Surrey state of affairs for the Sharks
BBL Championship – Sunday 30 September 2012
One Health Sharks 69 Surrey Heat 81
Starting Fives
Sharks: Babalola, Williams, Daye, Bridge, Tuck.
Heat: Frank Holmes, Joseph, Chavis Holmes, Cricelli, McLemore.
Surrey Heat extended their unbeaten start to the season and condemned Sheffield Sharks to go 0-3 in a robust display at the EIS.
Despite Andrew Bridge nailing the first points for the home side, it was the Heat who took the upper hand in the first quarter moving the score out to 4-10. A Bridge maximum helped close the gap to 10-14 but poor defence and turnover trouble saw Surrey extend their lead to 10-21. The Sharks rallied to 18-25 by the end of the quarter but again looked woefully inconsistent. A better second period ensued for Sheffield.
The ebullient Daye and skipper Mike Tuck engineered a fightback that steered the Sharks into a lead for the first time with 4.58 to play in the quarter. Surrey clung on to the Sheffield shirt-tails as BBL veteran Julius Joseph and the much-travelled Sam Cricelli made scores that narrowed the home team’s advantage to just one point at the half, 42-41. The Heat really turned up the flame in the third. Despite intimidating big Frank Holmes hitting foul trouble in the early stages, Surrey upped the tempo and took the score out to 43-51 on the back of two Cricelli scores.
A further ten points were added without a Sheffield reply and a Margai maximum merely rubbed salt into the wounds. 49-65 at the quarter end gave the Sharks a mountain to climb to achieve anything out of the game. An Andrew Bridge trey to take the score to 59-71 was as close as they got as a contentious block by Tuck on McLemore resulted in a technical for Coach Atiba Lyons and five more Heat points from the line. Cricelli fouled out with 1.51 remaining but could rest safe in the knowledge of a job well done as the clock ticked down to a comfortable 69-81 win for Surrey. A 21 point / 12 rebound double-double reflected well on Heat guard Chavis Holmes, who was ably supported by Martelle McLemore (17 points) and Sam Cricelli (16 points). Gage Daye (16 points 10 rebounds 3 assists 3 steals) was again the main scoring threat for the Sharks, backed by Chesterfield-born Andrew Bridge, who produced his best display since returning to the Sharks with 15 points.
Play of the game
Surrey’s robust points accumulation didn’t lend itself to any outstanding individual plays. The Sharks took this one with a Bridge near-halfcourt pass that was finished on the alley-oop by Micah Williams. It capped a fine display by Bridge, who finally looked the experienced head that the Sharks have been seeking.
Game MVP
Chavis Holmes. A healthy double-double and the guy clearly knows how to draw a foul; eleven from twelve attempts made from the charity stripe. The heartbeat of the Surrey side.
Quotes
Surrey guard Albert Margai was in upbeat mood. ‘We’re very happy with the win. It was a tough win and this was a good test for us coming off our victory over Mersey last week. We’re happy with the win!’
Not-so-upbeat was Sharks Assistant Coach Joel Mills. ‘It was bits and pieces wasn’t it? There were too many turnovers and the story of the game was rebounds at both ends. We lost a lot of second chance points and it killed us. We were not good enough at both ends and we have two weeks until the next game to put it right.’
Next Up
Cheshire Jets at Sheffield Sharks, Friday 12 October 2012, 7.30pm, EIS Sheffield.
Surrey Heat at London Lions, Friday 5 October 2012, 7.30pm, Crystal Palace National Sports Centre.
Photo courtesy of Rob McPherson & Catherine Moore of Mphotography.org.uk