Jacob Groves and Jamell Anderson propel Sheffield Sharks to overtime win against Caledonia Gladiators

After losing Makhi Mitchell to a new contract in the NBA’s development league earlier in the week and EC Matthews to a bloodied nose when a ball hit him flush in the face in the first quarter, Sharks might have thought it was not going to be their night.

But on the back of 23 points from Jacob Groves and some crucial moments on both ends of the court from Jamell Anderson, they hung tough and saved their best to last with a convincing five-minute overtime period that keeps alive their hopes of progressing to the knockout stages of the Super League Basketball Trophy competition.

After his 39 points in their first win of the season at Cheshire a week earlier, Prentiss Nixon got most of the attention from the Caledonia defence, but still managed 16 points.

“Prentiss got double-teamed but made a good job of kicking it out to others to create opportunities for them,” said head coach Atiba Lyons.

“Jacob and Drake Jeffries hit some big plays for us.

“And Jamell Anderson was fantastic for us, defensively he plays both ends of the floor and when he hits those shots, they’re big daggers in the game.

“The win shows we’re resilient, that we’re tough, we’re getting an identity now, we’re understanding how we’re playing together, we’ve got a lot of options.”

Despite a hectic schedule that included a game in Europe on Wednesday and a home defeat to Newcastle Eagles on Friday, Gladiators came out hot, soaring into an 8-2 lead.

But after a long stoppage for a broken nose sustained by Matthews which ruled him out for the game, Sharks pulled it back to 22-19 after the first 10 minutes.

And thanks to Anderson’s work on the glass and from three-point range, it remained a three-point deficit at half-time.

Sheffield finally edged ahead at the end of the third, great work under the basket from the ever-dependable Jordan Ratinho giving them at 56-54 lead at the buzzer.

But a physical Caledonia had clearly been watching Nixon’s mercurial performance of a week earlier as they double-teamed him at every opportunity, their defence bringing greater intensity to that challenge in the fourth quarter as the Sharks struggled to forge ahead.

Lyons’ side built a six-point lead at one stage but were reeled in off the back of just eight points in the first eight minutes of the final quarter.

Debutant guard Rodney Chatman then held his nerve to score four successive free throws after a foul on a three-point play and a technical foul called against Caledonia.

And then when Anderson nailed a dagger three-pointer with 90 seconds remaining, Sheffield had the lead again only, for free throws to draw the Gladiators level. Groves had a three-pointer that missed as time expired, forcing the extra period. But Sharks saved their best basketball for the overtime period, Groves atoning with four points, Nixon four, another crucial three-pointer from Anderson and Jeffies two as Sharks outscored Caledonia 13-4 in the extra five minutes, their defence restricting the Scottish visitors to just two baskets in the final 60 seconds when the game was up.

Earlier in the day, Sheffield Hatters made it successive wins in the Betty Codona Trophy with a three-point win over Manchester.