BBL Championship
Plymouth Raiders 113 (30,48,77) (Grady 28, Corletto 21, Nicholas 20)
Manchester Giants 82 (20,44,59) (Okoro 16, Toluwase 13, Bell 10, Jones 10, Visockis 10)
Plymouth Raiders provided a late Christmas present for a big crowd at the Pavilions as they put on an entertaining show in a powerful 113-82 triumph against Manchester Giants.
The home side started off strongly and jumped into a commanding early lead off the back of some scorching downtown shooting, as Daryl Corletto dropped three early triples.
In front 30-20 at the end of the first period, they briefly extended their advantage but rather than streaking out of sight, they were reeled back as Giants came alive.
Led by Sam Toluwase, the visitors found some real rhythm and so much so, they levelled just before the break at 44-44. However, Raiders headed to the locker rooms on a high with the last two scores of the half, including a sweet ‘alley-oop’ play from Cory Dixon.
That momentum wasn’t halted by the interval, as Raiders quickly jumped back into the box-seat. As their three-pointers finally starting to drop again, they also served up more spectacular scores from above the rim.
They finished the third period as they had ended the second, with another spectacular ‘alley-oop’ as this time, Anton Grady threw one down.
As the wheels came crashing off for Manchester, the Raiders eased across the finishing line.
Anton Grady poured in 28 points, the deadly Corletto was 5 of 6 from behind the arc, Rhys Carter handed out a super 12 assists and Cory Dixon completed a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds.
