Rodney Glasgow Jr produces captain's knock as under-strength Sheffield Sharks pinch win from Bristol Flyers
Minutes have been restricted for Rodney Glasgow Jr in recent seasons as bigger names and more explosive players came and went for the Sheffield Sharks, forcing the veteran guard to captain with his voice from the sidelines.
But on Sunday night against Bristol Flyers, when they needed him to lead on the court, he delivered a captain’s innings.
With Prentiss Nixon missing after turning his ankle 90 seconds into Friday’s defeat at Manchester, Sharks urgently required the calm head and crucial scoring of Glasgow to clinch a comeback win.
Dirk Williams may have won game MVP with 16 points and Rodney Chatman III his usual busy 18 points, but the 14 points from Glasgow came at crucial times as the 32-year-old underlined his importance on the court.
His two free throws in the final minute put the lid on a 76-69 that moves Sheffield back to a 4-4 (win-loss) record in a finale that saw three Sharks players ejected for a melee.
"The way we’re playing we need his leadership and we need huis maturity, he’s a shot-maker and he can be steady, and we needed that injection of what he brings.
"He’s sometimes had to take a backseat but he does that well, he’s a professional, he’s a big piece for us and important to our success.”
For much of the first half, Sharks were scoring to stay alive in the game. After Jordan Ratinho scored the opening point on a free throw, Sheffield never led again until Nick Kern Jr got to the basket for a lay-up to give them a 35-34 lead midway through the second quarter.
An explosive 9-1 run in the third quarter that saw a deep Williams three-pointer, a spin-move and lay-up from Chatman and another long two-pointer to beat the shot-clock from Glasgow, appeared to have given Sharks some daylight.
But Bristol finished the third with a 9-0 run of their own that gave them a slender two-point lead going into the fourth.
Five points from Chatman, three of them free throws levelled the scores at 59 with 6.37 left.
After dropping another five points down Glasgow seized control, a two-pointer, a three-pointer and then a steal that led to a fast-break three for Ratinho swinging momentum back Sheffield’s way.
After the charotic scenes in Cheshire a week earlier, more mischief was thrown in when Sharks’ Chatman lifted Bristol’s Cam Holden off the court, and Sheffield’s bench weighed in, the inactive Reyad West and Mervin James joining Nick Kern Jr in being disqualified from the game. Jonathan Brown scored on one of the resulting free throws to level the game at 67.
From there, two huge three-point shots from Chatman and Ratinho and a defensive rebound by Williams pinched a win that for a long time, Sheffield never looked like earning.
Lyons added: "I thought defensively it was the best game we’ve played for a long time, a lot more aggression, we trusted the system.
"Offensively we had some great spells but we’ve got to take care of the ball better, but we’re a young team still learning.”