THE Giants put together a devastating 31-12 run in the fourth quarter to record their first away win of the season.
The Knights were leading 67-58 with just under eight minutes to play and seemed set to break their duck but the Giants held them scoreless until the 2:14 mark in which time they had poured in 19 points.
Trailing 77-67, the Knights reduced the arrears to single digits on a two by Michael Gayle but threes from David Watts and James Jones made the match safe for the Giants.
Birmingham had the better of the first quarter. A 6-0 burst put them 8-4 in front and they never trailed for the rest of the period. However, they did let the Giants recover from 13-8 down to level at 13-13 before Martyn Gayle’s three made it 16-13 at the first break.
A two from Ryan Lewis to start the second quarter gave Knights another five point lead (18-13) but Giants responded with a Watts three sparking a 14-4 run which put the visitors 27-22 on top.
Kieran Mills with a three gave Knights the lead back at 30-29 and the advantage swapped hands several times until two Watts free throws with seven seconds of the half left sent Giants into the interval 36-35 in front.
It was tough to separate the teams in the third quarter but the Giants held the larger leads. Three times the visitors were up by five points (46-41, 51-46 and 53-48) but it was the Knights who took a three point lead into the final stanza after Brent Benson’s triple made it 59-56.
Rob Marsden led a balanced Giants offence with 18 points while Benson’s 22 were a game high.
Knights v Giants stats HERE