Manchester rookies win a nail-biter thriller against Keila Coolbet
- Māris Noviks
- Sep 30
- 2 min read
Manchester Basketball trailed by five points with less than four minutes left in regulation but turned the tables around to post a 84-80 home win against relentless Keila Coolbet on Tuesday, September 30, at the National Basketball Performance center in central England.
Players of the game
Rebounding, especially on the offensive end, played a major role in Manchester comeback.
None was better in it than Manchester captain Zak Irvin.
A former Michigan guard (2013-2017) grabbed 13 boards, including 10 on the offensive end.
He matched entire Keila Coolbet production in offensive rebounding.
Irvin added 16 points on 8/11 shooting from the floor.
Pjay Smith Junior recently started his professional career in Manchester and led the team in scoring.
Furman University point guard had 21 points, three assists, two steals and zero turnovers.
Another rookie Max Jones checked out with 17 points.
A Clearwater, Florida native played at his hometown Tampa University (2020-2022), followed by time in Fullerton, California (2022-2024) and Kansas State (2024-2025).
Patrik Saal and Kadarius Johnson (George Mason) led Keila Coolbet with 20 and 17 points respectively.
Key stats
Manchester Basketball technically lost the battle of rebounds, 45-46, but dominated in offensive rebounds, 21-10, and scored more second chance points, 19-7.
The hosts had eight boards in offense during the final 10 minutes, compared to three for Keila.
Manchester trailed by five points, 73-78, with 3.46 to go.
Keila had a chance to increase its lead up to eight points but Kedrian Johnson missed a three pointer.
Manchester finished the game on a 11-2 run, taking a 79-78 lead after second chance points by Matthew Nicholson (Northwestern University 2025).
Game notes
Manchester Basketball improved to 1-0, while Keila Coolbet dropped to 0-1.
Tuesday marked the first ever official European game for Manchester Basketball.
A team, coached by Matthew Otten, traveled to preseason tournaments in Belgium and Switzerland.
Matthew Otten, the USA and the Netherlands citizen, played for Cheshire Phoenix, Donar Groningen and Mersey Tigers.
Otten was also a coach at Donar Groningen for a bit more than one season and won the 2022 Dutch Cup.
ENBL access: follow the game on YouTube
2025-2026 ENBL format and pools
2025 ENBL classification
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