Patriots See Their Unbeaten Run Ended By Grand Phoenix

Basketball team still in the play-offs but can’t build on super win against the flyers

- Pablo Cheeks

THE Plymouth City Patriots’ four-game winning streak came to an end this past weekend, but not before some incredible heroics, cheeky antics, and truly epic drama.

On Sunday night, the exhausted and emotionally drained Patriots would lose to the league’s hottest team, the Cheshire Phoenix, after once again keeping things close and once again bringing the entire game down to one final play.

Also, not before some highlight reel basketball, namely from Antonio Williams, their six-foot guard that can play above the rim. He would finish the game with 22 points, three rebounds, six assists and three steals.

o Graham-Bell would also impress, with 22 points and eight rebounds, but the Phoenix would cling on to their slim lead as the game clock ran out, despite the Patriots leading for large portions of the game.

The winning streak was over and the Patriots would lose 80-77 and have to make the long journey home without the two points, left only to look back over a grueling weekend that started so well on Friday night. And that was another night of epic drama that literally had everything.

Having watched and covered the British Basketball League (BBL) for over 30 years, you can forgive me for thinking that I have seen everything the beautiful game has to offer.

From the days following my beloved Worthing Bears, winning three straight play-off Championships and the great Alan Cunningham, well into his 40s, playing the role of captain, coach, and mentor, dragging his dilapidated team from the seventh spot in the league, into the post-season and ultimately winning it all.

I’ve seen games where teams are down by double figures with only seconds remaining, but who somehow find a way to either tie the game or even win it, with last-second heroics.