Gareth Murray hit 23 points and ten rebounds on Friday night as Glasgow Rocks moved up to third place in the British Basketball League with a 98-70 victory over Surrey Heat at the Emirates Arena.
Sterling Davis’ men were barely troubled after racing into an early 17-3 lead. But the hosts dominated one of their chief rivals for a top-four finish throughout, pulling 54-33 clear by half-time and harassing Surrey into a series of failure from long-range.
And with the Rocks captain EJ Harrison scoring a game-high 24, Glasgow pulled away in the fourth quarter to complete the rout.
The Rocks dominated the game from tip to buzzer after an excellent start as they allowed their visitors just one score in the opening four and a half minutes, taking an early 11-2 lead as Murray scored 6 and Harrison 5. They expanded their lead in the second period through an early 10-0 burst, sparked by another Harrison three-pointer and being capped in kind by Brice Fantazia for a score of 34-17.
And, despite the Heat holding their own in the third period, there was no respite as the hosts consolidated their lead in the final ten minutes: Robinson’s 4 points and Wedemire’s triple comprised a 7-2 run to make the score 86-62, and the lead reached its peak 98-68 on Dale Grieve’s three-pointer with 1.28 to play.
Worcester Wolves – who visit Glasgow on Sunday – boosted their chances of coming in the top four by crushing Plymouth Raiders 89-69. Alex Owumi had 24 points for Worcester who went 33-12 in front and then resisted a second half rally from their guests.
The win ties the head-to-head between the teams, with a game to play in April, and sees the Wolves bounce back from three straight defeats, two of which were at home. After dominating the first half, the Wolves won the game from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter as Alex Owumi led the scoring with 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Sherrad Prezzie-Blue scored 14 and dished out 6 assists.
The Wolves dominated the first period as Owumi’s 15 early points saw them take a 28-8 lead that they would ultimately never relinquish. They stretched their lead before half time, as Kai Williams scored 5 points to make it 52-32 at the break. Despite only scoring 9 points in the third, and seeing their lead eroded to just 7 points in the fourth, a fine display of long-range shooting won the game as they finished with a 20-4 surge with Prezzie-Blue, Owumi, Stan Ocitti and Arnas Kazlauskas, with two, all hitting three-pointers.
James Jones fired 24 as Manchester Giants kept their play-off hopes alive by thrashing Mersey Tigers 93-67.
The Giants have now won two of their last three and must win all of their remaining games to make the post-season. However, the game was tight until the Giants dominated the final twelve minutes to pull away.
Holding a 49-46 lead they rattled off ten straight points, including consecutive three-pointers from James Jones, to help them take a 61-51 lead into the fourth period.
And Manchester settled the game with another 10-0 run as Ben Eaves  completed his haul of supported by 19 points and 12 rebounds, leaving Mersey’s losing streak at 33.
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