Rocks take revenge on Manchester in ten-point win

The Rocks held onto their lead to overcome the Manchester Giants, 83-73

The Giants tried to close the gap but couldn’t do much as the Rocks entered halftime with a strong 14-point lead.

Things looked to remain in favour of the Rocks in the third quarter as captain Jonny Bunyan, the 5’11 guard, put up impressive numbers. He scored ten points himself including two quick-fire three-pointers that left the defence no chance.

“I haven’t always been needed to score heavily in Rocks games so to lead the team in scoring in a great bounce-back win like that felt excellent,” Bunyan said.

The Rocks won the game 83-73 with a resilient effort against the Giants, who had beaten the Rocks by 38 points just two nights earlier.

The Giants rallied and went on a scoring barrage. The impressive run saw them close the lead to just two points.

Bunyan once again bent the defence to his will though and scored another quick three-pointer. This rallied the team, and on the back of Bunyan the Rocks held out until the final whistle was called. It was 83-73 to Glasgow.

The key to their success? “We managed to throw the first punch on Sunday, whereas Friday we didn’t throw any punches the whole game,” Bunyan said.

“We got dominated in every aspect [of the previous game] and couldn’t get any control of the game at all. So we had much better energy, better ball movement, and most importantly, we picked up our defence.”

Despite being outrebounded and having less steals than Manchester, it was the basics that allowed the Rocks to remain ahead. “A lot of things that don’t show up on the stat sheets end up being the main factors that get you those stats in the first place,” Bunyan said.

With one game each, the Rocks and Giants can settle the score when they play in the British Basketball League season opener next Sunday.