Manchester Giants almost pulled off the ultimate escape act according to coach Jeff Jones, but were ultimately beaten by London Lions to miss out on the BBL play-offs.
Following their slow start the Giants trailed by 19 points with eight minutes left, but remarkably they rallied to tie the game in the final ten seconds.
Rod Brown broke Manchester hearts though, scoring what Jones felt was an illegal basket with two seconds to play, to beat the Giants 85-87.
“We dug ourselves a hole and nearly did another Houdini act but it’s like it’s been all year – just coming up a bit short,” said the veteran coach.
“We watched the basket in real time and we watched it in slow-motion and it was a travel – the refs just missed it and it’s unfortunate it happened at the time it did.
“You hate to lose at any time but to lose like that, it was a tough one.”
While Jones was critical of the referee’s performance he praised his players’ resilience in fighting back when all seemed lost.
“I know I’m probably one of the biggest critics of refs and them influencing the game but that was absolutely blatant,” he added.
“Brown made a great play, did the job he should’ve done but we didn’t do a good job trying to get the ball out of his hands.
“We showed a great deal of character coming back into the game though, putting ourselves into a position to go into overtime.”
David Aliu led the Giants scorers with 20 points but Jones was critical of his starting lineup and praised his son Callum’s contribution from the bench.
“I can’t fault the guys that finished the game, but the guys that started the game just weren’t ready, weren’t in-sync,” said the American.
“We didn’t play any defence, didn’t play with any intensity and dug ourselves into a hole.
“Callum stepped his game up, it was probably the best game he’s played for us all year and the others that were on the floor just didn’t want to lose.”
The win sealed the final BBL play-off spot for the Lions, at the expense of Manchester, but Jones promised the Giants will return stronger next season.
“We played a great fourth quarter in front of an absolutely fantastic crowd and hopefully we can build on it.
“We get better for it, we become better people for it, we become better basketball players for it and a better team for it.
“What happened tonight will not happen again, we will not do that again, the team next year will be ready to go right from the start – we will make sure of that.”
The Giants conclude their season with Sunday’s trip to face Durham Wildcats, looking to secure a ninth-placed finish in their first season back in the BBL.
Picture courtesy of Jack Hinds Photography, with thanks
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