CHESHIRE Phoenix’s hopes of snatching a place in the British Basketball League playoffs unravelled after they suffered back to back defeats over the weekend.
The 108-84 reverse at Surrey Heat, followed by a narrow 98-92 loss to Plymouth Raiders at the Northgate Arena on Sunday, left the Nix in 10th spot and four points adrift of the final play-off spot with only one game to play.
Taking points off two teams from the top half of the table was always going to be a big ask for Matt Lloyd’s men.
They were competitive in the first half at Surrey but the contest ran away from them in the later stages, when they could not live with the Heat.
Jerome Gumbs top scored for Phoenix with 24 points.
Cheshire looked like they were still trying to put their game back together at the Northgate two days later, as Plymouth raced into a 12-2 lead in the first quarter.
The Raiders’ lead reached 22-8 before an 8-0 Cheshire run put the game back in the balance.
Cheshire pulled it back to 33-31 mid-way through the second quarter only for the Raiders to reel off a 19-8 run up to half time.
Leading 52-39 at the start of the third quarter, Raiders maintained a double-digit lead all the way through the period, except for when Shawn Myers briefly made it 61-53.
Cheshire could not get close enough as a three from the returning Colin O’Reilly helped Plymouth to 76-61 heading into the final stanza.
Javarris Barnett’s three to start the fourth quarter gave Raiders their biggest lead of the night at 79-61 – and they went on to hold off a spirited Phoenix performance in the fourth quarter, closing the gap to six points.
Barnett top scored with 28 points for the Raiders.
The Phoenix are without a fixture this weekend. They round off the campaign by hosting Sheffield Sharks on Sunday, April 7 (5.30pm).
