Giants draw first blood in Roses battle
Mark Woods
Manchester Giants upset recent form and gained a 86-79 opening night victory over Westfield Sharks Sheffield at MEN Arena, their first win over their old rivals for two seasons.
In a repeat of the last season's title-deciding match up, it looked as though once again the game would go down to the closing shots as a drive from Terrell Myers took the visiting Sharks ahead 77-78 with 1:09 left in the game.
However returning Giant Tony Dorsey quickly found new signing Roy Hairston inside to re-establish the home lead and their 9-2 finishing spurt gained a crucial early victory over a team who will surely be their closest rivals in the Northern Conference of the revamped Dairylea Dunkers Championship.
"It was very competitive out there," admitted Dorsey, who led all scorers on 30 points. "We chipped away at them in the first quarter, we took the lead at the half, pulled away in the third. But they are a great team and they came back at us. We've been together since the middle of August and played some tough games and that was a big help to us."
Billed as a battle between Myers and his former team-mate turned opponent Travis Conlan, the match up of two tough backcourts lived up to its billing. Conlan's replacement, Nate Reinking from Derby, combined well with his new team early on as the reigning champions gained a one point lead after a quarter.
Two three-pointers from 99 Player of the Year Myers put his side up 21-26 but it was the fresh combo of Hairston and Dorsey who sparked a 6-0 close to the half for a 38-33 lead.
With neither side passing muster from three point range, free throws were surprisingly fluid with only two misses from 18 first half attempts falling short but after the re-start, the hosts, who were buoyed by a large support, broke clear.
With his team trailing 52-39 with 7:17 to play in the third, Sharks' coach Chris Finch called a time out to stem the flow, hindered by the loss of Todd Cauthorn to a hip injury.
Seven quickfire points from Reinking brought his team back into a lead midway through the ultimate quarter and again, two three-point shots from Myers lifted his side into a 71-76 lead.
However this new deeper Giants team have more varied weapons that their predecessor and were able to convert their remaining offenses to seize an early initiative.
"It was nice to get off to a good start," said Manchester coach Nick Nurse, "but from our perspective, I don't think we're playing very well yet."
For Sheffield, a solid backcourt display with 30 points for Myers and 20 for Reinking was somewhat tempered by a lack of help from a front line hindered by niggling injuries. The four strong guard line up for Manchester, led by Conlan, looked solid and the ex-Sharks admitted that the pressure of facing his old side was enjoyable.
"I guarded Terrell all last year in practice and I knew he was going out to beat me and I was going to do the same. It was hard but it was a lot of fun."
Hairston ended on a debut tally of 23 points and 12 rebounds, an ominous start to the new campaign.
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