Cheshire Phoenix have one foot in the BBL Trophy final after Dominique Coleman’s 18 fourth quarter points sealed a stunning comeback in the BBL Trophy semi-final.
In front of a packed Northgate Arena, John Lavery’s side had trailed for much of their semi-final first leg encounter with their Scottish visitors and had looked destined to head into the second leg this Friday needing to overturn a deficit.
The vocal Nix fans need not have feared as Coleman was in sparkling form during the final period, draining 18 points in the final 10 minutes as he posted an impressive 33 points for the evening.
Victor Moses showed his undoubted class with a huge double-double, posting 19 points and 19 rebounds.
Donatas Visockis was also a major contributor, putting up impressive numbers of 14 points and 16 rebounds as he helped himself to a double-double for the second game in succession.
However, the Nix were made to work hard for their victory as their visitors, struggling for form in the BBL, looked full of invention and energy, building a nine point advantage at 19-10 early in the second period.
The Rocks stretched their lead into double digits in the second period as the Nix struggled to cope with the visitor’s offence and found it hard to get their own shooting game firing, falling 24-13 behind.
The Nix finally rallied and reduced the deficit to five points as they headed into the half-time break.
The visitors continued to keep the Nix at arms length in the third quarter, finishing it with a healthy 64-53 advantage.
However, the Nix, a side who has looked invincible of late, showed their hand in the final period, with Coleman leading the offensive charge as Lavery’s charges went on a 15-4 run to tie the game before charging ahead to take control of the tie.
With the dying seconds ticking away, Devan Bailey sunk a buzzer-beating three pointer to seal victory and increase Cheshire’s advantage in the second leg.
