Manchester Basketball claimed a pivotal 112-92 victory in the ENBL against BK Opava.

The victory moves Manchester up to second in the European North Basketball League with a 4-2 record, just one point behind leaders CSO Voluntari.

Jordan Johnson went off for 34 points off the bench to lead Manchester to the win against the Czech side, going 10-13 from the field and dishing five assists from the backcourt. Kaiyem Cleary led the starters with 25 points and 6 rebounds, he totalled 17 points in the first quarter.

Manchester were red hot from deep on the game, draining 19 threes in an explosive offensive performance. Johnson and Cleary combined for more than half of those, with Cleary going 6-12 from behind the three-point arc.

Opava had no answer for the host’s lights-out shooting. They simply couldn’t keep up with Manchester’s scoring, and a dominant quarter following the halftime break proved the difference on the night.

Manchester, who took a six-point lead into the half, blew their opponents out of the water in the third, winning the period 27-11 in a lockdown defensive display. That was the difference between the sides on the night.

Max Jones was the one to break the game open, scoring eight straight points to kickstart a 12-0 run shortly after halftime. Jones finished with 19 on the night. Pjay Smith also impressed, playing with physicality from the point guard position to grab eight rebounds.

The win was the second on the bounce in Europe for Manchester, as they eye the top of the table.
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Manchester take on the Super League Basketball league-leading London Lions in their next fixture. The game will be played at the capital on Friday, December 19, at 7:30 pm.

They then return home for their final game before Christmas to take on the Surrey 89ers. It’s a 3pm tip-off on Sunday, December 21, at the National Basketball Performance Centre.