John Lavery has backed exciting new signing Victor Moses to spark Cheshire Phoenix’s season into life.

The 23-year-old American has signed on with the Nix following the release of Yannick Crowder this week.

Moses arrives in England with substantial pedigree, having led Georgetown College to their first-ever NAIA Division One title earlier this year.

The centre was named player of the season for good measure, having led the NAIA in field-goal percentage (.669) and was third in rebounding (9.7), 30th in blocks per game (1.16) and 31st in scoring (17.1).

During Georgetown’s five-game run to the championship in Kansas City back in March, Moses averaged 17.0 points and 13.6 rebounds while shooting 56 percent.

Lavery said: “I’m very much looking forward to working with him. He can bring a lot to our team.

“We will do a lot of work on him to acclimatise him and get him used to the way we play, but he should be a really good signing for us, and we are very glad that he has chosen us, because he would not have been short of offers.”

Georgetown coach Chris Briggs believes Cheshire have made the right call in signing up Moses.

Briggs said: “Cheshire has gotten a steal with Victor Moses. There is no doubt in my mind he will be one of, if not the best, player in that league.

“Vic will make the most of this opportunity and move up the ladder in his professional career. I am very proud of him and excited to follow his progress in pro basketball.”For Lavery, though, Moses arrival could not come at a better time. Back-to-back defeats to Worcester and Leicester last weekend has left Cheshire struggling. They face Durham in the first round of the BBL Cup on Sunday (4pm).

“It was very disappointing to lose both games last week,” said Lavery.

“The Worcester game, in particular, was a sickener. We were nine points up with five minutes remaining, and we should have seen it out.

“We had the last shot of the game to get the win, but we missed, went to overtime, had four players fouled out and we lost the game. That was bitterly disappointing.

“Then on Sunday, we took a real backwards step against Leicester. They took us out of our rhythm, played some tough ‘D’, which they are renowned for, and we just didn’t respond.

“We played badly as a team on the night. It wasn’t just one player off, it was everybody, and that was really frustrating.”