BBL: Sheffield Sharks beat Cheshire Phoenix to reach Trophy final
Sheffield Sharks reached the BBL Trophy final with a 102-74 victory over Cheshire Phoenix in the semi-final second leg.
Last Updated: 02/03/13 10:15am
A pair of threes scored by BJ Holmes started the Sharks on a 15-4 tear that left them ahead 28-18 early in the second quarter and from there they never looked back as they claimed a comfortable victory over a Phoenix side missing both Chez Marks and Jerome Gumbs.
All the Sharks players made it onto the scoresheet, with Holmes, Olu Babalola and Demetrius Jemison all scoring 16 points to jointly lead their scorers.
The other BBL Trophy semi-final proved to be a closer affair with the Leicester Riders claiming an 82-73 victory over Worcester Wolves ahead of Saturday's second leg in Leicester
After a first quarter where neither side led by more than three points, the final 30 minutes saw both sides put together a number of runs without being able to pull clear.
The key run proved to be a 13-2 break sparked by Zaire Taylor making an 'and-one' play.
Taylor had two assists in the run before Drew Sullivan's three-pointer at the end of the run put Riders 66-60 ahead with the first basket of the final stanza.
Wolves briefly took that lead down to just a single point but a 7-0 run near the end of the game put Riders up eight before Pavol Losonsky scored the final basket of the game, draining a three-pointer.
In Friday's only BBL Championship game, Newcastle Eagles defeated Mersey Tigers 100-57 to maintain their BBL Championship title challenge.
The win left them second in the table with 40 points, just behind the Riders who have the same number of points but also have a game in hand.
