Manchester Basketball beat Leicester Riders 101-98 on the road in the Super League Basketball Championship.

Jordan Johnson hit a game-winning triple with two seconds left in a dramatic conclusion to this affair. The American dominated off the bench, putting up 26 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds to lead Manchester to the win.

Manchester’s second unit scored 48 points, as DJ Mitchell supported Johnson with 17 points and 7 rebounds.

Max Jones led the starters with 17, dishing six assists, and Pjay Smith had 15 points from the point, stuffing the stat sheet with 6 assists and 5 rebounds on the night.

Manchester won the bench battle 48-8, leaning on their strength in depth to see out the win late in the fourth quarter. They also had great success crashing the boards, grabbing 18 offensive rebounds en route to 20 second-chance points.

The star guard duo of Johnson and Smith won the game in the clutch, as they have done so many times this season. Manchester trailed in the final minute, but a pair of Smith free throws tied it at 98, before Johnson hit the game-winner.

Johnson scored 7 points in the fourth to help Manchester over the line, and he and Mitchell caught fire late. Mitchell had 9 points in the final period, including six straight to start the fourth and keep the visitors in the tie.

This gutsy display builds some much-needed momentum for Manchester’s European North Basketball League Semi-Final next week, and improves the team’s record on the season to 18-12.

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