Two of the surprise packages of this season’s BBL Championship meet at Worcester University on Saturday evening in the last of the four BBL Championship quarter-final first legs.

Wolves recorded their highest ever finish in the regular season as their 22-8 record was enough to take third spot, only missing out on the runners-up medal on the head-to-head tiebreaker with Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders.  Meanwhile, the Jets’ post-season hopes looked dead and buried in late March, but six wins in their final seven games saw the Cheshire side finish the season with a 13-17 record to edge out One Health Sharks Sheffield for sixth place. [read more]

A packed out Northgate saw the Jets power through the Sharks to head into the quarter final play off’s this weekend as a serious threat.

QPR’S Djibril Cisse, his wife Jude and their family were in the crowd to see John Lavery’s men recorded their sixth win in seven games with a 98-77 victory which saw the Jets move into sixth place in the league table. The Jets outscored the Sharks by 19 points in a dominant second half. There were two double-doubles to delight the hosts with Matt Schneck finishing on 17 points and 14 rebounds while Bill Cole added with 20 points and 11 rebounds, but the plaudits were saved for Colin O’Reilly who finished with a 17 point, 10 rebound and 10 assist triple-double.

Jets had also won on Friday night as they travelled to Newcastle and beat the champions 96-81 on their own court. Kai Williams led all scorers with 29 points, including 5/6 three-pointers, and 8 rebounds; both Colin O’Reilly (19 points and 10 rebounds) and Matt Schneck (15 & 16) had double-doubles for the Jets.

The quarter final match up see’s the Jets travel down to third place Worcester on Saturday then back up for Sunday’s what’s sure to be one of the most thrilling games of the season. Tickets are now available online at www.jetsbasketball.org.u

The BBL Champions, Newcastle Eagles, have lost three games in a row after going down 81-96 at home to the Cheshire Jets, who themselves have won three in a row and five of their last six as they chase sixth spot in the BBL Championship table – they can secure that with a win over the One Health Sharks Sheffield on Sunday. [read more]

Jets Power Their Way Through Play Offs

Jets fans were treated to the unusual sight [unique so far this season], of the bench players, en masse, playing out the last couple of minutes of the game against the Rocks, after the starters had produced their second impressive performance of the weekend, and ensured that the team would be taking part in the post-season . After a convincing road victory at Milton Keynes on Friday, just a single victory out of the last three games would have been enough, but John Lavery’s men did not feel the need to wait until the last moment, as they produced one of their most impressive performances of the campaign to record a 80-67 win against the Glasgow Rocks, and with it a clean sweep against the team from over the border.

Major credit must be given to skipper Colin O’Reilly, who continued with his blistering late season form with 29 points – including 6 treys, but he was ably supported by Adam Brown with 17 and Bill Cole and Matt Schneck with 11 apiece. A special mention should also go out to Matt, who was suffering from a bout of food poisoning, but put in a 30 minute shift, despite looking like a shadow of his normal self!

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BBL Championship
Cheshire Jets 79 (17,39,70) (O’Reilly 24, Schneck 15, Cole 14)
UCP Marjon Plymouth Raiders 88 (24,43,61) (Bell 21, Rowe 19, Colbert/Jones/Williams 12)

UCP Marjon Plymouth Raiders moved themselves into third position in the BBL Championship table thanks to a hard fought 79-88 victory over the Cheshire Jets at the Northgate Arena on Sunday evening.

In a free-flowing opening quarter the Raiders leapt out to an early 10-16 lead, but a three-pointer from Colin O’Reilly and a Bill Cole basket got the home side back to within a point at 15-16.  The Raiders kept their noses in front however for the remainder of the period and enjoyed a seven point advantage as the first quarter wound down to lead 17-24 at the end of the first stanza.

In the second quarter both sides traded baskets, but the Jets slowly began to reel their opponents in closer to them, and a Cole basket with 2:27 remaining in the half trimmed the gap to a single point at 37-38, but the Raiders kept their noses in front as they bagged five of the last seven points in the second quarter to lead 39-43 heading into the locker rooms at the half.

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