THE Mersey Tigers were left shell-shocked as the Sheffield Sharks claimed basketball’s first silverware of the season with a 93-66 victory in the BBL Cup Final.
What promised to be a competitive game proved to be anything but as the Sharks blitzed their table-topping opposition, with MVP Steve D’agostino scoring an incredible eight three pointers for the Yorkshire side, who followed up their win over the Cheshire Jets in last year’s final.
In front of a sell-out crowd at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, the Sharks hit the front early on and never looked back, opening up a 10-point lead in the first quarter as D’agostino found his range early on.
But it was the second quarter that shaped the outcome of the game as the Tigers struggled to keep hold of the ball and the Sharks were dropping the ball in the net on a regular basis.
Former Tigers captain Olu Babalola chipped in with five opening half points but it was Mike Tuck who was most prolific, claiming 14 of his 18 points overall in the first half alone.
A big play by Drew Sullivan on the stroke of half-time had seemingly given the Tigers a bit of hope, but they went in 51-25 down, leaving coach Tony Garbelotto with a miracle team talk that even he couldn’t deliver.
The second-half was one of frustration for the Tigers, who won this competition two years ago, as both James Jones and Perry Lawson missed three pointers as they fought in vain to find a way back in to the match.
Missing star man Nate Reinking, ruled out with a calf injury, the Tigers landed just two of 18 three pointer attempts, a stark contrast to their opponents who landed 12 from deep.
Coach Garbelotto pointed at an early miss by ex-Shark Tafari Toney as the turning point, and admitted his side struggled without the experience of Reinking.
He said: “I could tell it was going wrong early on when Tat (Toney) missed that dunk and then they hit two three-pointers, without Nate’s firepower, we struggled to keep up.
“I knew we’d miss Nate but our guys are better than that. I’ve never lost a game by 30 in my whole coaching career and for it to come in a big cup final in front of the TV cameras is disappointing. It was so uncharacteristic of how we usually play and it’s the worst time to play our worst game of the season. But full credit to them, they were awesome and they won’t play a better game all season.”
THE Tigers’ focus now turns to the league campaign and the BBL Trophy, where the Tigers face Newcastle Eagles in a two-legged semi-final in the last week of this month
