A quick turnaround for the Manchester Giants as they traveled east and over the pennies to take on the Sheffield Sharks in some New Year’s Eve basketball courtesy of the British Basketball League. 

Sheffield currently hold bragging rights over Manchester as the team from the steel city took the spoils during their last battle 92-73. The Giants were heading to Sheffield with a chip on their shoulder. 

Sheffield currently occupy 4th in the table, meanwhile Manchester are in 9th and looking to break into the playoff spots. 

Mason Bourcier and Legend Robertin connect for a two handed jam from the latter, the 7”1 big man replied after Sheffield caught them on the fastbreak. William Lee opened his account this afternoon from 3 point range. Robertin has gotten himself into the mix early with another 2 handed jam. A very close opening quarter for both sides as it all hands on deck operation this afternoon, everyone pitching in playing their part to keep this game close and keep the sharks always second guessing the unpredictable Giants offense. 

Both teams were locked in at the end of the quarter, nothing separating the two sides just yet at 20 a piece. 

Sharks began to put some daylight between them and Manchester before Callum Jones turned back the clock and converted his own miss before he stole the ball back on the next possession, finishing the wide open layup. Sheffield rallied once more and began to separate themselves between until a three ball from William Lee brought the lead to a single possession.

Ratinho of the Sharks re-established a 5 point lead with a traditional 3 point play. Ratinho extended the lead to 8 with a corner ball 3 before Mason Bourcier and Nicholas Lewis combined for 5 points to bring the lead back down to 3.

A pair of missed free throws were how the Giants ended the second quarter, being bested by a single point heading into the locker room. 

Second half: 

Nicholas Lewis started Manchester off with a tough pull up jumper from midrange. Lewis doubles his tally with a clever backdoor cut along the baseline and easy basket. Sheffield are still managing to keep their noses in front as they have come out with a balanced offense of crashing the paint but also shooting from the perimeter to keep Manchester guessing.

A 4 point play from Rodney Glasgow Jr seemingly the turning point for Sheffield to send them up by 8. The combination of Glasgow Jr and Delpeche also saw Sheffield take a double digit lead towards the end of the quarter with Manchester struggling to find an answer. Manchester had to opt for a flurry of 2 point attempts in order to chip away and that’s what they did with Nicholas Lewis calling an isolation and hitting a step back jumper from midrange to bring the Sheffield lead to just 6. 

Sheffield started off quick, out scoring Manchester 8-4 to retake a double digit lead. Another isolation play from Nicholas Lewis to take the lead to 8 but Nixon gets the double digit lead right back. William Lee caught alight with a well needed three ball followed up by another make this time from 2, bringing the lead to 5 in the space of 30 seconds. 

The final quarter became the William Lee show as he showed off his defensive prowess with a block on Jordan Ratinho. Another Sheffield basket gets replied by William Lee with another turn around jumpshot. Nixon began to create separation once again with a pair of free throws to try and put this game beyond reach. A driving layup from Glasgow Jr stretched the lead out to 10 and followed up by Ramsey who took it to 11 with less than a minute to go and seemingly put the game to rest.

It was a difficult way to end 2023 for Manchester as the Giants lost out to Sheffield.

Stats: 

William Lee: 17 Points, 9 Rebounds, 58%FG.

Nicholas Lewis: 19 Points, 4 Rebounds, 8 Assists. 

Legend Robertin: 9 Points, 7 Rebounds, 2 Blocks. 

The League will be taking a break in 2024 as all 10 teams will compete in the British Basketball League Trophy to see who will claim the first piece of silverware in the 2023/24 season. For Manchester, their first game will be against the Newcastle Eagles away in Newcastle on January 5th at 7:45pm and will be available to view on the British Basketball Leagues YouTube Channel. 

All highlights from today's game will be available to view below: