The Caledonia Gladiators played host to the Sheffield Sharks in the second game of an Easter Special Doubleheader at Playsport. The Gladiators would control the first half, but a strong Shark’s team would fight their way back and take the close game in enemy territory. The Caledonia Gladiators suffered a tough loss on Easter Sunday, but showed heart and fight throughout.
The Gladiators would put together an impressive first quarter in front of their home crowd. The Gladiators would shoot 4 for 7 from behind the three-point arc, with each of those three-pointers coming from a different Gladiator. The Gladiators would put up 8 unanswered points to start the game, looking like nothing could get in their way on their quest to victory. Within the first five minutes the Gladiators would put up 15-points and find themselves with an eleven-point lead. Despite a comeback attempt from the Sharks in the first quarter, the Gladiators would enter the second quarter of action up by 10-points, 25 -15.
The Sheffield Sharks would answer back in the second quarter at Playsport. The Gladiators would kick off the scoring with a three-pointer from forward, Toto Fagbenle, to take a 13-point lead, but the Sharks would answer back, cutting the lead back to single digits within the first two and a half minutes of the quarter. The Sharks would go on a 10 – 0 run to cut the Gladiators lead down to just 3-points within the first five minutes of the second quarter. The Gladiators refocused and increased their lead again towards the end of the second half, being up 8 with a minute left. The Sharks would put up 4-points and keep the Gladiators scoreless in the final minute of the first half, to cut the lead to just 4 points.
The score at the half was 41 – 37 to the Caledonia Gladiators.
After taking the first half lead, the Gladiators would find themselves losing their lead in the third quarter to the Sharks. The two teams would trade baskets for the first four minutes of the second half before Sheffield began to chip away at the Gladiators lead and took their first lead of the game with three minutes left in the third quarter. The two teams would battle hard for the remainder of the quarter, with the Gladiators forcing a tie twice in the final minutes, but ultimately the Sharks would come out on top at the end of the third quarter and would enter the final quarter of action at Playsport up by 2-points, 58 – 60.
There would be nothing between the two teams throughout the final quarter of action at Playsport this Easter Sunday. The Sheffield Sharks would take a seven-point lead with 5 minutes left of the quarter, but the Gladiators would show their fighting spirit to take the back to a single possession. The Gladiators would find themselves down by 1-point with 16 seconds left on the clock, despite a valiant effort by the team, the Gladiators would be unable to get the last single win, falling to the Sharks, 86 -89.
The final score was 86 – 89 to the Sheffield Sharks.
