Sharks complete double over Pirates
Chris Deacon
Sheffield Sharks 81 (16, 47, 67)
Essex Pirates 63 (16, 32, 46)
UEL Scorers: Anderson 2, Gachette 13, Sing 8
Despite an early scare, Sheffield Sharks managed to overcome Essex Pirates in what became a dominant display in Southend.
Pirates’ Head Coach Tim Lewis was unhappy after the game; “There were glitches tonight. It was a lack of intensity at times and then defensively we let ourselves down.”
Lewis also pointed out his anger at the officials; “It was like a wrestling match tonight. The referees were inconsistent, some poor decisions were made and it affects a young team like ours because they don’t know how to deal with it.”
Sheffield’s Player/Coach Atiba Lyons was happy with the way his team survived the early onslaught; “We were still in the game. We held them to 16 points in the first quarter and then defensively we did some good things.
They’re young and they’re a very good transition team. On an open court they can cause trouble so I think we did a good job of keeping half court and chipping away at them to get the win.”
UEL’s Myles Hesson had to watch in his tracksuit because of a hamstring keeping him out for another three weeks.
The Pirates took the game to the away side in the first quarter and found themselves in a 7-2 lead with five minutes gone. Lyons called a timeout to disrupt the Pirates’ run and rewrote the attack strategy to include Ryan Patton. The Guard found open space to shoot often enough that eventually he levelled the score before the interval.
The second period started quick and points were exchanged between both sides making it hard to sustain a lead. Olu Babalola checked in for the Sharks and quickly made his power down the stretch felt; getting the majority of points in a 14-2 run that saw Sheffield stretch into dominance. Colin Sing fired some points in as Adrien Sturt started his own game as post-player.
Sturt continued his consistent points into the third stanza and went 100% from the line in the next 10 minutes; making six from six. Sam Toluwase was putting up a brave fight down in the paint but in spite of this Paul Williams was being deadly in transition. The Sharks went into the final quarter up by 21 points.
The last 10 minutes took place outside the D; the teams sank five three-pointers in a run that ended 17-14. A series of turnovers and poor efforts meant a low scoring fourth quarter as the deficit remained in the teens. The Pirates’ last effort was blocked as the buzzer sounded and both sides ended the night with a shake of hands.
MVP went to Sheffield’s Ryan Patton who not only scored some major threes in his tally of 20 but also got some spectacular assists. Adrien Sturt of Essex had a great scoring game from outside the key and netted 20 points for runner-up. Third place was a battle of two Sharks as Paul Williams and Babalola worked hard for a score of 19 each, neither could be separated as Babalola clocked up the rebounds and Williams kept up the assists.
The Pirates have a double-header to look forward to next weekend; they’ll need to learn from their mistakes fast if they want to cause an upset. Sheffield face MK Lions on Tuesday before heading into a tough weekend fixture against Mersey Tigers.
Chris Deacon is a Sports Journalism student at the University of East London
Sports Programmes
- BSc Sport and Exercise Science
- BSc Sports Coaching
- BSc Sports Development
- BSc Fitness and Health
- PGCert Sports Rehabilitation
- MSc Exercise Science and Health
- MSc Sports Management
- MA Sports Media
- MSc Sports Media
