Rocks Keep Rolling as Giants Woes Continue

Manchester Giants slumped to their sixth straight defeat following a closely fought game against the streaking Glasgow Rocks, 77-83.

Led by 25 points from Donald Robinson the visitors used a 19-4 run in the third quarter to take a 13-point lead into the final period that was too much for the Giants to overcome.

Devan Bailey led the way for home-side with 21 points in the contest whilst knocking down all four of his shots from behind the arc. Ben Eaves also has a solid game for the hosts with 14 points and a game-high 15 rebounds but the Giants struggled to convert at critical points in the game whilst failing to keep their opponents off the offensive glass.

Starting Fives:

Manchester Giants: Bailey, J. Jones, Watts, Ben Eaves, Bernard

Glasgow Rocks: Davis, Robinson, Ringgold, Harrison, Murray

The Giants made a cold start to the game missing seven of their first eight shots as they struggled to find their rhythm and soon found themselves trailing 17-9 following a layup by the Rocks Sterling Davis. The hosts started to get going midway through the first quarter with Eaves scoring on two straight possessions; using his great rebounding ability at the offensive end to create opportunities for easy scores.

As the Rocks misfired from the field; the Giants offense was able to get a running start at them and put their drive and kick game to good use as dribble penetration and crisp ball movement led to good looks for their shooters. The hosts scored seven 3-pointers in the first quarter with four of them coming in the final 1:25 of the period as they managed to turn an eight-point deficit into an eight point lead in the blink of an eye. Bailey found Gill on the left wing and he faked to get his defender in the air before calmly stroking home a triple at the buzzer to give the Giants a 25-17 lead at the end of one.

The visitors regrouped in the second quarter and quickly made a 9-0 run of their own as they improved their shooting accuracy; knocking down nine of their 15 field-goal attempts in the period and holding the Giants to just 13 points. Robinson scored eight points in the quarter using his quickness to get to the basket and finishing well under pressure. His dunk with 53 seconds left in the half was part of a 6-0 run for Glasgow which saw them take a 38-40 lead into the break.

The two sides traded buckets over the first five minutes of the third as the Giants made a concerted effort to attack the rim resulting in dunks for David Watts and Mike Bernard. Watts had a productive evening as he scored 12 points and six rebounds in 28 minutes of action. He drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie things up at 59 before Bailey converted a difficult reverse layup to put the Giants up by two. After losing the lead the Rocks response was immediate as Robinson and forward Michael Ringgold scored 11 unanswered points to put the visitors back on top..

Bailey ended the Rocks run with a layup but Glasgow struck right back as Andrew Wedemire found Robinson heading towards the basket with a pinpoint bounce-pass and he threw it down with style to spark an 8-2 run for the visitors as the Giants looked stunned. Glasgow finished the period with three straight layups as the hosts were unable to keep them out of the paint or box the visitors out and were made to pay for it.

Facing a 13-point deficit with just ten minutes left the Giants showed the same fighting spirit that that they have exhibited when trailing this season and set about establishing good post position in search of high-percentage shots. They went to centre Mike Bernard early on and he delivered with two baskets from close-range. Stefan Gill had another strong 4th quarter showing with nine of his 15 points coming in the final period. He made one-of two from the line and followed up by taking the ball the full length of the court and finishing well at the basket. He scored seven straight for the hosts as they cut the gap to 70-78 with 3:32 left to play. Bernard knocked down a pair from the line and after Davis had misfired for the Rocks; James Jones hit a huge 3-pointer for the Giants to make it 75-78 with 1:22 remaining.

The visitors were called for a 24-second violation on the next possession to give the Giants a chance to tie or cut the lead to a single point with just under a minute left to play. However a bad pass led to a turnover by the hosts and they were forced to foul to stop the clock. Harrison and Robinson combined to make 5-of-6 from the stripe to secure the 5th straight win for the Rocks. It was another night of frustration for the Giants who were outscored 51-30 during the middle quarters of the game and committed eight turnovers during that period. They will hope that December is a kinder month to them after going winless in November. They start with a trip to Surrey to play the Heat this evening before hosting the Durham Wildcats on Friday the 7th December.

Play of the game: Andrew Wedemire’s threaded bounce pass found Robinson on the baseline and his gather and dunk sparked an 8-2 run for the Rocks which put them in the driving seat at the end of the third period. Robinson was the most explosive player on the court and had two more dunks in the game including a put-back off an offensive rebound where he managed to avoid the contesting Giants defender and finish with two hands on a night where he could do no wrong.

Game MVP: Donald Robinson

Top scorers:
Manchester Giants – Devan Bailey 21, Stefan Gill 15, Ben Eaves 14
Glasgow Rocks – Donald Robinson 25, Sterling Davis / Ej Harrison / Gareth Murray 11

Next Up:
Manchester Giants – Surrey Heat, Saturday 1st December, 19:00, Surrey Sports Park
Glasgow Rocks – Leicester Riders, Sunday 2nd December, 17:00, Emirates Arena