Cheshire Phoenix are in need of new recruits, and fast, after falling to a 88-79 defeat at Manchester Giants.
With only five senior players available to call upon following the departure of leading scorer Jordan Williams last week, the release of Olu Babalola and injury to Sedale Hanson-Young, the Nix were always going to be up against at the BBL's bottom side.
And so it proved to be the case as Ingus Bankevics was instrumental for the Giants, finishing with 22 points and eight assists, while Callum Jones dished out nine assists to go with his 18 points.
With the Nix hopeful of adding an American point guard in the coming week and also on the lookout for a shooting guard who holds either a UK or Euro passport, head coach John Lavery will be hopeful of adding to his squad prior to Sunday's visit of Worcester Wolves to the Cheshire Oaks Arena (5.30pm).
Bankevics netted back-to-back triples early on and provided six assists in the opening period to help his side into a five-point lead.
The Giants doubled their advantage midway through the second, although the visitors, who are on a run of seven successive defeats in all competitions, would respond and soon levelled after scoring the first five points of the third quarter.
Manchester quickly re-established control and went back up by 10 points following a three from Stefan Gill nearing the end of the third.
With an under-manned Nix side heavily reliant on their five starters, they were dealt a blow less than three minutes into the fourth as Akeem Ellis fouled out on a team-high 21 points. That meant the teenage trio of Max Jones, Ben Goodacre and Luke Gosney all saw playing time, with Jones playing almost eight minutes and getting on the scoreboard with a three ball.
The home side were rarely troubled there onwards with their opponents unable to close within less than six points in the closing stages.
Danny Huffor added 20 for the visitors with Kinu Rochford completing a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Cheshire's poor run continues as they fall to 6-11 in the league, while Manchester are now at 5-14.
