Game Report: Cheshire Phoenix 88-92 Manchester Giants

Manchester Giants picked up their seventh win of the season, and first win in the North West Derby for two years, claiming a 92-88 victory on the road against Cheshire Phoenix.

William Lee led the victors with 27 points as Manchester’s forward line stood out. Evan Walshe continued his excellent recent form with 20 points.

LaQuincy Rideau led the scoring with 18 points for the Phoenix, who came up just short in a thriller on their home court.

Starting Fives

Cheshire Phoenix starting five: LaQuincy Rideau, Maceo Jack, Aaryn Rai, Ethan Chargois, Skyler White.
Manchester Giants starting five: Mason Bourcier, Nick Lewis, Nick Stampley, William Lee, Legend Robertin.

First Half

Mason Bourcier was inserted into the Manchester starting five, with the absence of Jamell Anderson. He made good of the side’s first opportunity with a three to open the game, before Maceo Jack drilled a pair of triples to answer back.

Cheshire big man, Skyler White hit a corner three to force Brian Semonian into calling an early timeout as the Phoenix gained a quick 9-3 lead after a minute-and-a-half of play.

However, the Giants didn’t back down and responded with an 8-2 run as William Lee put up five straight points with Nicolas Lewis making good of his lay-up for the three-point play.

Bourcier had a scoring explosion and took his total to eight points in the first, giving Manchester a 17-14 lead. The buckets kept falling from both sides, but Giants’ British backcourt duo of Walshe and Callum Jones kept the difference at three come the end of the opening period (23-26).

Cheshire started the second quarter as they did the first, this time keeping the Giants scoreless for over two minutes of play. Ethan Chargois started to spearhead the home side’s offence, with a make from behind the arc to take a 30-23 lead.

Manchester had to weather the storm for a second time, but managed to pull themselves back into the tie through Lee and Walshe before Legend Robertin punched the two-handed jam home for the lead.

The Phoenix starters, Aaryn Rai, Rideau and Chargois gave Cheshire another slender lead which they could not hold for long, as Lee stepped into the mid-range to tie the game at 42-42.

Chargois strung the three to give Cheshire a three-point lead at the half, following Bourcier’s miss on the buzzer.

Second Half

The sides took their time to get on the scoreboard in the second half. The first blow out of half-time came from Cheshire, as White found the bottom of the basket from outside.

This shot kickstarted the scoring as Jack and Chargois added buckets of their own.

Manchester suffered scoring struggles in the third, with Lewis being smothered by the defence whenever the ball was in his hands. Lee posed the biggest threat to Cheshire’s lead, taking his total up to 16 from the elbow as the teams went to the benches for the media timeout.

Out of the break, Stampley evened the scores at 56-56 with the three-pointer, taking his total into double-digits. The thriller continued as the sides traded the lead. Lee’s blistering quarter continued with the powerful tomahawk slam.

This sparked a quick flourish from the Giants, who went into final quarter 64-60 up, setting up a tantalising finish in the North West Derby.

Manchester continued their host streak into the fourth and stretched out to their biggest lead of the game at seven points. Despite a quiet start for Lewis in the fist three quarters, he started to pull the strings for the Giants, creating scores for Walshe and putting the ball in the hoop himself.

White responded with his third triple of the game, but Cheshire couldn’t cool down the hot shooting of Lee with two tough jump-shots and a lay-up widening the gap once more.

The visiting Giants took their lead to 10 thanks to the slashing Walshe, who managed the tough finish through contact and converted from the stripe for the three-point play.

Four free-throws from Rideau kept the Phoenix in touching distance, before applying more pressure with the finish off the window to cut the deficit to four.

The focus turned to the foul line. Rai drained a pair of foul shots to make it a two-point game, before Lee at the other end split his attempts.

The game finished with Manchester holding out despite the persistent pressure from Cheshire, securing a 92-88 win on the road, and their first against their North West rivals since 2021.

Player of the Game

Tonight’s Player of the Game was Giants forward, William Lee whose second-half scoring proved vital to keep the hosts at bay, ending the night with 27 points and seven rebounds.

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