles’ 13 three-pointers to Leicester’s six was a factor.

Seneca Knight put on an all-round clinic of 21 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds with Mike Okauru leading the scoring with 22 for the hosts as they end their two-game skid.

After a back-and-forth first half of action, where both teams traded leads with each other, it was a 31-16 third quarter ambush from Newcastle that settled the tie, which included an 11-0 start to the period.

That spurt held Leicester scoreless for the first three minutes of the third and despite their best efforts late on, were unable to recover.

Zach Jackson led the visitors with 24 points.

MVP: Seneca Knight (Newcastle Eagles)

Surrey 89ers 96-70 Newcastle Eagles

Newcastle’s joy turned to despair within a 48-hour period as Surrey 89ers put in their performance of the season in Guildford.

Mervin James continued his good run of form with 21 points, and Jalen Ray added 16 as the Niners deservedly won 96-70 at Surrey Sports Park.

The Eagles did take an early 9-0 lead with Cole Long the main factor. But Surrey recovered and responded with a 15-3 run themselves, to take the lead and never looking back.

Mike Okauru led Newcastle with 18 points.

MVP: Mervin James (Surrey 89ers)

Caledonia Gladiators 66-58 Bristol Flyers

Caledonia Gladiators sealed only their second win of the season as they beat Bristol Flyers 66-58 at PlaySport.

A strong second half from the hosts, who trailed 29-27 at the break, secured the win in a low scoring affair as Jared Wilson-Frame led the way with 20 points, five rebounds, five assists.

Trevond Barnes supported Wilson-Frame with 16 as Caledonia, once again, went with a six-man rotation, a style that coach Robbie Peers was infamous for in the early 2000s.

Keddy Johnson led Bristol with 19 points.

MVP: Jared Wilson-Frame (Caledonia Gladiators)

Cheshire Phoenix 101-94 Manchester Basketball

Cheshire Phoenix showed heart and determination aplenty, as they needed overtime to end Manchester Basketball’s four-game winning run, winning 101-94.

TJ Atwood tied the game for the Phoenix at 86-86 with 30.1 seconds left to eventually force the extra period, despite both teams having chances to win it in regulation in the last moments.

In overtime, the home side had just enough to halt Manchester’s winning run, icing the contest from the foul line for the win.

Cameron Holden led the victors with 19 points as six Phoenix players registered double figures for scoring. Nathan Cayo and Elijah Ifejeh both had 19 points to lead Manchester with the former pulling down 10 rebounds.

MVP: Cameron Holden (Cheshire Phoenix)

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