gbbasketball.net
For British Basketball Junkies (by basketmedia365.com)
Archive for March 2, 2010
March 2, 2010 at 11:55 am · Filed under EBL
By Dave Ryan
The new order in the EBL came out on top when England Basketball staged the National Trophy and Patron’s Cup finals at Crystal Palace, on Sunday
Durham Wildcats won the Division Two Patron’s Cup with a 96-70 hammering of Westminster Warriors, while London Mets marked their first season in the top flight with an 80-73 victory against Manchester Magic to lift the Trophy.
It was the fifth straight final loss for 2008 treble winners Magic, but looking at the tables for the top two divisions, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that the new-boys came out on top. Two of the top three in Division One – Leeds Carnegie and Leicester Warriors – were promoted last season, and Mets look near certainties to join them in the play-offs having already become the first team this century to win a top division title in the season after getting promoted.
The new-boys are even more prominent in Division Two, with all of the top five having been promoted last season, with last season northern winners – Wildcats – and southern champions – Brixton Topcapts – looking likely to take the top two spots.
It’s noticeable that Leeds, Durham (above) and Brixton all have strong links with universities, and it’s clearly the way to go – though not always to do as it sounds !
Anyway, back to the action at Palace, Wildcats’ American Scott Morton gained MVP honours with his 29 points and seven rebounds helped Dave Elderkin’s team to a comfortable victory. Morton’s basket 30 seconds into the game gave Durham a lead they never lost as their defence held the Warriors’ players to 30% field goal shooting, with only Jon Johnson getting into double figures for Warriors, with ten points.
The Trophy final saw Mets restore London’s pride, as Spaniard Arturo Noha (below, left, with Dave Ajumboi) collected the the MVP award with his 21 point, 10 rebound double-double.
Brandon Kimbrough returned for the Magic after missing three months with a knee injury, but he clearly struggled, and it was left to English guard Stefan Gill to keep his side in the game with 31 points, 21 of which came from downtown.
A trey on the half-time buzzer from Mets’ coach Solomon Ayinla sent his team into the locker room 43-33 ahead, and the closest Magic came in the rest of the game was when Gill hit from outside to make it 57-56
Jeff Danchie had 17 points and 7 boards for the Mets while Courtney Van Beest had 13 and 6. Tin-Tin Watts(pictured) had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Manchester..
Pictures courtesy and copyright of Tony Fowles/essexsportsagency.com
March 2, 2010 at 11:10 am · Filed under Brits Abroad
By Dave Ryan
Iowa Energy’s push for the best record in the NBA Development League took a knock over the weekend as they went down to a pair of home losses against Sioux Falls.
Nick Nurse’s team struggled in the opening period, trailing 20-11 at the first break and although they recovered in second period, they still trailed 50-37 going into the locker room.
They slowly dragged themselves back into the game, but despite outscoring the Skyforce 27-25 in the third period and 39-35 in the fourth, they had left themselves too much to do. An Earl Barron trey with 56 seconds on the clock made it a three point game, but Williams wrapped it up from the line.
Barron led the Energy with 26 points and 12 boards, with Curtis Stinson adding 22 points and Othyus Jeffers finishing with a 17 point, 13 rebound double-double.
In the second game, an even first half saw neither side ahead by more than six points. An 18-5 Energy run across the third period break looked to have put them in charge as they led 95-82 with 10:32 remaining.
However, Falls back-up guard Leemire Goldwire took control at that stage, and went on to pour in 27 points in the final period. He drained six from the Land of Plenty as he scored as many points as the entire Energy team in the fourth period to give his team a shock double.
The Energy were led by Barron’s 28 point, 12 rebound night while Curtis Stinson added 16 points and 18 rebounds.
Despite now being on a three-game losing streak, Energy are still 6.5 games clear at the top of the Eastern Conference, and visit strugglers Erie on Friday and Saturday.
March 2, 2010 at 6:44 am · Filed under Brits Abroad
By Dave Ryan
Two wins in the space of three days kept Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the hunt for the NBA D-League Western Conference title.
Chris Finch’s team hosted Springfield Armor on Friday evening, and it took overtime before they wrapped up a 136-128 victory.
Will Conroy collected his third double-double in four games, finishing with a season-high 31 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists as Vipers collected their second-highest points total in franchise history.
Conroy drained a trey with 11.5 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime, and Vipers opened overtime on a 12-1 run as, Craig Winder hit five points and Conroy added a bucket and two free throws to put the game out of reach.
Winder had a season-high 26 points and career-high tying five steals to help Vipers improve to 25-9 for the season.
If it’s points you’re after, Vipers are clearly the team to watch as the following night they defeated Bakersfield Jam 146-135 at home the following night – and didn’t even need the extra period.
It the biggest points tally in franchise history and ensured their first ever winning season – with 15 games remaining.
“Fortunately we were able to outscore them until we could find a defensive rhythm in the third [quarter],” Vipers head coach Finch told NBA.com.
Vipers outscored the Jam 40-23 in the third quarter to take a 115-94 lead and after Kenny Hasbrouck hit a three-pointer to make it 124-103 with 8:28 left, the Jam went on a 13-0 run to pull within 124-116 with 6:33 remaining. Will Daniels scored the last six points of the run. Will Conroy hit a three-pointer to end the run, but Jeremy Wise responded with a three-point play to make it 127-119 with 5:36 left. The Vipers and Jam traded baskets the rest of the way.
Craig Winder led all scorers with a career-high 31 points to go with six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Conroy finished with a double-double with 22 points and a season-high 17 assists. Hasbrouck finished with 21 points while Kevin Rogers scored 20 points.
However, even gaining an unexpected home advantage couldn’t prevent Vipers going down 127-111 against Armour on Monday evening.
The game was originally scheduled to be played in Springfield on February 10, but was postponed due to snow in the northeast which prevented the Vipers from flying to Springfield, and Armour were unable to stage the game at their home court.
Finch was clearly a frustrated man after the game, telling NBA.com “We have so many new guys right now, we’ve haven’t really been able to run our offences. We’ve tried to put the ball into Will [Conroy’s] hands, let him create, and spread the floor. Right now we need to find the open man, and that’s our go-to guy.”
Conroy finished one rebound shy of a triple-double, with 19 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds, while Winder continued his hot play, break the 20-point plateau for the seventh-straight game with a team-high 26 points.
A 15-3 run in the final four minutes of the first period saw Armour open a 41-29 lead at the first break, and 17 unanswered points helped the “hosts” to a 70-54 half-time lead.
Seven straight Vipers points at the beginning of the third quarter put them within 77-73 at the 7:16 mark, and Finch’s team kept the game close until the Armor closed the third and opened the fourth quarter on a 10-0 run to wrap up the win.
Vipers are now three games ahead of second placed Austin Toros. They travel to Bakersfield on Friday and Saturday for a double header before hosting Austin on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.
Picture courtesy of NBAE/Getty Images.
