MANCHESTER Giants improved their chances of reaching the BBL Play-offs and eliminated Plymouth Raiders with a 93-90 away win which owed much to a 20-0 second-half surge.

Jeff Jones’ men slowly found their rhythm and seized control behind a dominant run on Sunday.

The decisive sequence began in the third period and stretched well into the final 10 minutes.

Raiders responded, Pierre Hampton making his presence felt inside on his way to a game-high 31 points, and the visitors pulled within two points, but Giants, paced by 24 from Ingus Bankevics held on for a vital win.

The Giants moved level on points with eighth-placed Flyers in the final week of the season.

Stefan Gill scored 20 and Ben Eaves had 19 points and 11 rebounds.

The Giants had taken a blow the previous Friday as the second-placed Leicester Riders put on a hot shooting display to claim a 104-87 win at the Trafford Sportsdome.

They secured a sixth consecutive win behind 23 points from Neil Watson, who hit seven triples.

The Giants travel to Sheffield on Friday night and they host their final regular-season game at the Trafford Sportsdome on Sunday (6pm) when London Lions are in town for the game that could make or break their play-off dream.