Brilliant Bailey Leads Giants To Victory
Manchester Giants gave their home-fans something to cheer about on Friday night as they overcame a 15-point first half deficit to come away with 82-79 victory against Durham Wildcats.
Starting Line-ups
Manchester Giants – Bailey, J. Jones, Watts, Aliu, Eaves
Durham Wildcats – Page, Johnson, Guinane, Baldarelli, Keister
Devan Bailey led the way for the Giants with 20 points and five rebounds; it was the second time he’s reached the 20-point mark in his last three appearances. David Aliu returned from an ankle injury which has sidelined him for the past two games and scored eight of his 16 points in the second half. His 3-point play with 1:52 left in the game put the Giants ahead for the final time as their seven game losing streak came to an end.
The Wildcats battled throughout and at one point appeared to be cruising towards their second away win of the season but they were held scoreless for the final three minutes of the contest as the Giants surged to victory.
Durham forward Brad Guinane led all scorers as he poured in a season-high 22 points and knocked down 6-of-10 shots from behind the three-point line. Wildcats centre Andrew Keister scored 10 of his 14 points in the first quarter as the visitors looked to get him going early on and he didn’t disappoint. He made four of his first six shots; all from inside the paint as Durham opened up a seven-point lead in the first quarter.
The Giants made a slow start to the game, missing nine of their first 15 attempts from the field and were all at sea at the defensive end as they were unable to stop the Wildcats getting the ball inside to Keister.
Durham continued to put the home-side under a vast amount of pressure with a 8-0 run to start the second quarter with former Manchester Magic guard Keith Page and Guinane both dialling in from long distance before a fast-break layup from Ralph Bucci gave the visitors a 15-point lead with 8:32 remaining in the first half.
The sides traded baskets over the next couple of minutes before the Giants finally put together the sort of run that their fans had been waiting for with 10 unanswered points to get them back on track. Stefan Gill started the burst with a driving layup which was followed by a free-throw from James Griffiths. Callum Jones knocked down a mid-range jumper and then David Watts canned a 3-pointer before Jones got out on the break and finished with a pretty reverse layup to narrow the gap to 24-36 with 5:05 left to play in the half. Watts had eight points in the period and looks to have regained the form he showed early in the season as he notched up his fourth straight game with ten or more points.
The Wildcats knocked down four 3-pointers in the quarter and finished-up making a very respectable 11 of 26 from downtown after coming into the game as the worst 3-point shooting team in the league at just 26%. Their solid first-half performance saw them take a 38-43 lead at the interval as the Giants continued to search for answers.
A steal and layup from Page at the start of the second half increased the visitors lead to seven but Bailey drained a 3-pointer from the right wing to help kick-start a 16-2 run for the home-side to turn the game on its head. Ben Eaves converted a 3-point play to level the game at 47 and Bailey stole an errant pass from Page and hit a jumper from the foul-line to give the Giants their first lead since the opening minutes. James Jones nailed a 3-pointer to increase their advantage and then he found Watts out on the break for a layup to put them up 54-47.
The Wildcats used the long-ball to good effect and it kept them in contention as Guinane and Page both knocked down shots from behind the arc but the home-side went on a 7-0 run to go ahead 65-55 after David Aliu’s made 3-pointer. Mike Baldarelli scored a layup for the visitors and Page added two more to take his tally to nine in the quarter but the Giants scored the final five points of the period to give them what looked to be a comfortable 70-59 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
Gill increased their lead to 13 with a pull-up jumper from the left wing before some poor decisions with the basketball led to several turnovers which allowed visitors to get back into the game. The Wildcats scored 11 unanswered points as the Giants came-up empty on six-straight possessions. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Guinane made it 72-70 in the Giants favour with 6:45 left as home-crowd began to get nervous. Eaves halted the visitors run with a layup and then Bailey converted a runner off the glass to put the hosts up by six. However, it was followed by another a period of sloppy play by the Giants which allowed the visitors to go on run. Keister found Guinane for his sixth 3-pointer of the night and then Bucci intercepted a pass from Bailey and took it all the way to the rack to cut the lead down to one. Page then gave the Wildcats the lead with an off-balance driving layup before a fade-away from Guinane put them up by three with just 2:43 left to play.
Bailey was fouled on the Giants next possession and he made one of two from the stripe to set up a tense finish with the home-side trailing by just two points. James Jones found Aliu under the basket and the Giants forward used his strength to absorb the contact from Keister and score inside to tie the game at 79. He calmly stroked home the bonus free-throw to put the Giants up 80-79 with less than two minutes to play.
Both teams appeared to tighten up with the game on the line and they combined to miss four-straight shots late on. Keister had a chance to put his side up by one with 24 seconds left but his jumper from the baseline hit the back of the rim and Bailey hauled in the rebound as the home-side called for a time-out. Straight out of the huddle James Jones found Gill streaking to the basket off a well executed out-of-bounds play and he coasted in for a layup to give the Giants a 3-point lead with just 21 seconds left. The Wildcats had a chance to tie the game but Page was stripped of the ball as he tried to get up a shot and the Giants fans breathed a sigh of relief as they were able to celebrate a victory for the first time since mid-October.
Wildcats coach Dave Elderkin will be disappointed to come away with a loss as they finished the game with more rebounds, more assists and fewer turnovers than their opponents but the Giants held their nerve down the stretch and executed their offense when it mattered most. This much needed win for Giants will surely give them a boost as they head into next Friday’s game against the Cheshire Phoenix as they look to avenge the last second defeat they suffered on the 18th November.
Game MVP: Devan Bailey
Play of the Game:
Quick thinking by James Jones and a pinpoint pass found Stefan Gill for the Giants final bucket of the game to put them ahead by three with just 23 seconds left to play. It was a great play drawn up by coach Jeff Jones and extremely well executed by his team who has to trust each other and play well as a unit when they found themselves trailing late on. The layup by Gill gave them the breathing room they needed to close out the game.
Top Scorers
Manchester Giants – Devan Bailey 20, David Aliu 16, David Watts 16
Durham Wildcats – Brad Guinane 22, Keith Page 19, Andrew Keister 14
Next up:
Manchester Giants – Friday 14th December, Cheshire Phoenix, Wright Robinson Sports College – 7:30pm
Durham Wildcats – Sunday 9th December, Surrey Heat, Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre – 4:00pm
