Match Report: Phoenix 78 – 74 Giants
Giants efforts bear no fruit as the Phoenix take spoils.
Match Report: Phoenix 78 – 74 Giants
![MORE](<strong>The Manchester Giants fall to Cheshire Phoenix away from home. The Phoenix go up 2-1 on head to head matchup. </strong>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Giants past and present gathered for a North West Derby at Ellesmere Port Sports Village which saw the Manchester Giants go toe to toe with the Cheshire Phoenix. <img class=" wp-image-19322 alignright" src="https://manchestergiants.com/wp-content/uploads/338A1170-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="167" height="251" /></span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">William Lee kicks things off from the midrange. Lee’s attempt followed up a pair of Phoenix bricks. Tajh Green doubled the scoring in quick succession, converting from close range. <img class="size-medium wp-image-19321 alignleft" src="https://manchestergiants.com/wp-content/uploads/NIX13184-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Things started to heat up after an early timeout call from Phoenix head coach Ben Thomas. Both teams trade basket for basket making it 16-9 in favour of Manchester at the mid way point of the first quarter. </span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Cheshire started to find their footing in this fixture after taking their first lead of the game. Manchester's foes extended their lead by as much as 7. </span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">A difficult period for the Manchester giants as missed shots left them with a mountain to climb as the Phoenix stretched the lead to 12. </span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The Giants continued to turn up the pressure on the Phoenix, drawing the foul close to the basket and chipping away from the line </span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">3 on 1 fast break saw Roberson, Fletcher and Lee plays hot potato with the ball which concluded in a behind the back bounce pass from Rahmon Fletcher straight into the path of William Lee for a 2 handed flush. </span>
https://twitter.com/McrGiants/status/1617228127641403393
<span style="font-weight: 400;">One shot ball game after a left handed finger roll from Rahmon Fletcher, trimmed the Phoenix lead to 2 and extended the giants unanswered scoring run. </span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Quality on display from Vince Macaulay's men. Legend Robertin produced a thunderous block after Tahjai Teague tried a eurostep past the 7”1 big man. William Lee produced a three that was nothing but net at the other end. </span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Callum Jones found Nick Lewis mid court who then lobbed it further to Tajh Green for an end of third quarter buzzer beater to take the giants to within 5 points. </span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Momentum swung like a pendulum throughout the fourth quarter, from one side to the next. A scrappy final stanza and very little from Manchester offensively with only 2 points in 6 minutes of the quarter. </span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Vintage Fletcher was lightning quick on his handles and got the 2x BBL MVP a lane through the centre of the paint for a signature left handed finger roll which set things in motion for the giants offensively. </span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Back to back to back triples from Dirk Williams shook the Cheshire Phoenix fan base to their cores. </span>
https://twitter.com/McrGiants/status/1617237706903257091
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Phoenix take the spoils by 4 points. </span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Tajh Green once again had a quietly solid performance with another double double as he produced 18 points and 10 rebounds making him leader in both categories for Manchester. <img class=" wp-image-19246 alignright" src="https://manchestergiants.com/wp-content/uploads/338A1309-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="242" height="161" /></span>
<strong>Head Coach Vince Macaulay said: "</strong><strong>That was a tough one tonight. We didn't shoot the ball very well. I felt a little rushed in our play offensively in the first half. That led to easy baskets for them hence they got 50 points in the first half. I think we held them to just 24 in the second half but we still couldn’t shoot the ball very well". </strong>
<strong>"I think we ended up 22% From three. Then the foul trouble obviously with Dirk sitting on the bench in foul trouble. Rahmon Fletcher having a knock to his eye. We were a little bit discombobulated out there. I thought when we started to get it together towards the end there just wasn't enough time".</strong>
Tickets are available for the Manchester Giants next home game against some familiar foes in the Surrey Scorchers. The link for the tickets is below:
<a href="https://manchestergiants.com/tickets/">https://manchestergiants.com/tickets/</a>
Keep up to date with all things Manchester Giants on our socials:
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Match Report: Eagles 92 – 97 Giants
Match Report: Eagles 92 – 97 Giants
Giants make it three wins from three against the Eagles this season, Lee shines
![MORE](<strong>The Manchester Giants maintained their perfect record this season against the most decorated club in BBL history, as they made it three wins from three against the Newcastle Eagles in a confident 92-97 showing on the road.</strong>
Rahmon Fletcher returned once more to the North East club where he spent seven years and became a legend of British basketball – and for a second time this season left the Toon with the spoils.
<img class="size-medium wp-image-19312 alignleft" src="https://manchestergiants.com/wp-content/uploads/338A7468-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
In front of a sellout crowd of the Vertu Motors Arena, Vince Macaulay’s men put together an assured offensive performance, led by the 27-point, eight-rebound performance of William Lee on 84% field goal percentage.
However, it was the Tyneside outfit who started the brighter of the two teams, closing the first quarter with a twelve-point lead as the Giants struggled to find a consistent offensive rhythm.
Marc Steutel’s men kept the BBL’s most prolific offence mostly in check in the early exchanges, despite Dirk Williams draining a trio of triples in the opening ten minutes.
But a slick Callum Jones dime to William Lee to flush the basketball home in the opening minute of the second, followed by a perfect pair of free throws for paint protector Lee indicated a change in fortunes for the visitors. <img class="size-medium wp-image-19309 alignright" src="https://manchestergiants.com/wp-content/uploads/338A7408-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
A fast-break layup for Fletcher against his former team cut the Eagles’ lead to just two as coach Steutel called timeout with 6:21 to play in the second.
And the Giants - playing in their yellow outfits tonight - continued to heat up through an Anthony Roberson triple that gave them their first lead of the game at 32-33.
There were a further four lead changes before half-time as the two sides showcased their range of offensive talent, with Eagles starters Hasahn French and Justin Gordon adding 15 and 14 points respectively by the break.
At the half-time buzzer, Giants were just in front at 48-50 on the back of 15 points from Lee - who had a perfect record of six-from-six field goals at the interval.
https://twitter.com/McrGiants/status/1616535341204209701
A breathless third quarter was to follow as the Giants offence grew wings and took off with Lee and Williams letting it fly from all parts of the court – the latter adding another three threes on his way to a 28-point performance and a total of six three-pointers made from just nine attempts.
And an emphatic dunk on the fast-break by Tajh Green – who had a comparatively quiet night with just ten points – put the exclamation point on a blowout win for coach Macaulay’s men. <img class="size-medium wp-image-19313 alignright" src="https://manchestergiants.com/wp-content/uploads/338A7425-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
Four missed threes in a row by the Eagles were indicative of the frustration Coach Steutel will have felt at his side’s performance, as despite a monstrous all-around performance by French, who ended the game with 19 points and 18 rebounds alongside three blocks, they could not get the job done in front of their home crowd.
A fourth-quarter fightback by the hosts narrowed the final score to 92-97 with the Eagles having been down by 20 with seven and a half minutes to play – but it was not enough to overturn an assertive Giants lead.
The Giants victory sees them head into Sunday’s North-West derby against the Cheshire Phoenix in the best possible way – and they will be rearing to put right their narrow four-point loss to their local rivals last time out.
<b>Head Coach Vince Macaulay said: " Delighted to get another road win as that’s something we’ve targeted, if we can pick that up it’ll help our standings". </b>
<b>"I was so happy that our bench came through and actually increased the lead and laid the foundations for that win, Will with an incredible efficiency and when Dirk goes off like that, it’s frightening". </b>
Tickets are available for the Manchester Giants next home game against some familiar foes in the Surrey Scorchers. The link for the tickets is below:
<a href="https://manchestergiants.com/tickets/">https://manchestergiants.com/tickets/</a>
Keep up to date with all things Manchester Giants on our socials:
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Words - Nathan Blackwood
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Giants miss out against BBL Champions Leicester in overtime thriller
Giants miss out against BBL Champions Leicester in overtime thriller
Manchester Giants welcomed the Leicester Riders back to the National Basketball Performance Center for the second time this season in a BBL Trophy first round clash, narrowly losing 107-114 in an overtime nail-biter. There was a score to settle between the two teams who battled it out in an overtime classic back in December, with...
Match Report: Giants 95 – 103 Flyers
![MORE](
<strong>Manchester Giants closed their first home double-header of 2023 with a loss, unable to make it a clean sweep weekend as they went down to a strong Bristol Flyers side 95-103 on Sunday afternoon.</strong>
The Flyers arrived at the National Basketball Performance Centre off the back of a huge victory against reigning BBL champions Leicester Riders on Friday night, and pre-game body language indicated this was a quietly confident opponent for Vince Macaulay’s men.
Tajh Green slammed it home off an inbound pass to get the show underway for the Giants in front of an expectant Belle Vue crowd.
Team captain Rahmon Fletcher was fired up in the opening exchanges, shooting lights out with a pair of triples within the opening three minutes and ending the first quarter with ten points to his name. <img class=" wp-image-19295 alignleft" src="https://manchestergiants.com/wp-content/uploads/338A3376-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="227" height="151" />
In a repeat of Friday night’s game against the Caledonia Gladiators, it was the visitors who had the lead at the end of the first, through good shot selection and free throw shooting from their stars Vincent King and Leslee Smith, who ended the first half with 13 and ten points respectively.
Nick Lewis was at his crafty best, creating his own shots including a long range effort after losing his man off the screen, cutting the Flyers’ lead to just three midway through the second.
https://twitter.com/McrGiants/status/1612153954737217536
But classy offence and a series of defensive stops from Andreas Kapoulas’ men – who moved up to second in the BBL table with today’s win – kept the Flyers narrowly ahead in a high quality first half of basketball.
A go-ahead three from Friday’s game-leading scorer Dirk Williams was the last successful make of the first-half as the teams headed for the locker rooms with the Flyers’ holding onto a slender lead at 49-51.
And it was another emphatic Tajh Green dunk that gave the Giants their first lead of the second half as the temperature rose inside the NBPC.<img class="wp-image-19290 alignright" src="https://manchestergiants.com/wp-content/uploads/338A3230-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="227" height="151" />
The visitors refused to back down though, with the South West club showing their playoff credentials to build their lead back up to fifteen points ahead of the final quarter with the scores at 69-84.
It seemed that the Giants had a mountain to climb with ten minutes to play, and despite the continued scoring tear of Williams – who ended the night with an incredible 36 points – the home side were unable to close the gap on the Flyers.<img class="wp-image-19293 alignleft" src="https://manchestergiants.com/wp-content/uploads/338A3472-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="227" height="151" />
King ended the night with a monster stat-line of 27 points, 11 rebounds and four assists, helped by ten-point contributions from Malcolm Delpeche and team captain Mike Miller.
The full-time buzzer sounded with the scoreboard at 95-103 in favour of the visitors – an eight-point loss against a sure-fire BBL Championship contender who have sent a message to the league with a double victory this weekend against the Riders and the Giants.
Allowing the Flyers to pull in 17 offensive rebounds, as well as only scoring four second-chance points, will no doubt be high on the practice agenda for coaches Macaulay, Nigel Lloyd and Paul Cantwell in the upcoming week.
<strong>Head Coach Vince Macaulay said: " We've gone down to a very good Bristol team, they were every bit as athletic as we are, they shoot the ball every bit as well as we do" </strong>
<strong>"Down the stretch I felt they were a little bit tougher in the moments that mattered and credit to them because it delivered them the win". </strong>
The Manchester Giants return for a third straight home game next weekend as they face British heavyweights the Leicester Riders in the BBL Trophy on Sunday 15<sup>th</sup> January.
Tickets are available for our next home game. A BBL Trophy tie against the Leicester Riders on March 15th: <a href="https://manchestergiants.com/tickets/">https://manchestergiants.com/tickets/</a>
Keep up with all things Manchester Giants on our socials:
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/mcrgiants/"><img class=" wp-image-19247 alignleft" src="https://manchestergiants.com/wp-content/uploads/338A1278-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="150" /><img class="wp-image-19255 alignleft" src="https://manchestergiants.com/wp-content/uploads/174855-300x300.png" alt="" width="47" height="47" /></a><a href="https://twitter.com/McrGiants"><img class="wp-image-19249 alignleft" src="https://manchestergiants.com/wp-content/uploads/124021-150x150.png" alt="" width="46" height="46" /></a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/mcrgiants"><img class=" wp-image-19253 alignleft" src="https://manchestergiants.com/wp-content/uploads/Facebook_Logo_2019.png-300x300.webp" alt="" width="47" height="47" /></a>
Words - Nathan Blackwood
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Match Report: Giants 95 – 94 Gladiators
Match Report: Giants 95 – 94 Gladiators
Dream return for William Lee as Giants secure nail biting win against the Gladiators
![MORE](<strong>The Manchester Giants fronted up against the Caledonia Gladiators for the first of four league meetings this season, edging the visitors out 95-94 with a string of clutch plays in the final moments.</strong>
William Lee made his long awaited return to the team and was thrown straight back into the starting lineup – he wasted no time in draining a deep three for his first points in the BBL since he went down injured against the London Lions back in October 2022.
https://twitter.com/McrGiants/status/1611680538334736385
Dirk Williams added a three and a physical and-one layup on his way to leading the Giants in scoring with ten points at the end of the first.
But it was the Scottish outfit who were ahead at the first interval, leading 25-35 on the back of 14 points and five rebounds from guard Princeton Onwas.
Vince Macaulay’s men grew into the game with each passing possession as Tajh Green, Lee and Rahmon Fletcher ended the half with eight points each.
Lee and Green made their presence known on the defensive end, contributing five defensive rebounds each by half-time.
However, it was Coach Gareth Murray’s men who led 48-55 at the break as they continued their drive-and-kick strategy, sharing the ball at every opportunity, and by half-time every player on their roster who had checked into the game had added points.
Onwas and his fellow guard Jeremiah Bailey led the visitors’ scoring with 14 points apiece by the time the half-time buzzer sounded.
It was the Giants who took their turn to create momentum as they came out firing in the third, continuing to chip away at the Glasgow outfit’s lead, narrowing the deficit to just two points within four minutes of play.
And it was Lee - the man at the center of the action – that would eventually give Giants the lead at 72-71 as he drove to the basket for a crafty layup.
Go-ahead threes from Williams and Fletcher edged the Giants in front as they went into the final quarter with a narrow three point lead at 77-74.
The stage was set for a tense finale, and a series of lead changes with few defensive stops meant Coach Macaulay called a time out with the Gladiators ahead by one with three minutes to play.
A huge three-pointer by the Giants’ top scorer on the night Williams – with a Gladiator hand mere centimetres from his face – made it a one possession game.
The former London Lion would hit another crucial three – his sixth successful make from seven on the night - on his way to a game-high 25 points.
https://twitter.com/McrGiants/status/1611470480858550273
Out of the last timeout of the game, Gladiators’ guard David Sloan attacked the lane with just seconds to play - only for paint protector Green to swat his effort away, and secure the one point victory for the Giants!
Pure box office entertainment at Belle Vue - and the perfect springboard for the second game of the first home double-header of 2023 on Sunday afternoon against the Bristol Flyers.
Speaking after the game returning big man Lee, who put up 13 points and seven rebounds in 25 minutes of play, said: “<strong>It felt great to be back out there with the guys and having fun and not giving them water – actually helping them out on the court!</strong>
<strong>“Coach told me on Tuesday that I’d be back in the starting line up. I was actually thinking I was going be coming off the bench because of minutes restrictions but it’s just like riding a bicycle. Everything just clicked and came back naturally to me,” he added.</strong>
<strong>“I could’ve had like six blocks tonight but I was just a second late on my timing – the more I play the more I’ll get it back.”</strong>
Tickets are available for our next home game. The Bristol Flyers on March 8th: <a href="https://manchestergiants.com/tickets/">https://manchestergiants.com/tickets/</a>
Keep up with all things Manchester Giants on our socials:
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/mcrgiants/"><img class=" wp-image-19247 alignleft" src="https://manchestergiants.com/wp-content/uploads/338A1278-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="150" /><img class="wp-image-19255 alignleft" src="https://manchestergiants.com/wp-content/uploads/174855-300x300.png" alt="" width="47" height="47" /></a><a href="https://twitter.com/McrGiants"><img class="wp-image-19249 alignleft" src="https://manchestergiants.com/wp-content/uploads/124021-150x150.png" alt="" width="46" height="46" /></a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/mcrgiants"><img class=" wp-image-19253 alignleft" src="https://manchestergiants.com/wp-content/uploads/Facebook_Logo_2019.png-300x300.webp" alt="" width="47" height="47" /></a>
Words - Nathan Blackwood
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Match Preview: Gladiators (H) & Flyers (H)
Match Preview: Gladiators (H) & Flyers (H)
Match Preview: Caledonia Gladiators (H) and Bristol Flyers (H) The Manchester Giants welcome Caledonia Gladiators and Bristol Flyers to the National Basketball Performance Centre this weekend in the first home double-header weekend of 2023. The match-ups continue a busy period in the BBL fixture schedule for the Giants – Friday night’s game against the Scottish...
Giants miss out against BBL Champions Leicester in overtime thriller
Giants miss out against BBL Champions Leicester in overtime thriller
Manchester Giants welcomed the Leicester Riders back to the National Basketball Performance Center for the second time this season in a BBL Trophy first round clash, narrowly losing 107-114 in an overtime nail-biter. There was a score to settle between the two teams who battled it out in an overtime classic back in December, with...
Match Report: Giants 95 – 103 Flyers
Match Report: Giants 95 – 103 Flyers
Bristol fly high as Giants miss out on clean sweep weekend
Match Report: Giants 95 – 94 Gladiators
Match Report: Giants 95 – 94 Gladiators
Dream return for William Lee as Giants secure nail biting win against the Gladiators
Match Preview: Gladiators (H) & Flyers (H)
Match Preview: Gladiators (H) & Flyers (H)
Match Preview: Caledonia Gladiators (H) and Bristol Flyers (H) The Manchester Giants welcome Caledonia Gladiators and Bristol Flyers to the National Basketball Performance Centre this weekend in the first home double-header weekend of 2023. The match-ups continue a busy period in the BBL fixture schedule for the Giants – Friday night’s game against the Scottish...
Match Report: Phoenix 78 – 74 Giants
Match Report: Phoenix 78 – 74 Giants
Giants efforts bear no fruit as the Phoenix take spoils.
