Having ended the unbeaten start to the domestic season of the league’s EuroCup representatives London Lions on Friday night, Sharks were on course to add another notable scalp in the form of champions Leicester Riders back at Ponds Forge on Sunday.

Leading 35-20 midway through the second quarter, Atiba Lyons’ side were heading towards a fifth successive win having begun the season with four straight defeats.

But the Riders responded in champion fashion, draining a clutch of three-pointers as they fought back to within a point at the break before taking a lead they would not relinquish with 5.34 minutes left in the third quarter, eventually running out 86-72 winners.

Saeed Nelson of Sheffield Sharks attacks the Leicester Riders at Ponds Forge (Picture: Adam Bates)

Yet their own shooting prowess - particularly early on and less than 48 hours after that mentally-draining win over London in front of a full house at Ponds Forge - allied with their refusal to be cowed in the face of such accuracy from their opponents, suggests Sharks have consigned their slow start to the season to the history books.

Sheffield power forward Marcus Delpeche said: "It was a disappointment to start 0-4 but the first goal then was to get it back to .500, which we did with the win over London on Friday night.

"You saw today in the first half exactly what was working for us, and the third and fourth quarter we moved away from that, but there’s a lot of good positives for us.

"Against any team in the BBL you cannot press the brakes, especially a team like Leicester.

Marcus Delpeche scores from under the basket for Sheffield Sharks against Leicester Riders (Picture: Adam Bates).

"We’ve got a two-week break now to freshen up and work on some things.”

Sharks came out firing from the opening tip-off, charging into a 10-0 lead and holding that advantage steady at 24-15 by the end of the first quarter.

Kipper Nichols led the way in the paint while Jordan Ratinho continued his unerring accuracy from three-point range with two key baskets from behind the arc.

Sharks still held a 15-point lead midway through the second quarter before the Riders put in a champion response, pulling to within a point at the half-time interval off the back of a pair of threes from Patrick Whelan and Derryck Thornton’s work driving the basket. Sharks had been good value for their lead with significant contributions from Sa’aed Nelson, pictured, and Delpeche off the boards. But there was little they could do about Leicester’s barrage of points thereafter.

Channel Banks attempts a three-pointer against Leicester Riders (Picture: Adam Bates)

Nichols finished with 21 points, with Ratinho, Nelson and Bennett Koch contributing 10 apiece.

Away from the court, building work continues on the Sharks’ new arena at the Olympic Legacy Park which is due to open next September and will give Sheffield the freedom to set their own schedule; this being their sixth home games in four weeks and last for a month due to venue availability, a big ask of paying punters who still came in good number.

Sheffield Sharks unable to slow scoring of BBL champions Leicester Riders but corner has been turned