Sharks up to fifth with win
BBL Championship – Saturday 3 December 2011
Durham Wildcats Vs Sheffield Sharks
The One Health Sharks Sheffield have won two in a row in the BBL Championship after overpowering the Durham Wildcats to win 77-93 in the North East on Saturday night, jumping four places to fifth in the league table in the process.
The Sharks used bursts around the half time break to spur the win, with Justin Dobbins leading the way with 20 points and 11 rebounds, supported by inside partner Mike Tuck’s 20 points and 9 boards. The resistance was led by Fred Hinnenkamp’s 19 points for the hosts.
In a fast start to the game the teams were tied at 9 after three minutes, with a three-pointer from Hinnenkamp putting the hosts up, before Dobbins’s three-point play. But another score from Dobbins continued a run that became 9-0, Babalola and Tuck adding baskets, for a 9-15 Sheffield lead as the Wildcats didn’t score for four minutes. Hinnenkamp ended the barren spell and instigated a spurt for the hosts as Michael Davies and Mike Capocci made three-pointers to help tie the game at 19 by the close of the first quarter.
And the teams remained deadlocked through the early exchanges of the second stanza, tied at 21, 23 and 30 through the first six minutes, with the Wildcats leading briefly at 30-29 on Bucci’s triple. But the Sharks made a crucial run from there, scoring the next 7 points, including a Reinking three-pointer, for a 30-36 lead; and they still led at the half, 39-43, with Reinking and Flaherty exchanging triples in the final 20 seconds of the period.
The Sharks pushed on in the third quarter as they opened with another 7-0 run to take their lead to double-digits at 39-50 on Babalola’s score, with Dobbins making another three-point play. That proved decisive, as the lead reached 57-71 by the end of the period before the Wildcats made a go of it in the fourth quarter. The hosts narrowed the deficit to 69-77 as Bucci’s triple capped a 9-2 run with five minutes to play. But the Sharks remained composed with an immediate 9-2 response of their own, including 4 points for Tuck and a Langhurst three-pointer, before pushing the lead out to its peak at 75-93 inside the final minute.
Durham Wildcats 77 (19,39,57) (Hinnenkamp 19, Capocci 17, Flaherty 13)
One Health Sharks Sheffield 93 (19,43,71) (Dobbins 20, Tuck 20, Langhurst 19)