Match report: DBL Sharks Sheffield 87 Manchester Giants 64

Jordan Davis gets a shot away for the Sharks against Manchester

The Sharks were in control in the main but while the scoreline suggested a comfortable victory, at times it was far from easy against the side at the bottom of the BBL.

Sheffield started on the front foot, winning the tip before Rashawn Rembert got the ball rolling with a three-pointer and added two more triples in a successful first period for the home side.

A 10-point scoring run kept Manchester in touch at the start of the second, the Sharks failing to add any points until Tony Wroblicky found a way through after more than two minutes of play.

The Manchester fightback continued, taking them to within five points at 35-30, but that only served to bring the home side to life, the Sharks putting their own 15-4 run together to finish the half strongly and enjoy a 50-34 lead on the buzzer, the only concern coming when Jordan Davis fell heavily at the end of the half.

Sharks fans breathed a sigh of relief, though, when Davis emerged for the second half, and the Sharks set to work increasing their advantage.

Rembert added his first third-quarter points to get Sheffield up and running, before hitting three more triples as the Sharks fended off some intense Manchester pressure at the start of the third.

With Rembert in a confident move, the Sharks always had an outlet, more great interplay between captain Mike Tuck, Jordan Davis and game MVP Rembert putting the home side 21 points clear going into the final quarter.

Although the Giants battled hard in the final 10, restricting Sheffield to just 15 points, the strong Sharks defense kept the away side at bay, with the likes of Rembert, Tuck, Gachette and young Aaron Williams - who scored his first point in the BBL from the free-throw line - keeping the scoreboard ticking over, the Sharks running out comfortable 87-64 winners.

DBL Sharks head coach Atiba Lyons said: “I thought we did well to come out the gate with a lot of energy and played hard.

“Defensively especially I felt we did a good job of fixing some of the problems we’ve covered in practice so it was great to see that show on-court.

“The scoreline makes you think it was an easy game, there were times in that third quarter when they came back in, but we showed some good composure to settle down.”

Sharks scorers: Rembert 27 (MVP), Gachette 14, Thornton & Davis 12, Riley 7, Tuck & Wroblicky 6, Eddy Brownell 2, Williams 1.