BBL Championship: Glasgow Rocks beat Plymouth City Patriots and Manchester Giants edge a thriller

Kofi Josephs' sparkling form for the Plymouth City Patriots came without reward, the Cheshire Phoenix snapped their five-game losing streak and the Manchester Giants picked up their fourth win of the BBL Championship campaign.

Here's a look back on the league action over the past week...

Josephs' form unrewarded again

Josephs continued his sparkling form for the Patriots by putting up another 27 points for coach Paul James' side, but it wasn't to be for the Devon-based franchise as they suffered a 107-96 loss to Glasgow Rocks amid their ongoing search for a first win of the BBL Championship campaign.

All five of Glasgow's starters finished with double figures in scoring, including guard Jordan Harris as he poured in 21 points to go with seven rebounds, six assists and three steals on the night. Jonny Bunyan meanwhile led the way for Glasgow with 24 points, eight assists and four boards.

Three of Plymouth's starters scored over 20 points in the absence of Denzel Ubiaro and Elvisi Dusha, both of whom were away on international duty with Albania.

The Cheshire Phoenix have not lost to the Sheffield Sharks since 2019, and continued that run on Sunday with an 86-67 victory to snap their five-game losing streak.

Ben Thomas' side stormed to a 16-point lead after the first 10 minutes as new signing Larry Austin Jr. scored eight quickfire points on his way to 12 in total. Four Cheshire players finished in double figures, with 10 of their 11-man roster getting on the scoresheet.

The Sharks never led on the night, almost a third of their points coming from Phoenix turnovers while they were dominated 46-27 at the board.

Rocks and Riders replicate BBL Cup success

Friday night staged two grudge matches in a repeat of last weekend's BBL Cup quarter-finals, the Rocks seeing off the Bristol Flyers 99-78 and the Leicester Riders beating the Phoenix 94-72.

Ali Fraser led the Rocks with 23 points alongside Jordan Johnson's 16-point, 12-assist double-double, while Boban Jacdonmi contributed 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in just 16 minutes off the bench.

Glasgow opened the fourth with the first five points, before Johnson scored eight in three minutes and Fraser pushed his side to a lead of 78-61 as the hosts finally shook off their opponents.

Meanwhile, Riders used a sharpshooting fourth quarter to once more overcome Cheshire behind Marc Loving's 32 points on 6-10 (60 per cent) three-point shooting.

With Leicester having edged past their visitors by one point last week, the teams were rarely separated by more than two shots through the first three quarters of this game in what looked like it would be another tight finish.

But Riders were unstoppable from the three-point line in opening the fourth quarter with an 18-2 surge, all from long-range, as Loving hit four triples in a row in little over three minutes, joined by Conner Washington and Geno Crandall, who finished with 11 points, nine assists and four steals.

Giants edge thriller

Josephs' 46 points came to no avail on Wednesday as Plymouth finished second best in an overtime thriller against the Giants.

GB international Dan Clark drained a corner three-pointer with three seconds on the clock to send the game to overtime just as Plymouth looked to be heading towards their first win of the season.

Jamell Anderson's dagger gave the Giants a four-point lead with 30 seconds to play in overtime as they held on for their fourth victory of the campaign to stay top of the league.

Josephs' tally of 46 led all scorers while Tyrik Armstrong spearheaded the Giants with 20 points and eight rebounds.

The BBL action continues on Friday when the Newcastle Eagles take on the Sheffield Sharks live on Sky Sports Mix and Arena from 7pm.