Home dominance continues for Glasgow

The Glasgow Rocks made it back-to-back BBL Championship wins at home with an emphatic 87-69 victory over Cheshire Phoenix at the Emirates Arena on Friday night.

Donald Robinson was the man of the hour (or 40 minutes to be more accurate) with a sensational 30 point display, going 12-of-14 from the field.

The Rocks took an early 6-0 lead and in truth were always in control of the game with some sensational offensive displays in front of the SKY cameras.

The opening exchanges were scrappy and loose from both sides, but more so Cheshire as they had to wait nearly three minutes for their first points. The wily veteran Shawn Myers ended a great team move with points in the paint.

That seemed to spark the Phoenix, who tied it at eight midway through the first quarter, but that was the closest they would get to the Rocks all night.

Robinson signalled his intent early on with three ferocious baskets in less than two minutes late in the first. Two dunks were followed by a steal and a coast-to-coast move through the Phoenix defence before nailing yet another dunk.

Chez Marks hit three of his team high 26 points in the dying seconds of the first quarter to make it 22-19 to the home side at the end of the first stanza.

Midway through the second quarter the game looked done and dusted as the Rocks rode a 16-1 run following another Marks basket that tied it at 22-22 inside the first minute.

The Rocks seemed to be on cruise control as they stretched the lead to 38-23, but the Phoenix are nothing if not resilient and they went on a 14-2 run themselves to eventually bring the score to within a basket before Gareth Murray’s three pointer just before the half.

If the first two periods were closely fought, intense and enthralling, the next two periods were anything but as Robinson, who sat the entire second quarter, stole the show.

Threes from Don and Sterl opened the third quarter and Cheshire just couldn’t answer back. While the Rocks rotated their roster perfectly (eight players logged between 20 and 29 minutes), Cheshire tired in the second half thanks to their shallow to effectively non-existent bench. Four of the Phoenix starters chalked up more than 33 minutes, while the Rocks constantly had fresh legs on the court.

They also had Donald Robinson, who went 8-for-8 before missing his first shot in the 27th minute of play.

A fourteen point gap come the start of the fourth quarter kept the game interesting, but in truth the Phoenix never really seemed capable of pulling the game back in their favour.

Thanks to eight quick fire points from Robinson to start the fourth any revival became merely fantasy as the Rocks pulled their lead into the twenties at 74-54.

Credit where it’s due, however, as the Phoenix kept fighting and kept playing hard. They were just out-matched by a very special performance from a very special player and the Rocks ran out deserved winners.

Starting Fives :

Glasgow – Davis, Robinson, Ringgold, Harrison, Murray
Cheshire – Myers, Pearce, Marks, Gumbs, Bland

Game MVP : Donald Robinson – Nobody even came close to Robinson’s display as he scored almost three times as many points as Jamie Vanderbeken who finished second for the Rocks with 11 points. It wasn’t even just the fact that he scored 30 points, it was the way he did it. When he had the ball in his hands you expected it to result in point and there was the odd flashy dunk thrown in for good measure. Also notched three rebounds and three steals.

Play of the game : During a two minute spell in the first quarter Robinson made three mammoth dunks. The first two were cool, but the third came after a steal and coast-to-coast move that sent the Rocks fans wild.