Scorchers kicked off their double-header weekend with a crucial 100-90 win on the road against the Bristol Flyers to edge closer to the BBL Play Offs in April.
Some stellar defence from Creon Raftopoulos’ side held off the Flyers in the second half, preventing Bristol from forcing a comeback.
The Flyers were unable to contain Tony Hicks who dominated with 31 points, eight assists and five steals as he carried the away side to victory. Captain Tayo Ogedengbe added 18 against Team England Coach Andreas Kapoulas.
The game started evenly with both sides starting the game aggressively. Brandon Boggs took charge for Bristol, but was quickly cancelled out by Hicks who poured in seven points and four assists in the first period.
A buzzer-beating three at the end of the quarter for Bristol was the only separation between the sides after ten minutes.
Scorchers bounced back in the second quarter as Hicks continued to plug away at the Flyers with a further six points and two assists.
Josh Steel also added seven points off the bench as Scorchers headed into halftime with a 48-44 lead.
They picked up where they left off in the second half as Hicks took command on the offensive end.
His tally for the night moved to 22 points while Tayo Ogedengbe drained three trebles to cancel out a resilient effort from Bristol.
Scorchers held firm down the stretch to see off Bristol, with Tayo taking flight with an alley-oop to silence the home crowd.
Hicks added nine more points to his night, finishing with 31.
The win levelled the season series at 1-1 and moved Scorchers two wins above Bristol in the BBL Championship standings.
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