Sheffield Sharks stun Leicester Riders to secure BBL Trophy semi-final spot

Sa'eed Nelson held his nerve to sink a free throw in the final seconds as Sharks rallied from a half-time deficit to take twice take six-point leads in the second half before closing out the game last night.

Kipper Nichols led the way with 19 points while Bennett Koch added 18.

A quick 8-2 run by Sheffield, who came into the game on the back on nine defeats in 10 league games, gave the visitors an early six-point lead within the first two minutes of action, when Devearl Ramsey laid it in.

Leicester quickly fought back and got their noses in front (11-10) when aron Menzies made a layup with six-and-a-half minutes to go.

The two sides then exchanged buckets and leads for the next three-and-a-half minutes, before a 5-0 run by the Sharks gave them a 21-26 lead to close out the first quarter.

The second period saw the home side step up their defence, restricting their opponents to half the points they had scored in the first (13), outscoring them by 11.

A 9-0 run saw Leicester get their largest lead of the game so far (39-32) when Marc Loving converted both of his free throws.

Although the Sharks managed to find their scoring touch again in the final couple of minutes of the first half, the Riders kept scoring and went into the break ahead by five (44-39).#

The third quarter saw another swing of the pendulum, this time with the visitors restricting their opponents to just 14 points, while they scored 23.

A 6-0 run by Sheffield saw them take their first lead of the second half and that was culminated when Jordan Ratinho made a layup with three minutes left in the third (54-57).

The two teams then exchanged baskets in the final couple of minutes, with the Yorkshire side taking a four-point lead going into the final 10 minutes (58-62).

Although the momentum seemed to have swung in favour of the Sharks, the Riders fought hard to bring it back and took the lead again when Jackson scored a layup (68-67), six minutes before the final buzzer.

Sheffield didn’t let their heads drop though and went on a 7-0 run – capped off by a triple from Rodney Glasgow Jr, giving them a six-point lead (68-74), with four minutes left of action.

It was Leicester’s turn to dig deep and fight back, managing to tie the game at 78 apiece when Kimbal Mackenzie made both free throws with 90 seconds left.

The two sides then missed a shot each, before Sa’eed Nelson was sent to the line after a foul by Mackenzie, with 50 seconds left.

The American guard hit 1/2 and gave his team a one-point advantage (78-79), which proved to be the final score after the Riders failed to score on their final two possessions.

With this win, the Sharks move onto the Trophy semi-finals, where they await the winner of the Surrey – Cheshire game.

Elsewhere, Caledonia Gladiators knocked out London Lions 52-50.