Raiders roll over the Sharks

The Plymouth Raiders recovered from last night’s defeat to Worcester Wolves with a battling 84-78 victory over the Sheffield Sharks.

Both sides met each other for the first time in the Championship this season and it was Paul Williams who made a massive impact against his former team. Williams recorded an incredible double double of 25 points and 18 rebounds.

The hosts broke the game open late in the first period with Jeremy Bell collecting four points in a 10-3 run that made it 25-11 to the good. Sharks guard Jimmy Langhurst controlled his teams offence throughout the game to keep them in touch. He had the hot hand scoring a game high 31 points on the night including 17 in the first half. Langhurst’s excellent first half display wasn’t enough for the visitors to take the lead as they trailed heading to the lockers at 42-32.

Sheffield’s leading scorer Justin Dobbins stepped up in the second half bagging four points in a 9-0 burst to move them within three at 53-50. Plymouth ended the quarter eight points ahead but a resilient Sharks side battled back to come within four in the early exchanges of the final period.

An unanswered seven point streak from the Raiders sparked by a four point tally from Williams all but decided the contest.