Sheffield Sharks see off Leeds Force and Manchester Giants in weekend double

Sheffield Sharks' Kyle Odister produced a season-high 22-point haul against Manchester Giants (Picture: Andrew Roe).

The Sharks netted 12 triples in the first half as they put up 62 points to build a commanding lead.

Kyle Odister finished six of eight from three-point range in his season-high 22-point haul, while Jerrold Brooks dished out eight assists to go with his 19 points. Sheffield finished 14 of 25 from beyond the arc.

Atiba Lyons’s side made their first eight attempts from downtown in a first quarter barrage to move 30-13 ahead. They continued to have the hot hand in the second and a three from new signing Brandon Hogg capped a 17-6 spell to increase the lead to 32 points.

Despite facing a huge deficit at the break, Manchester came out fighting in the second half and they held the Sharks to just 14 points in the third period as the gap was cut to 20.

However, that was as close as the Giants would get as Sheffield controlled the final quarter to wrap up the win with little trouble – taking the final winning margin to 23.

Dzaflo Larkai made an immediate impact on debut for the Giants with 19 points, but they remain bottom and now have a 5-15 mark.

Victory in Manchester made it a weekend double for Sheffield, after Saturday’s 92-59 win over Leeds Force.

After a tight first quarter, in which Force briefly led, it was Jerrold Brooks who put the Sharks in charge as he opened the second stanza with back-to-back three-pointers to give the hosts a 31-22 lead.

They never looked back from there, winning the second period 24-9 as Brooks added another triple – he shot 75 per cent (six from eight) from long range on the night.

The American guard added another eight points soon after the half-time break and when John Barber joined the party with consecutive three-pointers of his own, the lead was through 30 at 77-41 and Sheffield were well on their way to what was a record BBL winning margin against their Yorkshire rivals.

Antone Robinson – who finished with an impressive double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds – took over the scoring from there, hitting seven early points in the fourth quarter.