The Manchester Giants bested the Sheffield Sharks in the first round of the BBL Trophy in a jaw dropping performance 90-77.

‍Tonight’s trip over the pennines saw the Manchester Giants face off against the Sheffield Sharks in the first round of the BBL Trophy which also saw the return of last season's fans player of the year David Ulph. Jamell Anderson fired a three from the corner and the Giants were underway in this game.

Closely followed up by Dan Clark on a midrange fadeaway in the next possession, asserting themselves early on in this game. This game was physical from the get go with end to end transitional play matched by physical and intense defensive efforts. Both teams' big men were taking over on the offensive side of the ball with Dan Clark scoring 14 of the Giants 21 points in the first quarter taking the quarter by storm.

The sharks kept the quarter close however as they managed to head in only down by one, 21-20. The 2nd quarter saw the return of David Ulph to the court who didn't waste any time, getting on the scoresheet from in the paint off a Tyrik Armstrong assist. The end to end play continued during the 2nd quarter of play as both teams kept within a single possession of each other, trading basket after basket and three pointer after three pointer.

The lead consistently changed hands as a result of the closely contested affair. Later into the second quarter the Giants started to pull away after back to back threes from Josh Steel and Will Saunders blowing the lead out to 9 points and looking to start to pull away from their adversaries as they shot 43% from beyond the arc. The Giants managed to stretch their lead to double digits courtesy of Jordan Whelan converting at the free throw line after a pump fake and drive to the basket.

Ball movement is a key part to the Giants offensive and that was personified tonight through Jack Hudson driving to the basket and then passing off to Josh Steel for a wide open two handed dunk. The surgical precision of the Giants ball movement and passing offense sees them up 51-47 heading into the half. Dan Clark picks up where he left off in the first quarter and fires a three putting him on 17 so far and the Giants on 54 with the offensive firing on all cylinders.

When it rains it pours and the same was for the Giants point scoring in this quarter with Geno Artison storming the paint on back to back possessions and Josh Steel driving into the paint himself and drawing fouls as the Giants seemed unstoppable on offense and showing danger signs of running away with this game. Great offensive output translated into immense defensive pressure from the Giants as they managed to pressure the Sharks team into making errors and producing constant turnover in the form of steals.

Poor interior defense from Sheffield allowed Manchetser to carry on storming the paint with Josh Steel and Tyrik Armstrong and extend their lead out to 15 with 2 minutes left in the 3rd quarter with the Giants bench in sheer euphoria with their teams effort especially the hustle on the defensive side of the ball. After shutting the Sharks out of the 3rd quarter only allowing 10 points, Manchester kept their foot on the accelerator as they continued to crash into the paint, draw fouls and produce suffocating defensive efforts leaving the sharks with little breathing room in the dying embers of this game.

Despite the stellar defensive efforts, the Sharks managed to stage a slight comeback and bring the lead back into single figures with 3 minutes left. Despite their best efforts the lead was insurmountable as the Giants went back to Manchester with a win in the BBL Trophy and a progression into the next round.

The Manchester Giants wish Sharks big man Bennett Koch a speedy recovery after he had to check out of the game in the latter stages in the second quarter. Dan Clark had an impressive night in all aspects of the game as he led all scorers with 26 points with 14 in one quarter. He also finished with 7 rebounds, 6 assists and a steal. The Giants also finished with 4 more players in double digit scoring.  

Josh Steel had 16 points on 62% from the field, Geno Artison finished on 13 points, Tyrik Armstrong on 12 and Jamell Anderson with 10.

‍Head Coach Lloyd Gardner said "The trophy draw is different with alot of the lower league teams in the other side of the draw. I know division 1 pretty well, I coached in it for a long time. They’re some really good teams but our side of the draw is tough, I think every game will be a hard one as today was. I thought we saw good and bad from us today, second half defensively really good but then some frustrating periods in the first half aswell, but that’s something we’ve got to look out for and we want to continue to keep working.''

‍Manchester are back at the National Basketball Performance centre for their next game as they face the BBL’s newest outfit, the Plymouth Patriots in the BBL Championship on 16th January.