Surrey Scorchers' hopes of a final four appearance in this season's BBL Trophy were dashed, as the Cheshire Phoenix strolled to a wire-to-wire 105-63 victory at Surrey Sports Park on Saturday evening.
In a game that was never close, Skylar White, Ethan Chargois and Cam Christon each helped themselves to 17 points each as the Phoenix booked their ticket to Birmingham with a game to spare.
After missing Thursday's loss to the Gladiators, Saiquan Jamison made a welcome return to Surrey's starting five. However, for the second game in a row, Surrey struggled to score in the early going. They missed three lay-ups and committed two turnovers in the first four and half minutes of play and quickly found themselves down 13-0.
In front of a near sell-out crowd the hosts responded. Justin Robinson found his shooting touch and Jamison added four points of his own as Surrey went on a 13-4 run to close the gap to 4 points. That would be the closes that the Scorchers would get all evening. At the end of the 1st quarter the Phoenix held a commanding 9 point advantage.
Luke Okosieme opened the second period with a highlight dunk, but Cheshire responded with a 13-1 run which effectively ended the game as a contest well before half time. Surrey were a step slow all match and struggled to contain the second most potent offence in the BBL, White in particular was causing particular damage with his size and devastating three-point shot.
After trading buckets for most of the third quarter, Cheshire pulled away again in the fourth, going up by as many as 44 points. Most of their starters sat out the closing stages, resting up before their home game against the Sheffield Sharks tomorrow.
Meanwhile Surrey will have 12 days to reflect on a disappointing evening and get ready to return to Champiosnhip action with a trip to Manchester on 1st February.
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