Manchester Basketball beat Sheffield Sharks 87-75 to return to winning ways in the Super League Basketball Championship.

Manchester rode the highs of their first-ever European road win in Brussels midweek with a victory at home against the Sharks. As he did in Belgium, Kaiyem Cleary led the way with 23 points in just 19 minutes off the bench.

Cleary led a lights-out second unit, which scored 53 points to the Sharks’ 20. That was the difference in the game. Jordan Johnson had 11 to support Cleary off the bench, and Max Jones led the starters with 15.

A team display overcame individual excellence from Sheffield’s Rodney Chatman III, who scored 27 points in 24 minutes. Chatman made 12 free throws in the game, but it wasn’t enough to respond to a first-half avalanche from Manchester.

Manchester did their damage once the starters left the floor. Cleary, Johnson and Oluwaseyi Adetukasi were the difference makers on the night, and they had their biggest impact in a devastating second-quarter onslaught.

The hosts were down five after one, then went on a 12-2 run led by Cleary to snatch the lead. Manchester won that period 27-6 to take a 16-point advantage into halftime.

Sheffield had a response in the third, which cut the game to one score, but Cleary dug deep to stem the tide, scoring 9 straight points to end the quarter and rebuild Manchester’s advantage to 12.

That run was enough to knock the wind out of the Sharks’ sails and improve the hosts’ record to 3-2 in the league standings. Adetukasi had 7 points in the fourth to seal the deal in style.

Manchester will cross the northern border for their next Super League Basketball Championship game, as they face the Caledonia Gladiators in Scotland this weekend. The game will be played on Sunday 2nd November, at 4pm.

Then the team returns home for a local derby in the Trophy Group Phase against the Cheshire Phoenix on Friday, November 7. The game starts at 7:30 pm at the National Basketball Performance Centre.

You can get your tickets here!

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