Manchester Basketball’s Super League Basketball campaign came to an end despite an 87-84 win in the second leg of the SLB Quarter-finals against the Newcastle Eagles.
After losing the first leg 71-78, Manchester needed a win by eight points to qualify into the next round and were close to getting it done, but the Eagles held on in the final two minutes to edge a 162-158 win on aggregate.
In what was a historic game that saw a sold-out crowd come out in support of the team, Manchester were strong, but fell short by just four points against a strong Eagles team.
Donovan Mitchell starred for Manchester as he made 26 points and had some clutch baskets down the stretch to electrify the crowd.
Mitchell was brilliant on both ends of the floor and fuelled a fourth-quarter resurgence as the team needed a big performance after going down six points behind at the end of the third quarter.
Zak Irwin was also brilliant on the night as he added 15 on 3-4 shooting from beyond the arc, with 10 of his points coming in the first half.
What was special about Irwin’s performance was his work on the boards as the player grabbed eight rebounds in 37:46 minutes of action.
Cody John, who did not feature in the first leg, was a big part of this game as he scored 16 points on the evening.
John was brilliant as he kept driving into the paint and finding baskets over the resilient defense of the Eagles.
Makai Ashton-Langford, who was the star in the first leg, scored eight points, but also had six rebounds, eight assists and three steals.
With the game on the line, Langford had the chance to tie the quarter-finals, attempting a heave from the half-court, where the team thought he was fouled.
However, the referees did not think there was enough contact to award the foul and that ended any chance of an overtime play.
In the end, the game ended 87-84 – meaning the Eagles will be fighting for their second trophy of the season.
Seneca Knight and Mike Okauru were the stars for the Eagles as they scored 22 and 21 points respectively, to lead the way for the team.
It was a disappointing end to the second part of the season that had seen Manchester flourish under new coach Herman Mandole.
However, the team has a lot of positives to take from their performances over the past month, and it will be exciting to see what the future has in store for them.
Image: Manchester Basketball
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