GIANTS TURN DOWN THE HEAT!

        MANCHESTER GIANTS   85   -   68   SURREY HEAT

Friday night saw the Manchester Giants absolutely demolish the 3rd placed Surrey Heat by 17 points at the Wright Robison Sports College to give their season a boost.

The Heat were sitting in 3rd position and a victory at Wright robby, would have meant they jumped above Newcastle Eagles & Leicester Riders into top place.

The visitors hadn`t lost a game since December 14th last year and were on a roll heading into this game. 

The Giants on the other hand were struggling for win and being inconsistent with a lot of focus  put on the defensive side of Manchester, as Jeff Jones head coach of the Giants told them to "concentrate on getting back and closing down" as they have been awful on the defensive side.

As the game tipped off, It was Manchester who started the stronger of the two sides, heading to a 8-2 lead with David Watts & GB international Nick George playing some hard aggressive basketball taking the ball to the basket & both drawing the fouls as well as the extra points. 

This team had a different look to them than normal, whether it was because the SKY TV cameras were on show or simply the team just all hit form at the same time and showed what they can do when everything clicks. 

Surrey Heat did pull it back to within 2 pts of the homeside, Which was the closest they came all night to the Manchester outfit. The Heat were struggling to make plays and when they did, They found the Giants playing solid defense as they looked a whole new team on the court.

Surrey were missing shots & being beaten to the punch everytime, whether it was on offense or defense ,The Giants were just too hot to handle for the away side. 

As the home team were rebounded fantasticially & their shot selection was well judged too, as well as their defensive work which was exceptional all game!

After the 1st quarter the Giants were in control of the game as they dominated on both ends of the floor & were proving to be more of a tougher nut to crack this week. As they were performing magnificently in front of the Sky cameras.

Giants just continued where they left off in the 2nd quarter, as they were outplaying the Heat as   the lead got  built up to 15 points, as the away team couldn`t get to grips with the G men at all. 

Eaves  Aliu and Watts were all great on the rebounding side of things, as they hardly lost a rebound all game.

The intensity of the the game Manchester were playing at was far superior for their top half opponents, As Surrey had no answers to them.

They were missing alot of shots and felt they had some decisions go against them too. But the Heat did at one point look like they were going to get in touching distance of the Giants as they got the 15pt advantage pf the home side down to just 6 points, But Manchester managed to head in to the Halftime break with a lead of just 6 points.

In the 3rd quarter Giants blocks, steals & rebounding came to the forefront as they were simply taking over the game by the scruff of the neck. All the hard graft by the whole side was on show for everyone to see, as they turned up the heat (no pun intended) on Surrey. 

Surrey and Manchester a few times in the game were drawn into loose ball scraps as the ball seemed to want to evade everyone, as bodies were all over the floor diving or fighting for the ball. 

The lead was up to 14 points for Manchester, As the Giants led the Heat 60-46 nearing the end of the 3rd quarter and were looking good for that lead. There was one moment that Peter Simek of the Heat will hope get cut, That being his free throw attempt that dropped about 2ft short of the basket and was a bit embarrassing to say the least.

So as the horn sounded for the end of 3rd the Giants had a 12 point cushion heading into the final quarter of the game. The Giants carried on the magnificent team work offensively & defensively that they had played all game, They were a class apart from a Surrey side that was lacking ideas and looked out muscled and out thought all game.

Manchester simply stampeded over the Surrey Heat in the 4th, as they grabbed the rebounds at their end of court breaking up the other end with gusto and finished it off beautifully. One play summed up the game, When a Aliu shot was missed and looked to be heading out of play. Heat players just seemed to slow or gave up where as Ben Eaves kept it in play for the Giants. As they was recycling the ball, which led to an alley hoop that caused Surrey heads then drop and show it was over.

The coach of the Heat wasn`t impressed with the officiating as was told repeated to be quiet and he was fuming with 2 officials over the nature of the calls made against his side. The lead hit 20 as Surrey tried their best to avoid a twenty point defeat, As they were simply out classed by a tough physical and grafting Manchester Giants team this night!

The Massive win puts the Manchester Giants in joint 9th position tied on points with London Lions  & Sheffield Sharks. And face a daunting trip to Plymouth Raiders Saturday evening

FINAL SCORE :  GIANTS   85  -  68  HEAT

Giants:  Watts 21, George 17 , Bailey 10,  (Eaves, Cal Jones & Gill) all 8 points, James Jones 7, Aliu 6

Heat:  Cricelli & McLemore 12, Margai 11, F.Holmes 10, Joseph 8, C.Holmes, Raftopoulos 5, Simek 3