Eaves drops the hammer for Giants on Phoenix
Manchester Giants won back-to-back games for only the second time this season after overcoming Cheshire Phoenix in a thrilling game that went right down to the wire, 85-83.
Giants forward Ben Eaves scored the go-ahead bucket with a slam dunk off a gorgeous feed from Stefan Gill with just 20 seconds left to play in the game.
Starting line-ups
Manchester Giants – Bailey, J. Jones, Watts, Eaves, Bernard
Cheshire Phoenix – Haskins, Brandreth, Myers, Gumbs, Bland
Eaves finished with a season-high 20 points and added a game-high 15 rebounds and four blocked shots. It was his third game of the season with ten or more rebounds, with four coming at the offensive end as he used his exceptional leaping ability which ultimately made the difference down the stretch.
Phoenix point guard, Gabe Haskins, who played the entire 40 minutes yet again this season, led all scorers with 31. His creativity off the dribble made him a handful for the Giants defense all night as he earned himself 15 free-throw attempts; more than the entire Giants team.
Alif Bland had a solid game in the middle for the visitors, finishing with a double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds. He showed a great touch around the basket and was able to corral several of his teams misses and put them back up for easy layups.
The 4th quarter was close throughout with neither side able to open up more than a three-point lead over the final nine minutes of the contest.
Giants entered it with a 65-61 advantage which was immediately halved as Cheshire forward Jerome Gumbs found space inside for the easy layup. David Watts then put the hosts up by five with his third 3-pointer of the evening; he currently leads the league in 3-pointers made with 42. Watts made a blistering start to the game; scoring 12 of his 19 points in the first quarter.
That sparked a revival from Phoenix scoring eight unanswered points over the next two minutes to take their first lead of the game. Giants centre Mike Bernard picked up two quick technical fouls which meant that he was ejected from the game and gave the visitors four free throws plus possession of the ball. Haskins made all four and followed up with a jumper from 12 feet to give the visitors six points off just one possession. Gumbs then ghosted past his defender for a layup to put the visitors up by three. Manchester soon regained the lead when Bailey took his man off the dribble and made it all the way to the rack to finish with a finger-roll and then Eaves knocked-down only his second 3-pointer of the season to put his side back-up by two.
Giants went through a bit of a dry spell as they missed their next three shots and went almost two minutes without a field goal. Phoenix capitalised on their host’s struggles and went on a 5-2 run to go back up by one.
Gill took the ball coast-to-coast for a layup to put the Giants ahead again but Niel Gillard replied straight away with a long two-pointer to restore Phoenix’s slender lead. On the Giants’ next possession Gill found James Jones on the left-wing and he drained a 3-pointer to put the home-side back up by two with 3:42 left to play. David Aliu blocked Gillard’s shot but Bland was there to clean up to tie the scores at 80. After two empty trips for both sides, Haskins was fouled by Aliu and went to the free-throw line but was only able to make one shot from two.
At the other end Jones made a smart inbounds pass to Aliu under the basket and was fouled on the way up by Shawn Myers. The resulting free-throw to put the Giants up 83-81 with 1:42 left in the game. Following a timeout from Phoenix they went back inside to Bland who had his shot blocked by Eaves but once again the energetic centre refused to give-up on the play and put his own miss back-up for two; tying the game at 83 with 1:21 left in the contest.
After a Giants turnover, Cheshire found themselves with the ball with just 36 seconds left but Gill made an excellent defensive play to intercept a pass by Brandreth and give his side another possession. He used a delightful fake to give himself some space before taking one dribble towards the key and whipping a sublime pass over to the cutting Eaves who rose up and slammed home his final two points of the evening.
The visitors called a time-out to set up one final play to either tie the game or win it with a three. Gumbs caught the ball outside the arc and held it for a while before making his move. After a few dribbles to the right he crossed the ball over into his left hand before taking a step in and launching a runner off the glass which rolled around the rim before coming out. He was the first to the rebound but was stripped off the ball by Eaves as time expired to give the Giants back-to-back wins for the first time since the opening games of the season.
It was a valiant effort by both sides and an electrifying fourth quarter that saw the lead change hands no less than six times. Phoenix outscored the Giants in the final three periods but were ultimately hampered by their slow start and their poor-showing from the line.
Top Scorers
Manchester Giants – Eaves 20, Watts 19, Aliu 11
Cheshire Phoenix – Haskins 31, Bland 23, Gumbs 14
Play of the game: The game winning dunk by Eaves was set up masterfully by Gill but it was a great defensive play by Gill just seconds before to steal the ball from Cheshire’s Philip Brandreth in what turned out to be the most crucial 15 seconds of the game.
Game MVP: Ben Eaves
Next up
Manchester Giants away to Newcastle Eagles (Friday 21st December – 7:30pm)
Cheshire Phoenix at home to Sheffield Sharks (Sunday 16th December – 5:30pm)
