Fri 16th Mar: London United lose momentum in play-off hunt..

Friday, 16th March, 2007

BBL CHAMPIONSHIP

Sheffield Sharks 107-81 London United  

QUARTERSCORES:

30-12, 52-35, 75-53, 107-81

GAME TOP SCORERS:

Sheffield Sharks (Jeff Bonds 35, Atiba Lyons 27, Eddie Cage 16)

London United (Tarick Johnson 26, Marlin Capers 17, Junior Williams 13)

On Friday night, a United squad depleted by sickness travelled title-chasing Sheffield Sharks who inflicted a 26pt loss on the London side. Junior Williams travelled to Sheffield but was unable to take any significant part in the match due to s stomach bug, whilst Steve Ogunjimi found himself suffering in a simlar fashion during the game. A Sheffield side noted for their hard-nosed defence and athleticism restricted United to just 12 pts in the opening quarter whilst Jeff Bonds (10pts) and Atiba Lyons (9pts) helped Sharks to 30 and an 18pt advantage.

Utd fought back well as Tony Garbelotto used the press to great advantage as Capers, Knight and Johnson forced repeated Sharks errors and capitalised to bring London to within 13pts. However, the final play of the half proved to be crucial. Steve Ogunjimi forced a Sheffield error and what appeared to be a back-court violation. With the ball lose and Ogunjimi fighting for possession with Leckan Popoola, the United player was called for a controversial foul. Sheffield scored from the final possesion giving them a 15pt cushion instead of United having the chance to close the gap to single figures going into the second half.

United maintained parity with Sharks for the majority of the 3rd stanza before runs of 6 and 5 in the final 2mins gave Sheffield a 20pt cushion going into the final session. Despite 28pts down the stretch, Marcus Knight and LaTaryl Williams fouled out allowing Sharks to cruise to a comfortable win.

Once again, Tarick Johnson led United with 26pts, backed up by 17pts from Marlin Capers and 13pts from LaTaryl Williams. For Sheffield, Jeff Bonds had a huge match hitting 35pts and pulling down 16 rebounds.

However, whilst United bounced back to beat Leicester on Sunday, Sheffield's title hopes look all but over as they crashed to a 9pt loss at Scottish Rocks. Guildford Heat now look nailed on to win the BBL Championship and their second trophy of the season after an 88-70 home win over bottom club Worcester Wolves .

Chris Morris 19/3/07

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