The Everton Tigers suffered BBL heartache on Monday as they narrowly fell to an overtime defeat at the hands of title contenders Sheffield Sharks.
Trey Moore led the scoring for the Tigers with an impressive 31 point haul with notable contributions coming from Olu Babalola (25) and Jerome Gumbs (21).
The Sharks led 93-86 heading into the closing stages of the fourth quarter, but a Moore three pointer sparked a 7-0 run to close out the final period and tie the game at 93-93 to send it into overtime.
In the extra period, the Sharks took an early lead at 97-95, but the Tigers responded with six points from Olu Babalola to give them a 97-101 lead midway through the additional period.
The home side however sparked themselves into life and closed out the game with a 13-1 burst to take the final victory at 110-102.
The first quarter saw both sides trading baskets throughout much of the opening period but it was the home side who ended the quarter ahead 27-24 after the first ten minutes of basketball.
The second period saw the home side start with a 13-5 run to take the score out to 40-29 midway through the second quarter, but nine points from Trey Moore helped the Tigers to get within just three points at 44-41 with less than a minute remaining in the half.
However a three-pointer from Mike Cook sent the Sharks into the locker rooms leading 47-41 at the half.
The second half saw the Tigers trim the deficit to just three points midway through the third period at 57-54 before a Cook three-pointer sparked a 12-0 burst for the Sharks to take the score out to 69-54.
The home side continued to apply the pressure as the third period closed and a further three-pointer from Mike Tuck extended their lead to 16 points at 76-60 heading into the final stanza.
In the final period the visitors got themselves right back into the game thanks to a 18-4 start to the period to trim the deficit back to two points at 80-78 midway through the final period.
The home side were not to be outdone just yet as seven unanswered points for the Sharks extended their lead out to 91-83 before the fireworks of the closing stages occured.
The Tigers return to BBL action on Friday 26th March when they entertain the Worthing Thunder at the Greenbank Academy, tip off 7.30pm.
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