Fletcher shows his class as Giants bounce back in overtime thriller at Surrey Sports Park

Fletcher shows his class as Giants bounce back in overtime thriller at Surrey Sports Park

The Manchester Giants picked themselves up after a tough home loss to close out an overtime victory on the  as they won 85-86 against the Surrey Scorcher.

The trip to Surrey Sports Park was the Giants’ first of the season - and they maintained a perfect three-from-three winning record against the South-East club for the campaign.

A 29-point night from Tajh Green and a Rahmon Fletcher clinic of 23 points and nine assists were enough for the visiting outfit to take victory back up to the North West ahead of the international break.

Fletcher took charge of proceedings early on, contributing seven points and a pair of assists in the first quarter as the Giants trailed 23-19.

A foul on Fletcher going up for a layup, who added one of the resulting two free throws, gave the Giants their first lead of the second quarter at 30-29.

And when Green and Scorchers guard Andrew Lawrence exchanged three-point makes, the game lacked a clear favourite - before Fletcher took centre stage with a floater through traffic to beat the half-time buzzer, sending the Giants into the interval with a five point lead at 39-44.

The hosts came out hot in the third and quickly eliminated the Giants lead as the two sides tussled for breathing space.

The penultimate quarter progressed with a string of lead changes, culminating in a smooth triple from South Sudanese starlet Padiet Wang to give Scorchers a narrow advantage at 60-58 with ten minutes to play.

Former Tennessee state forward Shakem Johnson was also imperious on both ends of the floor for the hosts as he put together a powerful 21-point, 13-rebound performance.

But a tough and-one play from an Anthony Roberson drive to the basket gave the Giants the narrowest of leads with two minutes on the clock.

Williams added one from two at the free throw line before Surrey notched a second-chance layup to send the game to overtime!

Two crucial back-to-back overtime buckets from Anthony Roberson on his way to a ten-point, ten-rebound double-double gave the Giants the cushion they needed to hold on for the win.

Foul trouble late on meant Legend Robertin and William Lee had to sit out the overtime period, but it was Fletcher’s class that shone through as he kept a cool head to marshal Vince Macaulay’s men over the line.

The Giants head into the international break placed at sixth in the BBL standings – they now have a 10-10 record that puts them level with the Caledonia Gladiators, who sit just above them in fifth.

‍