Cheshire have been a shock package deal this season, ending second within the league and profitable the BBL Trophy, beating London within the closing.
They have been nonetheless underdogs, however Phoenix boss Ben Thomas – the coach of the 12 months – was decided to make life uncomfortable for London once more and deployed a full-court press early on.
The aggressive strategy initially labored and the opening phases have been even.
Nevertheless, the favourites started to take management, main 24-14 on the finish of the primary quarter and 52-41 at half-time, with Dekker’s velocity and trickery inflicting Phoenix issues.
There was no respite for them instantly after the interval, with the fourth of a number of steals by Tarik Phillip serving to London lengthen their benefit to 59-41.
That prompted Thomas to name a timeout in solely the second minute of the third quarter in an try and stem the tide.
The reset had an impact, with Phoenix responding emphatically to Thomas’ pleas to “be aggressive”, lowering the deficit to only three factors, at 74-71, going into an electrifying closing quarter by which they levelled within the closing minute just for Dekker to win it for London in model.