Basketball Jacob leads Flyers to overtime win against Sharks
BRISTOL Flyers survived a momentous comeback effort from the Sheffield Sharks to claim a 75-72 win in overtime.
Trejon Jacob led the scoring for the Flyers with 17 points and 11 rebounds, followed by Marcus Evans, who had 13 points of his own.
The result sees Bristol take the all-important head to head over Sheffield.
Bristol started the game with a 7-0 run. Marcus Evans shook his defender to get off a pull-up jumper, while the Sharks struggled to hold on to the ball, accruing several turnovers. Malcolm Delpeche threw down a vicious dunk as the Flyers closed out the first quarter with a six-point lead.
Josh Rogers knocked down a three to start the second, however Flyers had trouble keeping a hold of the ball and some sloppy play allowed the Sharks to grind their way back to within two.
Evans attacked the basket for an ‘andone’ bucket and doubled up with a three. Zach Simmons went to the line to take the first double-digit lead of the game. The Flyers continued with a potent offence and Sheffield couldn’t find an answer, as Bristol pulled away with a 13-point lead to end the half.
Sheffield began to chip away at the lead, bringing it down to just six to end the third, but
A four-point play from Jacob got the fourth quarter underway. Sheffield answered with a pair of back-to-back baskets to bring the deficit down to three. A Sheffield three evened things up and another three from Wallace saw the Sharks take their first lead of the game.
Jacob splashed home back-to-back
threes to regain the lead, but Devante Wallace came up with a pair of baskets as the shot clock wound down to send the game to overtime.
It was a back and forth affair in the extra period of play. Mike Miller spun around his defender for a tough layup plus the foul. Zach Simmons converted another ‘andone’ to put the Flyers up by four, and despite a valiant comeback effort from Sheffield, the Flyers came away with the victory.
TURNING POINT
A SLOPPY third quarter from the Flyers, which saw them rack up five turnovers, ignited the Sharks’ offence and allowed them to steal the momentum heading into the fourth.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
TREJON Jacob’s hustle was on full display, as he corralled 11 boards in addition to his 17 points to secure the double-double. He also knocked down several important shots from deep in the game’s dying moments.