Manchester Basketball fell 76-80 in overtime to the London Lions in the Super League Basketball Women’s Championship.

Maaja Bratka’s 23-point, 13-rebound double-double led Manchester in the hard-fought game. She finished with a team-high index rating of 28.

19 points from Tiarra East and 12 from Frannie Hottinger made up the top three Manchester scorers on the game. Meanwhile, Jori Davis contributed with 9 assists and 8 rebounds off the bench.

Manchester battled back from an early double-digit deficit to send the game to overtime with a fourth-quarter comeback. They were down seven entering the final stanza, but snatched the lead thanks to a Davis three with 7:16 on the clock.

The sides traded the lead in an intense finale, and they were locked within a point of each other in the final five minutes of regulation.

London’s Annika Shah hit a three with 38 seconds left to tie the game at 70, then both Veera Pirttinen from Manchester and Jada Lewis for London both missed their attempts for the win.

In the extra period, it was London that made the plays late. Manchester took the lead thanks to Bratka, but in the final minute, Shah and Lewis combined for six points to secure the Lions’ win. East had a three-point attempt to take the lead with 16 seconds left, but couldn’t get it to go.

Lewis hit the game-winning foul shots as Manchester fell in a heartbreaker.

Next, Manchester play the Cardiff Met Archers on the road on Saturday, April 4 at 1:30 pm.

They return to the National Basketball Performance Centre to play the Sheffield Hatters on Sunday, April 12, at 6 pm.

You can get your tickets here!

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