BEN THOMAS has urged his Phoenix side to move on quickly from the defeats in their latest weekend double-header.

The Nix have been in fine form this term but came unstuck in an 86-81 reverse at London Lions in the Championship on Friday evening.

That result was compounded two nights later when visiting Worcester Wolves eliminated them from the BBL Trophy with a  a 97–90 quarter-final defeat.

Reflecting on the weekend, the Cheshire team's coach is adamant that the losses will not diminish the positive mood within the club.

“Of course it was a disappointing weekend for us and we didn’t get the results we’d targeted from either game,” said Thomas.

“But our performances in both games were generally very good and I felt we gave a good account of ourselves in both games.

“London are a side who’ve been challenging up near the top of the table and they’ve had a change of coach who’s doing good work there.

  “So we knew how good they were beforehand and what we’d come up against, and their quality eventually won them the match.

“We’d beaten them already this season and we knew they’d want to up their game and get a result, so  in the end we probably just came up a bit short.”

Sunday’s BBL trophy elimination proved to be another closely-fought affair, but the Nix were gradually pegged back by a quality Wolves outfit.

The talismanic CJ Gettys was once again the man in form for the Nix, weighing in with a superb 31-point haul  in the contest.

But it was not enough to steer Thomas’s Nix to another victory after the visitors established a 42-41 lead at the midway point.

Wolves forward Alejandro Navajas came to the fore, amassing 20 points in the contest overall as his side led by six heading into the final period.

A customary late comeback from the hosts never fully materialised as the Wolves overcame a sluggish start to the final 10 minutes to outscore the Nix 30-27 and advance to the semi-final.

“Worcester are another strong side and we knew they’d bring a lot of quality with them” added Thomas.

“The fact that we were without our captain Orlan (Jackman) through injury was a big blow for us but again I thought we were excellent.

“One or two decisions we felt could have gone in our favour didn’t; but we’re not making excuses.

“We won’t let this affect us. There’s still so much to play for this season and the most important thing for the players is that we learn from both games and move on.

“There were lots of positives to take from the weekend and we have to retain those elements for another tough league game against Newcastle on Sunday.”