Ojo and Lasker help Plymouth edge it over Giants
Manchester Giants suffered their second home defeat of the season as they dropped an agonisingly close contest against the Plymouth Raiders, 73-79.
Michael Ojo scored seven of his game-high 23 points for the visitors in the 4th quarter as they overcame a shaky start to the contest which saw them down by double-digits early on.
Starting Fives
Manchester Giants: Bailey, J. Jones, Aliu, Watts, Bernard
Plymouth Raiders: Bell, Ojo, O’Reilly, Schneck, Potter
David Watts led the home-side with 22 points – the fourth time he’s topped the 20-point mark this season but it wasn’t enough as the Giants were unable to win back-to-back games for the first-time since the opening week of the campaign.
A promising start saw the hosts open up a 20-8 lead just six minutes into the contest with Watts scoring 11 early on making four of his first six attempts from the field as the Giants raced out of the blocks. The Raiders weathered the early storm and showed their ability to put points on the board in a hurry as they went on a 12-0 run over the next few minutes to tie the game up at 20 with 1:32 left in the first period.
Plymouth guard Andrew Lasker scored 10 straight points as he was able to get to the basket four times in quick succession and added two free-throws. The Giants closed out the period with their fourth and fifth 3-pointers of the game to keep their noses slightly ahead going into second period.
The 3-point assault continued for the hosts in the second quarter as they knocked down three more from behind the arc but struggled to generate better quality looks inside as nine of their 12 field goal attempts in the period came from long distance. In stark contrast the visitors did not attempt a single shot from 3-point range in the quarter preferring to play a much more aggressive game and they were rewarded for their efforts with 11 trips to the free-throw line.
The Raiders took the lead midway through the second as Lasker navigated his way through the Giants defence for a layup and then Ogo increased their lead with a short pull-up jumper. After only scoring 14 points in the quarter the Giants will have felt somewhat fortunate to only trail by four at the half-time interval.
The third quarter continued in a similar vein as the home-side continues to hoist up shots from long-distance despite having great success when they managed to get to the rack as they made five of their seven attempts from inside the arc and just three of 11 from outside. Stefan Gill picked up the scoring for the hosts with 10 points in the period after a quiet first-half. His 3-pointer from the left-wing cut the visitors lead down to 64-66 with two minutes left in the quarter but the Raiders went back to Ojo who drained a jumper from the wing to ensure that the visitors entered the fourth period with their slim lead intact.
The Giants opened up the final quarter with a 7-4 run which saw them tie the game up at 73 with a layup from Gill but the Raiders replied with a eight unanswered points as forward Colin O’Reilly knocked down a 3-pointer and Ogo added a pair from the line before sinking one from behind the arc. The Giants countered with a 6-0 run as James Jones scored a driving bank-shot, newcomer Ben Eaves threw down a dunk and David Aliu added a fade-away jumper to cut it to 79-81 with 2:21 left to play. The hosts then missed three good opportunities to tie or take the lead as they committed a turnover and misfired on two attempts from the field.
On the visitors next possession Jeremy Bell converted a difficult leaning jump-shot to give the Raiders a four-point lead with 44 seconds left to play. Eaves was fouled on the Giants next possession and he knocked down a pair to cut the lead back down to two. Bell split a pair of foul shots on his next trip the line to put the Raiders up by three before Aliu missed a game-tying 3-point attempt from the top of the key.
Lasker was fouled quickly following the rebound and he nailed a pair to put the visitors up by five with 19 seconds left. Eaves was fouled on the Giants next possession and knocked down two more to give him six points and eight rebounds on his home debut. Bell was then fouled but he uncharacteristically missed both freebies to give the home-side an unexpected chance to tie the game with 14 seconds left. Bailey advanced the ball up the court drove to the middle as the clock ticked down but threw a wild kick-out pass that sailed harmlessly out of bounds and sealed the Giants fate.
The home-side attempted 33 shots from behind the arc and only 14 free-throws; conversely the Raiders only put up 12 shots from downtown and made it to the stripe 23 times and although missed attempts nearly cost them in the end – it was the close range shots that won them the game.
The Giants can take heart from the fact that they came so close to victory against a team that beat them by 31 points just 3 weeks ago but they will struggle not to be disappointed after coming close to what would have been a significant scalp on their return to the BBL this season.
Play of the Game: Bell’s fade-away with 44 seconds left sucked the air out of the building. The hosts had just made a 6-0 run and were about to have a chance to tie or take the lead before Bell’s clutch jumper put the visitors up by four. He didn’t have a great scoring night by his high standards but he wanted the ball in crunch time and made it count when it mattered.
Game MVP: Tie between Lasker and Ojo as they were both extremely efficient – combining for 41 points on just 22 shots attempts and making all 11 free-throws they attempted. They also helped out in other areas as Ojo finished with five rebounds and Lasker dished out five assists.
Manchester Giants – David Watts 22, Stefan Gill 15, James Jones 13
Plymouth Raiders – Michael Ogo 23, Andrew Lasker 18, Matthew Schneck 16
Next Up
Manchester Giants – Durham Wildcats, Sunday 4th November, 16:00, Durham University Sport
Plymouth Raiders – Leicester Riders, Saturday 10th November, 19:30, John Sandford Centre
