Last-Gasp Cousinard Stuns Giants
Manchester Giants hopes of reaching the Playoffs in their return to the BBL were dealt a crushing blow as they suffered a last gasp 78-80 overtime defeat at the hands of the Leicester Riders on Sunday afternoon.
BBL Cup Final MVP Jay Cousinard led all scorers with 31 points including the game-winning 3-pointer as the final buzzer sounded to stun the home-crowd and give the Riders an incredible 78-80 victory in overtime.
Starting Fives
Manchester Giants: Bailey, J. Jones, Watts, Aliu, Bernard
Leicester Riders: Washington, Couisnard, Sullivan, Losonsky, Rowe
The Giants built a 20 point lead earlier in the game as they pounded the ball inside and overpowered their visitors with the size and strength of Mike Bernard who muscled his way to 13 points. The home-side outscored the Riders by 40 points to 22 in the paint with Bernard and David Aliu leading the way.
Aliu finished as top scorer for the hosts with 26 points and seven rebounds and he looked to have given them a much-needed win with a layup on the break that put them up by three with 1:16 left to play before Cousinard’s late game heroics.
It had all started so well for the Giants as they put together one of their best first half performances of the season with their defense holding the visitors to just 24 points in the opening 20 minutes.
Cousinard knocked down a pair from the free-throw line to pull the Riders within three points at 22-19 with 5:41 left in the first half before the Giants went on a tear scoring 13 unanswered points to take control of the game. The visitors missed five straight shots and committed two turnovers during the run as the home-side turned up the intensity and their fans responded accordingly; increasing in volume with every made basket.
Aliu scored nine points during the run as the Riders were unable to put a body on him in the paint and the crafty veteran showed a splendid touch around the basket. He knocked down a pair from the stripe to give the Giants a 35-19 advantage with 2:24 left in the half and helped his side build a 40-24 lead at the half-time interval.
The Riders came out for the second half with a much more positive mindset; getting to the free-throw line seven times in the quarter and shooting the ball with a lot more confidence,Anthony Rowe knocked down three jumpers in the period as they tried their best to narrow the gap. However the Giants kept them at bay with some deadeye perimeter shooting as Devan Bailey and David Watts both drained shots from long-range to help keep the visitors at bay. A pair of free-throws by Leicester’s Jamell Anderson cut the gap to 14 points before a 6-0 run by the Giants gave them a 56-36 lead with 3:23 left to play in the third period as the home side looked poised to take a huge scalp and put themselves in prime position to take home the W.
The Riders response was immediate as it was their turn to put on the defensive shackles. They managed to keep the hosts scoreless for the remainder of the quarter and went on a 9-0 run of their own heading into the fourth quarter. Couisnard started the run with an off balance shot in the lane while drawing a foul on the Giants James Griffiths and converted the 3-point play. Yorick Williams knocked down a deep two for the Riders before Couisnard added a pair from the line and a difficult layup in transition to bring the hosts within 56-45 at the end of the third.
The two sides exchanged buckets at the start of the fourth period and a pair from the line by Stefan Gill gave the hosts a 60-47 advantage with 7:38 remaining but the wheels started to come off as the Giants couldn’t buy a bucket over the next five minutes and the Riders continued to chip away at the lead. A driving layup by Rowe closed the gap to just four points with 3:25 left in regulation. The home-side went back to Aliu who scored in close to put the hosts back up by six before Sullivan halved the deficeit with the Riders first 3-pointer of the contest with just 1:39 remaining.
A free-throw by Washington cut the lead to just two points but David Watts stepped up with his fourth 3-pointer of the evening to put the Giants up by five with just under a minute left to play. Cousinard missed from behind the arc on the Riders next possession and Bailey made one of two from the stripe to put the Giants up by six points with only 26 seconds left in the 4th quarter. After a Riders time-out; Cousinard hit an improbable 3-pointer from the sideline to cut it three. They fouled Bernard straight away and he split a pair at the line to make it a four point game. Sullivan came down court and dropped in another three to cut the deficeit to just a single point. This time they fouled Aliu and he calmly went to the strip and iced a pair to leave the Riders trailing by three with seven seconds left. Following a time-out; they inbounded the ball to Cousinard who calmly pump-faked his way past the defender and stepped into a 3-pointer from the top of the circle that nestled in the hoop as the final buzzer sounded to take the game into overtime.
The visitors carried that momentum into the extra period with back-to-back buckets from Connor Washington giving them their first lead since the start of the first quarter. The Giants refused to go down without a fight as Gill canned a triple from the wing before Callum Jones and Aliu scored from close range to once again put the home-side up by three in the dying stages of the game. With 36 seconds left to play in overtime; Couisnard was fouled by Jones and went to the stripe and made both shots. The Giants used up as much time as they could before getting a good attempt that the rim that unfortunately for them did not drop; giving the visitors one last opportunity to go for the win with just nine seconds remaining. Sullivan grabbed the rebound and made the outlet pass to Anderson who found Couisnard on the right wing. He made a nice catch and let it fly – it splashed through the net as the buzzer sounded to give the visitors a two-point lead and leave them on the brink of claiming the BBL title.
The loss was a devastating one for the Giants as they held the lead for more than 39 minutes in the contest. It leaves them in 9th place and four points adrift of the London Lions who they will host in their final home-game of the season on Friday April 5th. They cannot afford any more slip ups if they are to hold onto their slim chance of making the playoffs in their return to the BBL
Top Scorers
Manchester Giants – David Aliu 26, David Watts 14, Mike Bernard 13
Leicester Riders – Jay Couisnard 31, Andrew Sullivan 14, Connor Washington 11
Play of the game
Apart from the clutch 3-pointers by Couisnard; Giants centre Mike Bernard made a stunning play at the end of the first half when he followed up a miss by Stefan Gill with a thunderous putback dunk that shook the basket stand and had the fans inside Wright Robinson thinking that the roof was about to collapse. There was a two minute delay whilst the officials arranged for the hoop to be re-aligned after that display of raw strength and power from the Giants big-man.
Game MVP
Jay Couisnard – 31 points, four assists four rebounds and 12/13 from the free – throw line.
The Riders swingman was the ultimate closer for his side as they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with his incredible late game heroics. He was the calmest person in the building after he used a swift pump-fake to lift his defender and sink the game tying three before breaking Giants hearts with the game-winning 3-pointer at the final buzzer in overtime.