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Archive for October, 2009
October 30, 2009 at 7:55 am · Filed under Brits Abroad
By Dave Ryan
With the nonsense they call pre-season out of the way, Luol Deng stepped up to lead Chicago Bulls to a 95-88 home victory against San Antonio Spurs.
Against a Spurs side who had looked at their efficient best while hammering New Orleans Hornets the night before, Bulls jumped out to an 8-2 lead as Joakim Noah scored twice inside. Despite that, Spurs led after one quarter, and had a 46-44 lead near the end of the second quarter when the Bulls put on a show to take a lead going into the locker room. Following a timeout with 23.4 seconds left, the ball went out to John Salmons in the left corner. His shot was off the mark but Deng came up with an offensive rebound, fought to retain possession, fed the ball out to Kirk Hinrich at the top of the arc to drain a trey. The third period belonged to the Bulls, and they never looked back as they opened the season with a victory.
Deng finished one board shy of a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds, adding two assists and a steal in 38 minutes as six Bulls finished in double figures, with Brad Miller adding nine points.
Bulls now move on to Boston on Saturday and Miami on Monday.
In comparison, Deng’s Great Britain team-mate Pops Mensah-Bonsu had a quiet start to the regular season. The Londoner finished with one point and a steal in four minutes of action as Houston Rockets’ late comeback against Portland Trailblazers ended with a disappointing 96-87 away loss.
Those four minutes of playing time evaporated the following night as Pops was left riding the pine in a 108-107 win at Golden State Warriors, which was built on a 35-19 third period. Rockets’ home opener sees them face the Trailblazers on Saturday before visiting Utah Jazz on next Monday.
There was better news for the man who may one day partner Deng and Mensah-Bonsu in the GB team, Ben Gordon. His Detroit Pistons team travelled to Memphis Grizzlies for their opening game, and returned with a 96-74 victory.
Gordon was his team’s second highest scorer with 22 points, including four three-pointers, in 26 minutes of action off the bench. If there was any doubts as to whether or not Gordon and Rip Hamilton could play together, those fears were quickly dispelled in the second quarter. With Detroit taking a 24-20 lead into the second period, Gordon and Hamilton combined to score 21 of the team’s 29 points in the period to build a 12 half-time lead.
“I think if you look at Rip and myself, we’re guys who a lot of offence comes off catch-and-shoot stuff,” Gordon told NBA.com.”We don’t really need to have the basketball in our hands to be effective.”
Pistons return to action tonight (Friday) with a home game against Oklahoma City Thunder before travelling to Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday.
October 30, 2009 at 7:55 am · Filed under Blogs
By Jeff King
In my last blog I was on my way to Guildford to watch The Eagles before returning home to see Everton come to Toon. Since then I’ve been to Sheffield, Ellesmere Port (more of that later) and back to The Eagles Nest again as The Pirates came plundering!!!
Perhaps I should see if I can somehow get sponsored for Road Miles rather than Air Miles as this weekend it’s Plymouth and our longest, but thankfully the only time we have to do it this season, trip of the campaign.
So, I probably should have left this blog until the long, long journey but then I thought if I did one today I might be able to get another one or two in over the weekend on different subjects. We’ll see how we go!!!
In my last blog I said I thought I’d already seen the Champions? Bearing in mind since that time the only new teams I’ve seen are The Heat and The Pirates and I haven’t changed my mind yet. I’ve now seen Everton twice and Sheffield again and both look strong contenders. Yes, I know Everton have lost twice in that time and only beat Worcester by a point but they’ll come good.
Steven Rush has only just arrived and trying to settle and then they lost JJ! They still have room and presumably money for another import so you write them off at their peril though they have already lost four!
Sheffield gave us a great game and will definitely be there or thereabouts. Mike Cook is some player and if you haven’t seen him yet then you are in for a treat. As an individual he’s electric and takes some stopping. My only worry for Sharks is that it has to be more about the team. Having said that Matt Gorman is still not fully fit and Ryan Patton was unwell against us so perhaps Cookie Boy felt he had to try and do more?
We have Sharks in a quick return game next weekend and that could be a pivotal game even this early in the season. If we were to beat them then……………!!!
Guildford surprised me but not half as much as they surprised Fab and the Guys!!! Where we a touch over confident/arrogant? I don’t think so and even if we were by half-time it should have been sorted out. What did surprise me was the level of intensity and hustle The Heat put in and the way they all played for each other.
There were a few sniggers around the L when Chad was appointed Head Coach but after what I saw he’s certainly got them fired up and they all want to play for him. Chad’s own performances also seem to have improved and he’s putting up some great numbers. Is he going to make the transition? Well he’s made a great start.
The Heat also had a great result against Everton coming from behind to beat The Tigers. There’s no doubting they are going to be tough at The Spectrum, it may be on the road where they are going to struggle? That said I have to give big ups to them so far.
Mike Martin is playing at an even higher level, JJ is providing good support and Kenny Langhorne seems to be playing solid ball but the surprise for me was Aaron “LA” Drakeford who put in a Hollywood-style performance against The Eagles. Looking at his numbers prior to the game it didn’t seem he would cause that many problems but he did and he’s another guard to watch out for.
The other team that is getting a lot of plaudits at the moment are The Lions. I haven’t seen them but a few Toon fans have. They think that they are a solid outfit that will win more than they lose. Their key seems to be how Frank Holmes and Dawud Morris progress. If they pick up then the Lions will be roaring.
Cheshire have had a couple of good wins recently too beating Everton and then winning in Glasgow. They will be tough all season but not sure if they have quite enough. Rocks meanwhile are looking seriously short of at least one more player and need more inside presence and quickly.
I enjoyed watching the Pirates. I thought their attitude and commitment was first class and if Alan Metcalfe hadn’t got in to foul trouble they might have run us closer. Mind you I did think we were coasting at times and always had enough in our locker to cope with whatever Essex threw at us.
Spoke briefly with Tim Lewis after the game and complimented him on the way they are trying to do things. Long term they may well give the L some real talent and British talent at that!!! But, the one to watch out for is Pablo Rodrigo who has a great engine and ran the floor really well showing great enthusiasm at both ends. When he consider he was “Bronze/Regional” level in Spain it might just show how far we still have to go?
The most intriguing rumour/story that I heard over the last fortnight was concerning Trey Moore. At one point I’d heard he was going in to Leicester to replace Tack Minor whose chemistry was not quite right. I also heard that Everton despite having Rush and Bell might just have a punt on him and Trey was keen. And then I heard Cheshire had offered him a deal which meant someone might have been on the way?
Like I said these were all unsubstantiated rumours although when I mentioned it to one or two very independently of each other there did seem to be some smoke in there as all seemed to have heard the rumours.
Of course then Tack went ballistic against Thunder and that surely puts that story to bed? I did ask Trey and told him I wouldn’t use what he told me so I’m not going to tell you what he replied with other than to say he’s working out hard and the next thing definitely on his agenda is a trip to China with a touring team commencing the 10th November.
Would be a real disappointment to all concerned if he didn’t land a decent job somewhere?
Ok, Ellesmere Port next then where Luke made his seasonal bow with The Eagles Under-16’s who were soundly thrashed by a very good Cheshire Jets under-16’s side 74 – 33. Looks like life in the Premier League is going to be tough for the young Eagles? Star of the show for Jets was Jordan “son of Paul” Smith and the Jets supremo looked on proudly as his son displayed his skills.
Mike Burton was also there and it was good to have a chat with both and to see them supporting the junior Jets with their presence. Both were very not intrusive and allowed the boys and coach to get on with things but it has to be good for their organisation to have experience and knowledge like that around.
I’ve already mentioned that I’m off to Plymouth this weekend and that worries me. We’ve always found it hard to play and win down there but looking at Raiders start and results it looks as if this should be a win. But then we thought that about Guildford and look what happened!!! Plus you just know that Raiders will get off the mark sooner than later!!!
Their main dangers look to be Matt Hilleary, Florentino Valencia and Eric Flato all rookies to the L and all who I’m looking forward to seeing. Also Ally Gall is bombing them in from all over so we need to be aware of his outside shooting and presence too. Looking forward to the trip to The Pavilions as I always think it’s a great match night experience and the people down there are good. Especially looking forward to talking with Gary and getting his early opinions on the L.
No doubt I’ll bring a bit of that to you at some stage.
What else? Well, BBL wise not a lot. But I am pretty excited at the moment about the forthcoming NCAA season. I have acquired the Sporting News and Athlon Sports College Basketball previews for 2009/10 and fabulous reading they make too.
Early season predictions seem to make Kansas the nation’s darling with big shout outs to Kentucky, North Carolina, Michigan State and Texas too. Purdue, Villanova and my dark horses West Virginia are also attracting early season attention. I’ll be with the Blue Devils of Duke once again and looking to see how Coach K addresses his supposed back court problems.
I’ve made contact with a great guy out in the States and he’s college ball nuts as well as very well informed on that scene. I’ve invited him to write a blog or two for the site and have asked him to keep an eye on the Brits in college. Not sure yet if he will but it would be an interesting angle for the site.
Oh yes and the NBA has started this week and already my beloved Celtics are 2 – 0 with one of those an opening night win at Cleveland where team ethics prevailed over individual brilliance. If the C’s keep The Vet’s fit then it could be glory days in Beantown once again.
And, yes, I did see Loul drop 17 on the San Antonio Spurs last night as well. Great to see him back and firing!!!
That’s it I’m Oota here but will return!!!
October 27, 2009 at 5:09 am · Filed under Brits Abroad
Breaking news, GB captain Andrew Sullivan has signed for Apollon in the Cypriot league. After months & months of uncertainty he has now finally penned a deal.Sulli will now go head to head against our other GB international, Jarrett Hart in the coming months.
Good luck Drew!
October 27, 2009 at 4:39 am · Filed under Brits Abroad
By Dave Ryan
The final week of the NBA pre-season is the calm before storm, with only a limited number of games played.
Luol Deng and the Chicago Bulls wrapped up their exhibition schedule with a comfortable 93-70 win against Washington Wizards. After trailing by three at the first break, Bulls took a 41-39 lead into the locker room before dominating the second half. It wasn’t the greatest of shooting nights for Deng, finishing with eight points off three from 11 field goals, and he added five rebounds in 27 minutes of action.
Deng finished pre-season averaging 10.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game in an average of 27.3 minutes. Not bad for a comeback after a long injury, but the 38 percent field goal will cause concern for a player who’s averaged 47.5 percent during his five year career.
Chicago open their season at home to San Antonio Spurs on Thursday before visiting Boston Celtics on Friday and Miami Heat on Sunday.
With a one-year contract sealed, Nana Papa Yaw Dwene Mensah-Bonsu, or Pops as we tedn to call him, had a quiet as Houston Rockets completed their pre-season programme with a 98-94 home loss against Dallas Mavericks. He finished with eight points, five board and two blocks in 21 minutes of action against his former club.
Pops told the Telegraph that he’s looking forward to the new season and is grateful to Rockets for giving him another shot at the NBA: “I’m determined to repay that trust,” he said. “This is a big season for me and I want to take my chance. The Houston game definitely suits my game – lots of aggressive defence and then hitting the opposition on the break. A high tempo, athletic game, I think I can contribute to that.”
Rockets have an early start to the new season, visiting Portland Trailblazers on Tuesday before moving on to Golden State the following night. Their home opener sees them face the Trailblazers on Saturday before visiting Utah Jazz on next Monday.
Meanwhile, Ben Gordon finished the pre-season by grabbing double digit scores in both of Detroit Pistons’ final two games. He scored 11 points in 31 minutes of the 122-114 home loss against Minnesota Timberwolves before draining all three of his shots from the Land of Plenty as he wracked up 19 points in 37 minutes to help the Pistons win a thriller 95-93 at Milwaukee.
Gordon finished the warm-ups averaging 14.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 30 minutes per game for the Pistons. Detroit open their season in Memphis on Wednesday before hosting Oklahoma City on Friday and travelling to Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday.
Mr Deng
October 25, 2009 at 4:09 pm · Filed under Brits Abroad
Nate Reinking
By Chris Scruton
Kieran Achara – Angelico (Italy Serie A)
His team got a good road win tonight 87-78 v Cimberio. Kieran only got 6 minutes of court time, but did manage 3 blocks! However he didn’t score & only had 1 rebound. More to come next week from him hopefully.
Robert Archibald – Malaga (Spain ACB)
After making a surprise comeback from injury last week, Robert made a good contribution in Malaga’s first win of the season on Thursday night v Partizan in Euroleague.
Tonight Malaga faced Lagun Aro, but once again failed dismally! Archibald did well in the 14 minutes of court time he had. Rob had 8 points off 4-5 shooting & 5 boards, however he did foul out too, & another defeat leaves Malaga, unbelievably rock bottom after 4 games played. Their nightmare start to the season continues!
Andrew Betts – Aris (Greek Div A)
The first game of the Greek league & Aris missed out on a tight afair. Going down 85-78 Betts had a relatively quiet game. He finished on 6 points, & 3 bords in 26 minutes, so will be quite disappointed in that. The first game was always going to be tough against the powerhouse Olympiakos, but it does show Aris have got fighting qualities & they hope to break the monopoly of Olympiakos & Panathanaikos this season.
Flinder Boyd – unattached
See last weeks column. Such ashame!
Dan Clarke – Estudiantes (Spain ACB)
Another big defeat for Clarke & his team mates. This time going down 84-63 to Cajasol. Clarke finished on 2 points & 1 steal in 9 minutes of action. Nothing to write home about this week, but Clarke & Estudiantes will be hoping to get some form soon. They currently stand near the bottom on a 0-3 record.
Joel Freeland – Malaga (Spain ACB)
After almost single handedly destroying Partizan on Thursday night with a great second half comeback, Joel’s struggling team Malaga fell once again in the ACB. Joel had another steady game, 10 points, 4 boards, & 2 steals. This didn’t help is team enough & they slumped to a 4th straight defeat. Will the coach get the chop? Who know’s, but as GB fan I’m more concerned with hoW Freeland is playing, and so far so good for the young Brit.
Nick George – Fast Web (Italy Lega 2)
A big defeat this week for Nick’s team, but he did have a good game. Going down 82-64 to Umana, nick finished on 12 points off 5-9 shooting & 4 boards in 23 minutes off action. His effort was in vain though & Fast Web stand 9th in the table after 4 games, 2-2.
Jarrett Hart – Keravnos (Cyprus)
News to follow shortly……
Mike Lenzly – Nymburk (Czech Republic)
Another massive win for high flying Nymburk. They trounced BasketbOL Brno 91-49! Lenzly had a decent game finishing on 12 points off 4-5 shooting, 5 rebounds & 3 steals in 27 minutes. All rosy For Mike & his team who sit pretty at the top of the league on perfect 6-0 record.
Nate Reinking – Mons (Belgium)
Nate finally got going this week after a good performance mid week in the big Eurocup win agaibst Valencia. Nate was back to league action on Saturday against Leuven, & although he had a very good game finishing on 16 points, it wasn’t enough to stop Mons recording another loss. Mons lie second from bottom with a 1-3 record.
Andrew Sullivan – unattached
Again see Flinder Boyd.
October 23, 2009 at 1:47 am · Filed under Brits Abroad, European Basketball
foto - efe
Great Britain center Joel Freeland was the savour for Unicaja on his EuroLeague debut as he fired a game high 19 points to dig Malaga out of a hole. Having lost every one of their domestic games so far and trailing by double digits at Partizan Belgrade things looked bleak but Freeland was the catalyst for a terrific fight back as the Malaga club turned the game around to pick up a 72-64 success. Robert Archibald was also influential defensively with some nice work and the pair were given rave reviews at the ACB site while it was nice to see Freeland as poster boy on the official EuroLeague.net site on the morning after the first Round of 2009-10 regular season action!
October 21, 2009 at 8:29 am · Filed under EBL
By Dave Ryan
There’s good ways to start the season, and there’s bad ways. There’s also really bad ways to start the season and really, really bad ways. Then there’s how Wenllingborough started life in the EBL Women’s Division One.
The Horthamptonshire team were hammered 119-9 at champions City of Sheffield Hatters for what must go down as the ultimate baptism of fire.
Led by Helen Naylor on 19 points , Hatters never looked back after a 22-4 first period, and limited the visitors to just two points in the middle two periods combined – leading 59-4 at half-time and 87-6 at the final break. A 32-3 final period wrapped up the treble digit victory. Lisa Hutchinson and Oaddams each added 18 for Hatters, while Eerikinharju led Phoenix with four.
Phoenix went into the game after a summer filled with problems. Following last seasons successes in Division Two, having developed a powerful squad that was expected to be a competitive Division One outfit. However the entire squad has had to be rebuilt due to a unprecedented series of injuries, illnesses, losing players to university and some extreme personal issues meant that the side that took the floor on Saturday had no national league experience at Division Two level let alone higher than that.
The game was reflective of that, as the Phoenix squad had to grow up quickly against last season’s treble winners. It was apparent after the first few minutes that the game was a miss match and from the neutral’s point of view ceased to become a spectacle by the end of the first quarter.
Coach Barry Powell was philosophical afterwards “we didn’t expect any favours and didn’t ask for any. The fixture computer was not kind giving us this game first up, but considering the inexperience of the squad I am very proud of the effort the girls showed tonight. We can and will improve every time we step onto the floor this year, and this was a harsh lesson as to the realities of what’s in front of us. We are on a very steep learning curve with this team, some of whom we only met for the first time last week!”
Assistant Coach Pete Burgoine expanded on the summers problems “it was the longest summer I have experienced in over 20 years of being involved in basketball, five season-long knee injuries of players who could all potentially start at this level along with the other situations that arose decimated our plans, we have hunted high and low for players to be able to come in and contribute at this level, and on more than one occasion considered pulling out. But we took the decision to compete this season, and I am confident that with coach Powell at the front, we will significantly improve as the season goes on.”
Last season’s women’s Division One runners-up UWIC Archers made a good start to the new season with a hammering on London Mets in the capital.
Led by 22 points from Kate Butters and 18 from former Met Mia Spasowska, the visitors were in dominant form as they built on a 22-11 first period to lead 47-23 at half-time. They continued to score two baskets from each of Mets’ one, leading 71-35 at the final break before outscoring the home side 19-7 in the fourth period. Leah Dehaan added 15 for Archers, with Marinova (14) and Taal (13) led the home side..
Archers coach Damian Jennings was a happy man after the game: “For the first game of the season I am pleased with the way we competed. We have extremely high ambitions this year so we were in no way satisfied with our transition defence nor our off the ball second rotation, but we executed offence in the half court well – we just need to push the ball more quickly.”
Jennings is pleased with the strength in depth his club have: “It was great to get all 12 of the roster on the floor, each with solid minutes. The 15 player Division One group I have means that competition for selection has been very good and I have no intention of just putting people in a roster to warm the bench, so the internal competition has been healthy and those selected deserved their spots and all contributed well at different times.”
October 20, 2009 at 12:25 pm · Filed under Brits Abroad, GB basketball (General)
By Dave Ryan
I must admit that I wonder about the NBA and its pre-season schedule. Clearly the coaches don’t want as many games as they are lumbered with, and because they end up fielding sub-standard teams, the crowds can be poor. Less can sometimes be better than more. Anyway, two days after winning by five at Minnesota Timberwolves, Luol Deng and the Chicago Bulls hosted the same team for another pre-season game. A good first period in which they outscored the visitors 20-13 laid the foundations for another tight win, 94-90. Deng’s offensive woes continued, however, going just two of seven from the field on his way to a six point haul. On the positive side, he did pull down eight boards and dish out a couple of assists as well as blocking one shot in a (pre)season high 32 minutes of action.
Bulls’ three game winning run came to an end when they went down 101-98 against an Orlando Magic team who have won all six of their pre-season games. On the positive side for Deng, he saw him minutes grow to 36:43 and he hit five of his 12 shots on the way to a 10 point, seven rebound night in a game where he was hit by foul trouble. Chicago wrap up pre-season at home to Washington on Friday before the regular season starts the following Thursday with a home game against San Antonio Spurs.
The day after pouring in 17 points against Toronto, Pops Mensah-Bonsu had a much quieter night offensively in Houston Rockets’ 119-104 defeat at Indiana Pacers. He finished with only four points, converting two of his eight field goal attempts, in 21 minutes off the bench. On the positive side, he continues to provide a defensive spark, finishing with nine rebounds and four blocks as he chases the holy grail of a guaranteed contract.
Things were definitely better for the Rockets and Pops on Monday night as a strong second half saw them outscore the Oklahoma City Thunder 52-33 on their way to a 105-85 victory. The Londoner finished with 13 points off 5/6 field shooting in just over 16 minutes of action, and added four rebounds. Pops faces his old team, Dallas Mavericks in Rockets’ final pre-season game on Friday before they open the season with a trip to Portland Trailblazers next Tuesday. Maybe by then NBA.com will have a picture of him in a Rockets’ uniform !
Ben Gordon continues to settle into life at Detroit but things are going quite to plan at Pistons as they saw their winless streak extended to three with a 115-94 loss at Memphis Grizzlies. Despite struggling with foul trouble, Gordon finished with 13 points off five from 11 floor shooting and added four boards, three assists and two steals in 32 minutes of action. After a five day break, Pistons complete pre-season with a home game against Minnesota on Thursday before travelling two Milwaukee the following night.
October 20, 2009 at 4:45 am · Filed under British Basketball League (BBL)
Guildford Heat took the bragging rights in the fourth weekend of BBL action as they inflicted Newcastle Eagles’ first defeat of the season. In a pulsating 102-98 overtime win at Guildford Spectrum on Saturday. ‘LA’ Aaron Drakeford was the man for the Heat, jointly leading their scorers with Mike Martin, as they had 23 points each, whilst Julius Joseph and player-coach Chad McKnight had 17 apiece. After being on a team that beat Newcastle for the first time in four years, McKnight said:
‘”It was a great game. Newcastle Eagles are always a tough team to play and it was hard fought by both sides, but we stuck it through to the end. We’ve let a couple of games slip recently in the fourth quarter so to grind it out and get the win is pleasing. It is the first time in four years that I have beaten Newcastle and to do it for the first time as a coach is particularly satisfying.”
A busy night of BBL action did not stop there, as the Sheffield Sharks snatched a 93-92 win over the Worthing Thunder in the first round of the cup, to set up a second round tie against the Everton Tigers in the steel city. They are also now clear at the top of the BBL Championship, as both of their nearest rivals in the league both lost on Saturday. The Tigers came out the wrong side of a cross-town rivalry game at the Cheshire Jets, losing 101-92, thanks to a big third quarter from the home side, and the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders were crushed 89-67 at home by the Marshall MK Lions.
Meanwhile in Cup action on Saturday evening, the Worcester Wolves and the Airwaves Plymouth Raiders will join Sheffield in the second round as they both scraped through their games, as the Wolves beat the Essex Pirates 71-78, meaning they now face the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders in the quarter finals, and the Raiders saw off PAWS London Capital 85-80.
Friday night saw the Guildford Heat lose 79-75 to the Marshall MK Lions in the Cup, meaning that the Lions now face the Raiders in the quarter final, thanks to Skipper Dru Spinks nailing two free throws. Back to the BBL Championship, and the Sharks ran away 85- 75 winners at home to the Glasgow Rocks, thanks to an outstanding performance from Mike Cook (22 points).
The Eagles notched another win against last season’s title rivals, the Everton Tigers, beating the Merseyside outfit 98-81 at the Metro Radio Arena. The outstanding performer for the Eagles was British forward Darius Defoe, who led all scorers with 26 points personal.
To conclude a weekend of surprising results, two of the teams nearer the bottom of the BBL Championship had victories, as PAWS London Capital scored their first win of the season, heaping misery on the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders, beating them 85-82, and the Essex Pirates recorded their first road win in the BBL, with an 82-88 victory over the Worthing Thunder.
October 20, 2009 at 4:24 am · Filed under EBL
By Dave Ryan
The National Cup second round threw up plenty of surprises, with two Division One and two Division Two sides going out against lower league opposition. Leeds Carnegie defeated Division One opposition on their way to the semi-finals last season, but after promotion to Division One during the close season, they found the boot was on the other foot over on Sunday as they lost to Division Two newcomers Durham Wildcats, 77-68. Leeds Carnegie went down 77-68 at Durham Wildcats while Team Northumbria won a tight game 56-53 against Tees Valley Mohawks.
The Wildcats showed no signs of being overawed by the status and reputation of their guests as they made a storming start to the game. Two three-pointers in as many minutes from captain Mark Elderkin put the home side 6-4 ahead, and their impressive defence helped set up runs of nine and eight unanswered points as they roared into a 13 point lead.Durham still led by 12 at the first break, but Leeds fought their way back into the game and went into the locker room at half-time leading 33-32. The game continued to be nip and tuck, and a three from Tolis Apostolidis ensured that the Wildcats took a 52-49 lead into the last quarter.
That lead was cut to one going into the final five minutes, and the closing stages were gritty rather than pretty, but the division two side more than matched their visitors’ determination as they edged 72-67 ahead going into the final minute. The game now rested on who could retain their composure in the clutch, and the Wildcats were magnificent. Leeds, chasing the game, were forced to foul to stop the clock resulting in free-throws for Durham. Despite woeful shooting from the line, which brought just three points from eight attempts, the hosts’ determination was such that they either rebounded the ball or stole it from their opponents, and at 75-67 the game was out of the visitors’ reach.
Leeds did manage 1 of 2 from the line in the dying seconds, but once again the Wildcats rebounded the missed shot, and the impressive Scott Morton iced the victory from the stripe as he took his tally for the second half to 19 points. Morton led all scorers with 22 points, with Paul Elderkin contributing 17 and Mark adding 13. Zoltan Supola led the visitors with 17 (15 of them in the second half).
Meanwhile, in Newcastle, Northumbria started well, rushing into a 15-6 lead at the midway stage of the opening period, and going into the first break 18-12 ahead. However, Mohawks started the second period strongly, and a Thomas free-throw levelled the score at 22 as the visitors scored ten of the first 14 points. A Lee McLaughlin free-throw gave Tees Valley their first lead of the game with 1:32 of the half remaining, before Chris Pearce sent Northumbria into the locker room with a 28-27 lead following a basket 24 seconds before the buzzer.
Nils Steuber opened the second half scoring for Northumbria, and they never trailed in the third period before a Toby Hutton shot made it 44-36 going into the final break. Liam O’Mahoney made it a ten-point game with a basket after 71 seconds, but a 9-2 run from the visitors made it 50-49 heading into the final four minutes.
A Tony Doyley basket put the visitors 53-50 up at the 2:39 mark, but Dylan Gomez put Northumbria ahead going into the final two minutes and despite O’Mahoney missing a pair from the line, Steuber gave his side some breathing space with the final points of the game. Doyley had a three point effort rim out with two seconds remaining, and Greg Modzelewski’s team were left to celebrate victory against their local rivals. Steuber led Northumbria with 16 points and 17 rebounds, while Pearch hit 14 points off his 15 shots. Gomez narrowly missed a double-double, finishing with nine points off 12 shots and ten boards. Ike Attah again led Mohawks with 16 points and 14 boards, while Doyley and Brian McCotter each added ten points.
Westminster Warriors, who lost out in a triple overtime thriller against Leopards last season, saw their hopes of a rematch with the Big Cats ended by a surprise 50-45 home loss against London Westside. The visitors started well, going into the first break with a 16-9 lead, but were pegged back in the second period and only led 27-26 at half-time. A low-scoring third period saw Westside edge ahead 36-33, and they added two to that lead in the final quarter to send last year’s semi-finalists out of the competition. €€€€American centre Jonathon Haymen led all scorers with 19 points for Westside, with Fournier adding 17. Ogidan was the only Warrior in double figures with 15, while Bulambwe added nine.
The other giantkilling came in Wales as third division Stockport Falcons knocked out Division Two club Glyndwr Nets 69-64 on their own court.
Falcons started well, and led 17-15 at the first break only to see the Welsh side fight back to go into the locker room 33-25 ahead. The lead swung back to Stockport in the third period as they reached the final break 48-45 ahead, and a 21-19 fourth period completed the surprise result. Royle led all scorers with 31 points for the Falcons, while Young and Sim Mutch each scored eight. Casanove’s 20 points for Nets proved to be in vain, with Alan Duppa adding 14 and Tahraoui 12.
There were no such problems for the other lower division side to reach the semi-finals last season as Brixton Topcats hosted Southgate Academical Lions, and the EBL newcomers were given a basketball lesson as they were hammered 147-36. Led by 28 points from Adorian, the home side rushed into a 27-4 first period lead and effectively wrapped up the game with a 32-2 second quarter. Topcats went into the final break 105-23 up as the Lions did at least manage to get their offence going, before a 42-13 fourth period wrapped things up. Lewis added 19 for Brixton, while Johnforth was the only Lion in double figures with ten.
Elsewhere, there were double digit wins for London pair Leopards and Mets along with Sheffield Arrows, while Manchester and Taunton made easy progress to the last 16 with 50+ point wins.
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