Surrey Scorchers took their first home win of the 2016/17 BBL Championship season on Saturday evening, following another tight loss on the road 24 hours previous.
Worcester Wolves 90-82 Surrey Scorchers
Surrey Scorchers fought valiantly but fell to a 90-82 away defeat to Worcester Wolves on Friday.
Boyd by their first league win of the season last weekend, the Scorchers started strongly as they took a 10-4 lead midway through Q1. Wolves hit back and levelled at 16-16, but thanks to a quick double from Jay Bowie and Mike Ochereobia (Big Mike) the away side finished Q1 leading 20-16.
The second quarter started slowly as both teams were fighting for control of the match. Surrey eventually took the initiative when Big Mike went 2/2 on a free throw to give them a 27-24 lead. This seemed to spur Wolves into life, and they hit back with 3:40 left on the clock as they took the lead for the first time. But thanks to a late revival and a double-double from Quincy Taylor the Scorchers went into half-time
41-38 in front.
The Scorchers started Q3 strongly, and when Big Mike scored a 2 to put them further in front, another away win appeared to be on the cards. However, not for the first time in the match Wolves hit back with some quick scoring, and that momentum carried them to the end of the quarter where they lead 59-54.
Surrey were looking to avoid a sixth defeat of the season but got off to the worst possible start in the final quarter when Wolves went further in front at 67-60. The Scorchers continued to fight and were close to getting back in it at 70-67 when Mike hit a double leaving Surrey just three behind on the scoreboard. However, Wolves pulled away again, and this time the margin was just too great for the Scorchers as they went down 90-82.
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Surrey Scorchers 67-61 Cheshire Phoenix
Surrey Scorchers have won their first home game since December 2015 as they beat Cheshire Phoenix 67-61 to get their BBL playoff hopes back on track.
The game started frantically as the Scorchers raced into a 7-0 lead. It took the Phoenix over three minutes to get their first points on the board when they finally managed a 2, but this didn’t break the home side’s focus as they continued to score for fun. Kalil Irving rounded off an excellent move with a 3 as the Scorchers restored their seven-point lead. Cheshire hit back with a 3 of their own, but a quick 2 from Will Neighbour and Quincy Taylor put the Scorchers firmly in charge as they ended the quarter 19-15 ahead.
Cheshire picked up in the second quarter as they hit eight unanswered points. While it took the Scorchers over five minutes to get a point on the board. This rot was eventually ended by Chaz Rollins as he got them back on track with a 2 starting a period of seven straight points for the home side. The game settled down after this, and the teams went into the break level at 30-30.
The third quarter was just as frantic as the first, as both teams took it in turns scoring. Will Neighbour was doing his best to put Surrey in control as he picked up a couple of 3s. The game continued to be an even contest until a quick Scorchers break resulted in Taylor getting a 3 as the home side took command of the match. This was then followed by a 2 from Rollins and a 3 from Neighbour to give the Scorchers a 48-43 lead going into the final quarter.
Scorchers fans were in full voice going into the fourth quarter, and their support was well received as the home favourites built an eight-point gap over their rivals. Cheshire were going down fighting, but a well-timed timeout from the Scorchers helped break their momentum. A nervy end to the game was to follow but thanks to a couple of late free throws from Rollins, Taylor and Neighbour the Scorchers saw out the 67-61 victory.
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