Cheshire made it back-to-back wins in the BBL with another decisive victory over the Sheffield Sharks with the Nix seeing off their potential play-off rivals with a 75-69 home win.

Following on from Kahron Ross’ buzzer beater winner against league leaders Leicester on Friday, Phoenix once again soundly defeat the Sharks as the race for the play-off places hits full gear.

The Nix ended the first quarter up 22-14 after a formidable scoring output with a near 55% Field Goal Percentage and higher conversion from three point range.

Sheffield would show signs of improvement on the offence and would reduce the deficit to a four point, 36-32, Cheshire lead at halftime. The Sharks shot the ball well with a more reasonable scoring percentage from two point range.

Both teams’ defenses were constantly tested with a higher number of steals and the resulting turnovers as well the Sharks scoring a monumental number of rebounds on both the offence and defence.

Impressive performances from both Jimbo Lull and captain Jalen Hayes helped Cheshire rekindle their scoring composure with a honourable field goal percentage of roughly 64% with the Nix now scoring a high number of attempts from the charity stripe.

Fourth Quarter action still flowed in the Nix favour, as they saw off their potential play-off counterparts with a six point 75-69 win despite only converting four of their 13 attempted field goals (31%) in comparison to Sheffield’s 57% FGs.

The win ensures that Cheshire complete a full season sweep over the Sharks across their four league encounters and further pivoting the Nix ever closer to a place in the BBL Cup play-offs after back-to-back home league wins.

Sheffield’s Antwon Lillard and Jeremy Hensley lead the game for most points across both teams with 21 and 20 respectively, while Jimbo Lull impressed with 17 points for the hosts.

Cheshire’s star names Jalen Hayes (twelve points, nine rebounds, four assists and six steals) and Kahron Ross (eight points, five rebounds, two rebounds and three) still put in strong shifts in the defensive department despite their scoring output being a little under-par compared to their other outstanding displays throughout the season.

After consecutive home games, the Nix now face a trip to the SGS WISE Arena in Bristol to face the Flyers who they had previously defeated 71-69 thanks to a late Mike McCall buzzer-beater.

The Nix also remain in pole position to finish in a play-off spot after their recent run of form as they look to bring a BBL Championship to the Cheshire Oaks Arena for the third time in the franchises young history.

(Photo courtesy of Adam Day Photography)

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