Bristol Flyers secured their highest ever league finish as a strong display in the second half allowed them to seal an 87-73 win over Cheshire Phoenix.
With two games remaining, the victory now means Andreas Kapoulas’ side can finish no-lower than third come the end of the regular season, surpassing their previous best finish of fourth in the 2021/22 season.
“With a week to go, to have already secured a top-three finish I think is something we should be proud of," said Kapoulas. "I said to the guys, we’re on a mission and our mission is not over. Certainly I’m very proud of our efforts. It’s a very competitive league and I think for us to be able to do that and get top four in back-to-back years is a great achievement.”
Malcolm Delpeche’s monstrous double-double performance with 19 points and 14 rebounds helped Flyers overcome their shorthanded opponents, with Tevin Olison putting up a further 20 points and Thomas Bell adding 19 of his own.
Jamell Anderson and former Flyer Marcus Evans led the scoring for the visitors with 18 points each, but the ejection of Larry Austin from the game in the third quarter caused the clash to be too much of an uphill battle for the ‘Nix’ to overcome.
On the team performance, Delpeche said: “To come out with the win against a talented team like Cheshire, especially with the bumps and bruises that we have is huge for us.
“Especially for me, Mike [Miller], and Corey [Samuels] - the returners - we’ll all probably say the same thing. It’s great to see how we finished last season, and to come back and not just match our performance but to extend that further and break more records is something we’re all happy to be a part of.”
American forward VJ King wasn’t available for Bristol due to a calf injury he picked up in the game against Caledonia Gladiators. He is expected to return to action in time for the playoffs. British guard, Jelani Watson-Gayle returned to the roster to face the Phoenix after missing the game against the Gladiators with a hip contusion injury.
Cheshire bigs Tahjai Teague and Will Neighbour were both injured for the contest. Teague is deemed to be out for the season with an Achilles injury, whereas Neighbour is currently in a day-by-day assessment.
Flyers started the game with the opening two baskets from Delpeche and Mike Miller. Cheshire responded from beyond the perimeter with Jamell Anderson on is first attempt from deep. The hosts went on a run and stretched out to a nine-point lead early in the quarter following good inside play from Delpeche and Bell, before Anderson strung his second triple and Cheshire’s second basket.
Five consecutive points from Evans forced Kapoulas into calling a timeout, with Cheshire only a point behind. Out of the break Olison picked his spot in the corner and knocked down the three. The sides traded scores in the closing stages of the period, and Watson-Gayle’s late three gave the hosts a 21-18 lead after the first 10 minutes.
The Nix started brighter in the second by cutting the deficit to a single point through Amorie Archibald, but Bristol retaliated with a run of their own, pushing their advantage to double-digits thanks to five consecutive buckets - three of which came from Delpeche.
Cheshire relied on quick transition offence for the majority of their points in the second period, and Bristol maintained their double-digit advantage going into the break.
Brandon Mahan opened Bristol’s account in the third with a step-back three, before Austin got an up-and-under finish to drop in response. The game became a shootout, with three’s dropping for both teams. Maceo Jack was able to cut the game to single digits with back-to-back threes, with Olison and Watson-Gayle responding with three’s of their own.
Tensions boiled over as Larry Austin fouled Thomas Bell on the lay-up attempt, sending Bristol’s American forward to the floor. Both teams found themselves in an altercation in front of the Cheshire bench, before the referee’s intervened and called a timeout to discuss the situation.
They ruled that Austin’s foul was worthy of an unsportsmanlike call, and was ejected following a technical being handed to him and Tevin Olison for their exchange of words following the incident. This put Cheshire’s rotation down to six players, and Bristol took a foothold of the game heading into the fourth quarter with a 66-53 lead.
The fourth quarter was closely fought between the teams. Anderson hit another three for the visitors, but Olison took the game to the visitors; finishing inside off Watson-Gayle’s feed before turning provider for Delpeche with the slam.
Watson-Gayle then hit an outrageous circus-finish to beat the shot clock late on, and no matter how hard the Phoenix battled to reduce the arrears on the scoreboard, they couldn’t stop Bristol’s attempts form falling. Despite a valiant effort from the away side, Bristol were eventually able to run out 14-point winners.
Flyers’ next games sees them take on Surrey Scorchers on Friday in their final home game at SGS College, before travelling to Sheffield Sharks on Sunday in the final game of the regular season, and finding out their first-round playoff opponents.
“We have two games which are going to be real good preparation for the playoffs", Kapoulas added. "Cheshire and Sheffield could be one of the teams we face in the playoffs, obviously to play them [Cheshire] today and Sheffield next weekend. We have to stay concentrated and keep doing what we’re doing on and off the court to go into the last two games and the playoffs with momentum.”
