UCP Marjon Plymouth Raiders Vs Manchester Giants
(Sunday 7th October)
Plymouth Raiders 105 Manchester Giants 74
By Josh Steels
Plymouth Raiders fine start to this year's BBL season continued as they ran out 105-74 winners against Manchester Giants.
Colin O'Reilly's double-double helped Raiders to a comfortable win in front of a packed out Plymouth Pavilions. O'Reilly top scored with 28 points as well as grabbing 11 rebounds, six assists and three steals.
The Irishman hit 16 points in an intense second half from the Raiders which saw them blow out their opponents in the final quarter by 31 points. O'Reilly shot 68% from the field - hitting 13 out of 19 - but what was more impressive was his fantastic work on the boards.
The Giants were unable to contain the 6ft 6in forward as he grabbed 11 rebounds - four of which were offensive - during his 35 minutes of play. What will also encourage Raiders head coach Gavin Love was that six of his players finished the game in double figures.
Jeremy Bell, who scored 40 points in his last outing against London Lions, had another good game, scoring 20 points and serving up four assists during his 34 minutes on court.
Shooting guard Michael Ojo gave a solid contribution of 16 points and five assists, including an impressive 64% from the field, but his minutes were reduced later on due to the result being all but confirmed early in the second half.
The result never looked in doubt as Raiders opened up an early lead in first quarter. Ojo started where he left off from last week, hitting two three-pointers in the space of a few minutes. By the time Giants coach Jeff Jones had called a time-out midway through the first quarter his team were down 14-4. Giants rallied to bring the gap down to single digits at 19-11 but soon after, O'Reilly scored four points in under a minute and Raiders safely saw their way to the end of the first quarter, leading 25-18.
The second quarter saw Raiders open their lead further after more good work from O'Reilly and his team-mates. However, another salvo from the Giants saw the lead cut to three before coach Love called time. Drew Lasker emerged from the break and went to work on the Giants defence.
His work in the final five minutes of the second quarter was crucial to Raiders maintaining their lead. He converted an and-one opportunity from the free-throw line, before returning to it again four more times. He ended the game on 100% from the line, hitting all five of his second quarter attempts. Lasker's fine display continued as he made the Giants pay on offence and defence. Combining with Bell, they set up O'Reilly for another two as Raiders went into the break 47-34 up.
Bell, Ojo and O'Reilly all added to the Raiders' lead at the start of the third. Giants point guard- Stefan Gill provided some respite from the Raiders onslaught, hitting both of his free-throw attempts, however the interruption to the Raiders dominance was short lived as Bell gave the Pavilions crowd even more to cheer as he sunk two three-pointers back to back before adding another two to his tally soon after. The run towards the back end of the third quarter highlighted the explosive power that the Raiders bolster this season. They ended the third leading 83-50.
O'Reilly and Lasker kept the score turning over during the final quarter and it was fitting that O'Reilly brought up the 100 mark - at 101-69 - with two minutes left to play. By then it was very much all over.
Speaking after the game, Raiders player Jamie Burchell admitted he felt the team had "scored at will" and pointed to the third quarter as a good example. Raiders finished the game with a 54% field goal percentage, far superior than that of the Giants who could only muster 36%.
"Conceding only 74 points is exactly where we needed to be," said Burchell, who added that he believes the Raiders will "lead the league in scoring again".
On the evidence of this, it's hard to argue with that.
