Gumbs grabs glory at the death for Phoenix

In the final game at the Northgate Arena in 2012, like many others this year, it went down to the wire, as Cheshire Phoenix left it once more to the final shot to beat One Health Sharks Sheffield, 80-79.

Jerome Gumbs signed Phoenix off for Christmas with the second of his free throws, after a sterling comeback effort from Sharks, with BJ Holmes claiming their last nine points.

Starting fives:

Cheshire Phoenix – Brandreth, Myers, Haskins, Gumbs, Bland
One Health Sharks Sheffield – Babalola, Tuck, Williams, Jemison, Holmes

BJ Holmes opened proceedings in a game filled with runs for both sides, however, the first two quarters saw some shocking shooting and the lowest half-time score seen this season in Chester, and the second quarter posting 10-15 and the overall field goal percentages at 33% and 39% respectively, epitomised this. Gabe Haskins and Olu Babalola looked completely out of sorts, with Babalola seemingly suffering more through injury.

Cheshire were able to bring in the final quarter to just a single point, 29-30, thanks to Gumbs, but it was difficult to call which way this would go; both teams would need vast improvements.

That’s exactly what Cheshire would give the home fans though, as midway through the third period, they went on a 12-0 run, including Chris Pearce’s two three-pointers and five points from Haskins. This run helped ‘Nix stay in control for most of the rest of the quarter, but five late points from Sharks kept them within touching distance, 53-47.

Going into the final quarter, and the fightback was on for Sharks. Short burst runs, and the dismissal halfway through the stanza of Alif Bland, gave the visitors a lift eight points down at 64-56.

The foul count for both teams began to rack up, and as Mike Tuck and Holmes went to work, Haskins and Gumbs took it on to try and keep Sheffield at bay. Once Tuck was also ejected from the game, Holmes despite his best efforts could not outfox Cheshire coach Matt Lloyd’s final play, but not without leaving the crowd on the edge awaiting Gumbs’ final free throw shots from the line with the game tied at 79-79.

Speaking after the game, Sharks’ coach Atiba Lyons was at a loss for words after seeing his side fail to claim the W, despite winning the final quarter 27-32, after their comeback on Friday night to Rocks: “I was hoping to come in on the back of that win more positively, but we can’t hit shots on the road.”

“There’s not a lot you can say when guys aren’t hitting their shots,” said Lyons, whose side hit 33/75 field goals, “It’s up to them really, and it didn’t happen until the end. They did their best and showed a lot of heart, but it was too late. We have to be tougher mentally, and be able to shoot the ball better when we come away from home.”

With such a close called game, coach Lloyd admitted it wasn’t a pretty sight to see: “A W at the end of the day is all important, it keeps us in that final play-off position; but it wasn’t the greatest game of basketball.

“Both teams went on their runs, and they counteract each other,” surmised Lloyd, “It’s just big shots that maybe they haven’t hit previously and that just drags it out further, like it did on Friday night against Giants, where you get so close but they come down and hit a three-pointer. It was the same here, they’d either hit three or they’d get an and-1, both as destructive as the other. It’s just plays against the clock and run of play that hurt us the most.”

Phoenix now will not play at the Northgate for six weeks, and having only won once away all season knew the importance of collecting the victory: “We needed a win because our away form has been pretty poor, but we got it and now we need to make sure we travel well.”

Play of the game:

Going into the final 1.9 seconds of regulation play, and Matt Lloyd orchestrating the play in the final time out, where Cheshire inbounded the ball, reached the baseline and wiping out the majority of the Sharks’ defence to set Gumbs up for the free throws.

“We drew the play up at the end with the short amount of time that we had, specifically placed the positions to try and execute to the best of our ability to get a two point basket or someone on the foul line; it was drawn up for Jerome” said Lloyd.

Game MVP: Jerome Gumbs (22pts, 8 rbs, 2 assists, 2 steals)

Top scorers

Cheshire Phoenix: Haskins (26), Gumbs (22), Pearce (10)
Sheffield Sharks: Holmes (24), Tuck (17), Jemison/Williams (11)

Next up

Cheshire Phoenix away to London Lions (BBL Trophy) Friday 28th December, 7:30pm
Sheffield Sharks away to Surrey Heat, Sunday 23rd December, 3:00pm