Next up on the Manchester Giant’s British Basketball League calendar was another home game. This time Manchester were hosting Paul James and the Plymouth City Patriots. Both teams will be looking to change their fortunes around in this one as both are coming off the back of losses. Manchester just lost out to league leader the London Lions whilst Plymouth were bested by The Newcastle Eagles. 

Nicholas Lewis would be looking to continue his serious run of form into this game as he put together 56 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals over the space of a weekend against Bristol and London including a staggering 33 point scoring clinic against the latter. 

The Giants were asleep in the opening quarter especially on the defensive side of the ball, allowing 32 points in the first quarter alone and surely putting themselves on the backfoot in this game. Offensively Manchester struggled once more from beyond the arc in the opening quarter only going ⅙ from three point land whereas Plymouth managed three times as many three balls in the first quarter. 

The Giants managed to rally slightly heading into quarter number 2. Their shooting accuracy began to improve as they went 9/16 from the field as well as knocking down 80% of their three’s as Darius McNeill, Jamell Anderson, Evan Walshe and Mason Bourcier all contributed from downtown. Despite these efforts, Manchester were still down big heading into the half. A trio of Nicholas Lewis free throws pulled the lead to within double digits but there was still work to do.  

Second Half: 

The third quarter reared its head and that only meant one thing. A Giant comeback. Lockdown defense from Manchester only allowed Plymouth to score 18 points all quarter. Coupled with an added 20 points from Brian Semonian’s men meant that heading into the final quarter the National Basketball Performance Centre had a real ball game on its hands as Manchester were only a possession behind. 

A final quarter gave the fans of tonight’s game 6 different lead changes within the space of 10 minutes. A true contest that was closely contested right down to the very end. Both teams played their style of offense flawlessly but ultimately it came down to free throws to be the deciding factor. A total of 61 trips to the line in tonight’s game and 43 makes between both teams. The most crucial being the pair from Taylor Johsnon with 6.2 seconds left on the clock. The Plymouth guard was unfortunate to miss one, which should have been the final nail in the coffin until Nicholas Lewis missed a pair at the other end . A Tj Atwood rebound and touchdown pass gave the Patriots hope until Elvisi Dusha missed from close. 

Stats: 

Nicholas Lewis: 20 Points, 55% from the field

William Lee: 18 Points, 11 Rebounds.

Mason Bourcier: 13 Points, 7 Assists, 4 Rebounds, 2 Steals. 

A very quick turnaround for head coach Brian Semonian as his team are on the road right after tonight’s game as they head to the Morningside Arena to face the Leicester Riders. Tip off will be on November 25th at 8:00pm and will be available to view on the British Basketball League’s YouTube channel. 

All highlights from tonight’s game will be available to view below: