For a second-straight Saturday, the Lancashire Spinners take aim at ending an opponent’s league-unbeaten run when it welcomes defending champions Manchester Magic to Castle Leisure Centre for a 5:45 p.m. tipoff.
The Spinners (2-8, 1-4 NBL1) fell 89-67 at Loughborough on Nov. 5 with Jack Hudson scoring a game-high 21 points on 6-for-15 shooting. It was the first-year guard’s third game with at least 20 points and matched a personal-best on the season.
Hudson leads four Spinners averaging in double figures scoring through five National League games with 15.8 points per contest on 42 percent shooting. He also ranks first on the team in assists (4.4) and third in rebounding (4.6).
Forward Connor Murtagh has been up and down over his last three outings in all competitions, but remains the team’s second offensive threat contributing 14.4 points per game. He was limited to just seven points in the loss to Loughborough after scoring a team-best in 2016-17 of 29 points in the National Cup defeat at Bradford.
David Ulph saw his two-game run of double-doubles end at Loughborough, but the power forward is still averaging 13.0 points per game on 49 percent shooting, which ranks second on the team, and 10.0 rebounds per game.
Saturday marks the seventh all-time meeting between Lancashire and Manchester and the second this season with the Magic having left Castle Leisure Centre as victors in the National Trophy on Sept. 24. The Spinners have lost four-straight to their opponents after claiming a win on the opening day of the 2015-16 season.
Manchester (10-0, 5-0) has not played a competitive game since beating Birmingham Elite by a point on Oct. 30 to advance in the National Cup, as it was awarded a forfeit-win for the scheduled league game against London last Saturday.
The Magic, who has won their first nine games of the season excluding the forfeit-win by a margin of 15.3, announced on Thursday the addition of American Duane Morgan. The forward averaged 9.9 points and 4.9 rebounds over a four-year career at Adelphi University (Long Island, New York).
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