Basketball: Davis leads Sharks to victory

Sterling Davis led Sheffield Sharks to an 89-81 win at Thames Valley Tigers last night, to pull the Yorkshire club level with London Towers at the top of the British Basketball League.

Sterling Davis led Sheffield Sharks to an 89-81 win at Thames Valley Tigers last night, to pull the Yorkshire club level with London Towers at the top of the British Basketball League.

Tigers hounded the Sharks for almost three quarters and trailed 64-63 as the third period drew to a close, only to be suddenly blown out of the game by a 17-2 run from the visitors.

Sharks' 11th win from 14 games was built on 19 points from Davis, 19 from Terrell Petteway and 17 from Rob Yanders. Davis, a 6ft 7in forward-centre, scored eight points in the 17-2 run, including two three-pointers, while the playmaker Nate Reinking added six points in the decisive burst.

The Tigers closed out the game with a 14-4 response, but never threatened the Sharks lead. Josh Murray led Tigers scorers with 23 points, ahead of 18 from Dean Williams and 16 from Josiah James.

Third-placed Brighton Bears also closed the gap on Towers with an 82-72 win over Scottish Rocks, Ryan Huntley running the game impressively with 12 points and 10 assists. A 7-0 run from the Rocks cut Brighton's lead to 57-52 and the Bears led only 59-56 at the end of the third. But Andrew Alleyne, 22 points, Yorick Williams with 19 and Steve Lepore with 15 kept the Rocks out of range.

Tigers' Dean Williams and team-mate Roderick Wellington return to their former club Plymouth Raiders tonight for a BBL Trophy group game and can expect a warm welcome. The Raiders coach, Gary Stronach, said: "Dean and Rod were an integral part of our success here and always very popular with our fans."