Giants men rock bottom, but women win

Mansfield Giants Basketball Club men suffered a major blow this weekend as they lost 83-74 to fellow strugglers Worcester Wolves 74-83, which left the Giants rock bottom of EBL Division Two.

After a shaky start, the Giants quickly composed themselves and got out on the break for some easy scores, winning the first period 21-20.

Another solid performance from them saw them start to build a small lead.

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However, a controversial unsportsmanlike foul on one of the Giants youngsters, followed by a three pointer and then a ‘no call’ brought the Wolves back into the game and the Giants went into the half-time break with a one point lead.

Mansfield continued to pile on the pressure, but the Wolves did not crumble and stuck right with their opponents.

The Wolves did look as if they were starting to tire as the Giants went into the final period 58-55 to the good.

Both teams stepped up defensively and made it difficult to score, but then some defensive breakdowns by the Giants allowed the Wolves to race ahead.

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A time-out by coach Curtis Xavier was called to try to claw the game back, but the damage was done and Worcester went on to take a comfortable nine point win.

Giants’ top scorers: M. Woodhouse 24, D. Richards 20, P. Xavier 17.

The Giants are back at home this Saturday in a must-win game against London Westside. The game tips off at 6.30pm at Oak Tree Leisure Centre.

After two defeats, Mansfield Giants’ women finally put one over on Loughborough Student Riders II in the third match-up between the two sides so far this season.

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This was the first time since early in the season that the Giants had fielded a full strength team and they felt confident after their win over Doncaster last week.

It was Loughborough that started the game well, taking an eight-point lead from the tip.

But Giants dug deep to pull back the deficit ending the quarter with a big three from Hollie Shaw to go into the second just one point down.

From there on, both teams traded baskets for the majority of the half, with Giants playing some of their strongest defence of the season with both Alison Bridge and Katy Taylor forcing turnovers.

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It was at this stage that the intensity of the game saw the game get physical, with Krista Van Alten fighting her way through the contact to get to basket, finishing the half 27-27.

The second half started as the first had ended, with Gail Richards entering the game to inject some energy, getting fouled on a drive to basket, and sinking her free throws.

However, Giants began to tire, with Loughborough fast-breaking and putting some quick points on the board which left the team down by eight points going into the fourth.

As the team began the final period of the game, it looked as though Loughborough were wrapping the game up, extending their lead to 11.

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But, with just five minutes remaining, the Giants flipped the tables, injecting pace and pressuring Riders to make unforced errors.

Giants displayed some outstanding teamwork moving the ball well to find Charlie Levitt under the basket, scoring 10 of her 15 game points in the fourth quarter alone.

With just one minute remaining, Giants took the lead by three points, still playing some excellent defence, forcing Loughborough to turn the ball over.

But with just 22 seconds remaining, Giants missed a shot, leaving Student Riders with one offence to close the game out.

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Looking for a three-pointer to tie the game, Giants again stepped up to force them to put a shot up from far out, finishing the game 56-53.

The women take a break this weekend, returning to action the following weekend away in Sunderland.

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