Manchester Basketball fell 102-95 on the road to the Leicester Riders in the Super League Basketball Championship.

Pjay Smith Jr., with 17 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds, and Kaiyem Cleary, who logged 17 points and 3 rebounds, led the team in the East Midlands.

Both had efficient games from within the three-point arc, but Manchester's difficult shooting night let the game get away from them late, especially when their opponents shot 44% from deep.

That said, Manchester were in contention until late in the game. They led by as much as nine in the third quarter after free throws from Duke Shelton, and held the lead early in the fourth quarter with the score 85-84.

That was with just under six minutes remaining, before Leicester went on a run to seize control of the affair.

Buckets from Smith, Cleary and Jordan Johnson late kept Manchester within touching distance as the seconds ticked down at the Mattioli Arena. Cleary scored the team’s last four points, cutting his hometown team’s deficit to five points with half a minute remaining.

But Spencer Johnson saw the hosts over the line with foul shots. Come the final buzzer, Leicester were led by Marc Loving and Tomiwa Sulaiman, who both had 17 points.

The loss means Manchester falls to 8-7 in the SLB Championship.

Manchester Basketball are back in action on Sunday, January 18, taking on the Newcastle Eagles in the SLB Championship. The game will be played at 3 pm at the National Basketball Performance Centre.

You can get your tickets here!