Ben Thomas’ side lost out 107-91 in their meeting with Surrey 89ers, who recorded their first away triumph of the campaign.

Fifteen points from Jaylen Searles led the scoring stakes for the Nix, with Jordan Hinds (14) and Ryker Cisarik (13) also looking to make their mark.

Cheshire trailed by just a point at the midway mark, but 20 points by Addison Patterson kept Surrey in the clear.

Surrey enjoyed a fast start to the encounter, with two three-pointers from Caleb McGill playing their part in an 11–2 first quarter run that helped the 89ers to lead 32-22 at the first break.

Faced with an immediate deficit, Cheshire chiselled away at this during the second quarter.

A terrific 12-0 run saw Nix haul themselves level at one point, while Surrey reached half time holding a slender 58-57 advantage.

That’s as good as it got for the home side, though, as the 89ers managed to pull clear once again in the third quarter.

Five points from Jalen Graham were a prominent feature in his side’s 10-1 burst to stretch out their advantage and a three-pointer from Tayo Ogedengbe took Surrey’s lead out to 13 points.

Back came Phoenix, however, and they trailed by four points at the next break.

It was anybody’s game with some five-and-a-half minutes left to play, with Surrey holding an 88-87 advantage.

Patterson came to the fore at this point and he claimed 15 of his side’s closing 19 points in the final five minutes to make sure of the triumph.

Also making their mark for the 89ers were Erik Reynolds II (18) and Graham (17).

Meanwhile, Phoenix duo Jo’el Emanuel and Rory Stewart bagged 11 points apiece, with 10 points going the way of Isiah Gray.

With two wins from their opening six matches of the season, Cheshire find themselves in the bottom-two.