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Plymouth pull off Manchester raid
NBL Conference: Manchester Magic: 89 Plymouth Raiders: 92
Sadly, the Manchester Giants have folded, a club with a long and proud record in British Basketball. But those Giants fans who came to this game will have recognised not only some of the players, and the Head Coach, but also some of the fighting spirit of the Giants in their glory years. Plymouth are one of the power teams of the new Conference, with an impressive record against the Magic, who were missing two of their top scorers in Sean McKie, in the USA, and Wayne Mulgrave, suited up but unable to take much part in the game. The Magic started nervously and were soon 2-11 down, but some sound play, notably by Kevin St. Kitts, settled them down and they ended the quarter 18-22.
The second quarter set the pattern for the game. The Magic would almost draw level, then the Raiders would move ahead again, prompted by their two star Americans, Todd Cetnar and Drew Samuels. The Raiders went to the half with a comfortable 48-39 lead., but the third quarter saw the Magic playing strong basketball to go into the last quarter only 65-66 down. The packed and enthusiastic crowd, including a vocal contingent of Plymouth supporters, knew the game could go either way. This is a Magic team who are becoming ever more confident of their ability to compete at this level and they looked like possible winners right up to the last minute, when the Raiders drew on their greater experience to shade what had been an enthralling game.
It is a mark of the rapid progress the team has made that the Magic were disappointed with such a close defeat, despite missing two key players. Coach Jeff Jones will look forward to the New Year confident his team can only improve more in the run-up to the play-offs. Next home game is on Saturday, 12th Jan, when the visitors will be Coventry.
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