w/e 09/04/06

Filton Flyers win the EBL Division 3 Championship

The Bristol based Filton Flyers won the EBL Division 3 Championship following a narrow victory against the Sheffield Sabres, 74 -72 in what can only be described as an intense and thrilling Playoff Final.

Filton started the game well and took an early lead of 7-0 within the first 3 minutes of playing time. Sheffield fought back but the Flyers responded with confidence and led the first quarter 25-17. The second quarter was a similar story with Filton leading the way and Sheffield trying to catch up. The score going into halftime was 44 – 40 for Filton, after Sheffield had managed to close the gap.

The third quarter started well for the Sheffield team, they took the lead for the first time bringing the score to 44 - 45. However, Filton responded with defensive intensity and some great plays from Henry Conrad, Abe Ahmed and Tom Hutchinson to take again the lead at the end of the third quarter 62-56.

Filton started the fourth quarter slowly and Shefield took advantage to take their biggest lead with a score of 66-70 with 4 minutes left in the game. Filton responded confidently and by changing the defensive match ups, made a run of 6-0 to take the lead again 72-70 with less than 2 minutes left. Sheffield responded with a great play by Sam Fernley and tied the game at 72 all with less than 1 minute to play.

Filton’s next offense ended with a missed opportunity to score and with 30 seconds to go Sheffield had possession of the ball and the chance to take the lead. As the shot clock was counting down, the Filton defense managed to get a stop with 10 seconds left to play. A quick outlet to Gareth Till gave him the opportunity to speed dribble to the opposition’s basket for a lay up that gave the lead to Filton 74-72 with 2.7 seconds left on the game clock. After a series of time outs, Sheffield was ready to inbound the ball from the half court line. Sheffield had a chance to send the game to overtime, but the final shot was unsuccessful. The game was over. The Filton bench went crazy as the Flyers had just become EBL Division 3 Champions.

The Filton Flyers Coach, Andreas Kapoulas said after the game: “This is a great achievement for the Club and a great team effort. At the start of the year we set out to win our League and the Playoff Final. We achieved both our aims and I am really proud of my players determination and hard work.” Coach Kapoulas also added: “We also have to say a big thank you to Filton College and the Academy Director of Basketball, Danny James, for the support they have offered us this season. Now we have some time to rest and prepare for next year.”

In similar tone, the Filton Captain, Gareth Till added: “It’s a great feeling to win a Playoff Final. We set out our season to achieve promotion to Division 2 and the guys have shown great character and commitment to try to achieve our goal. I think we have a really strong case for promotion. The great thing is that this team and the coaching staff will stay together for another few years and we also have players to add from our junior development. It is a really exciting time for Bristol Basketball.”

w/e 26/03/06

Filton Flyers go through to the Division 3 Playoff Final

The Bristol based Filton Flyers progressed to the EBL Division 3 Playoff Final following a narrow victory against Manchester Magic II, 75 -77. Both Manchester and Filton had won their division championship however due to the Playoff draw Filton had to make the trip up to Manchester.

The game was very intense as both teams wanted to secure a place in the Final. Filton started the game well and led the first quarter 22-20 with some sharp shooting from Dominic Reid. The second quarter was similar with Filton leading the way as Dominic Reid finished the half with 22 points. The score at halftime was 39 – 44 for Filton.

The third quarter started well for the Manchester team bringing the score to 50 - 50. However, Filton responded with defensive intensity and some great plays from Abe Ahmed and Tom Hutchinson to take the lead 53 -57 at the end of the third quarter. Both teams started the fourth quarter strong however the Flyers by bringing more size in the game took the lead 62-71 with 4 minutes remaining. However it was not going be as easy as that as the next minute saw Tom Hutchinson, Abe Ahmed and Gareth Till, being fouled out. This gave Manchester the opportunity to come back in the game. As having 3 players fouled out was not enough, Panji Grainger was injured in the face after a rebound and was unable to continue. Filton was left with no tall players on the floor and Manchester took advantage of that by having a 10-0 run and took the lead in the game for the first time 72-71. Filton responded confidently by taking the lead again 72-73 however Manchester scored a basket and a free throw in the last ten seconds to take the lead for the second time in the game 75-73 and only five seconds left.

The Manchester players and spectators probably thought that the game was over but Filton had not had its last word. Steve Ashton inbounded the ball to Dominic Reid who dribbled down the court and took a 3-point shot a long way behind the three point arc with 1 second left. The shot was good and Reid also got fouled that gave him the opportunity to shoot one more free throw. The score became 75—77 and the Filton bench went crazy as Dominic Reid with his amazing shot had just secured the Flyers, a position in the Division 3 playoff Final at Bath University.

The Filton Coach, Andreas Kapoulas said after the game: “Dominic had a great shot to win the game but we have to also take in consideration the fact that we were ahead in the score for 39 minutes and we only went down when our 4 tall players had to sit out. This is a great achievement for the Club and a great team effort.”

Coach Kapoulas also added: “At the start of the year we set out to win our League and to reach the Playoff Final. We achieved both our aims and I am really proud of my players determination and hard work. We also have to say a big thank you to Filton College for the support they offered us this season. Now we have two weeks to concentrate and prepare for the Final.”

In similar tone, the Filton Captain added: “It’s a great feeling to make it in the Playoff Final. We set out our season to achieve promotion to Division 2 and the guys have shown great character and commitment to try to achieve our goal. The great thing is that this team and the coaching staff will stay together for another few years and we also have players to add from our junior development. It’s just great news for Bristol Basketball.”

The Division 3 Playoff Final, Filton Flyers vs Sheffield Sabres will take place at Bath University on Sunday 9^th April 5 pm Tip off.

19/03/06

The East Kent Crusaders crashed out of the playoffs following a narrow overtime defeat against the Sheffield Sabres 72-75. The defeat means that the East Kent team’s season is now over.

East Kent coach Jesse Sazant did not hide his disappointment on the day saying, “We just did not turn up defensively on the night and struggled to find ways to score outside of Walter (Moyse) and Robbie (Parker), we achieved a lot this season but fell short at the end of the year."

The Crusaders must now wait and see if they will be promoted to Division 2. Crusaders star centre, 6’10 Canadian Walter Moyse said that his team have a, “good case for promotion,” being league champions with an overall record of 18 wins for only 6 losses and National Shield finalists. The decision as to whether Crusaders will be promoted to EBL Division 2 will be made in late April or early May.

The East Kent side started the game strongly with 6 early points from Moyse and a 3 from Parker taking the side to an early 13-3 lead. The Sabres hit back scoring the next 7 points before Crusaders regained control closing the quarter 20-14 ahead.

The Crusaders looked to stretch their lead further still in the second quarter with a fine 3 point effort from James Parker opening the quarter. However, the Sabres were able to chip away at Crusaders lead as the Kent team seemed to lose their defensive intensity. Only a series of baskets from Moyse, who went on to score 25 points on the night, kept the Crusaders in it. The Canadian’s efforts were not enough however as the Sabres scored 5 points in the final 2 minutes of the half to level the scores at 38 a piece at half time.

The Sabres tightened the noose in the third quarter and smothered East Kent’s offence with their zone defence. The Crusader’s only points early in the half came from another Parker 3 pointer. Moyse and Parker were the only players able to score in the third quarter as Crusaders managed a meagre 11 points, falling behind Sheffield 55-49 going into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter became an extremely cagey affair as Sheffield sought to slow the game down and to see out the remaining minutes of the game. The Crusaders were down and seemingly out at 57-67 with 3 minutes remaining before some impressive defence shut out Sheffield and Paul Jessop staged a Crusaders revival with a 3 pointer.

Parker, who hit 19 points over the course of the evening, was on fire in the final minutes of the fourth hitting back to back baskets to bring East Kent to within 3 points. Jessop then managed to hit a desperation 3 point effort, despite being marked by two Sheffield players, tying the scores at the end of regulation.

In overtime Sheffield scored first before another 3 from Parker and a basket from Mike Webber gave the Crusaders a 72-69 point lead. However, those were to be the last of the Crusader’s points. Sheffield soon drew level and took the lead. The Crusaders were forced to foul to stop the clock and with Sheffield hitting only 1 of 4 foul shots East Kent had a chance at 72-75. Jessop had an open 3 pointer in the dying seconds of the game that would have forced double overtime but missed the chance and the game ended with Sheffield the victorious 75-72 ahead.

After the game top scorer Walter Moyse said: “It was a really close game and it’s a tough way to go out coming so close with the game going to overtime and everything.”

Crusaders captain Jessop said that although he was disappointed with losing he is proud of his team’s efforts over the season and confident of Crusaders chances in Division 2, should East Kent be promoted.

“The loss was disappointing but we haven’t had the best preparation for this game with some games called off and we have had some tough games to win our league, perhaps we just ran out of steam towards the end.

At the start of the season if you had said we would have been league champions and shield finalists we would have taken that, so overall you would have to say the season has been a success.

We have every chance of being a good team in Division two, if we can bring in a couple of decent players in the off season, there is no reason why we can’t be a good, solid Division 2 side.”

27/02/06

EAST KENT CRUSADERS WIN EBL DIVISION 3 SOUTH EAST

The Canterbury based East Kent Crusaders clinched the division three South East title last night beating London Towers II 70-61 in a thrilling game at Crystal Palace.

East Kent’s coach Jesse Sazant said the title was: “A great achievement for the club, we set out to win the league this year and we did it.”

The game, watched by a small but animated band of Crusaders fans was particularly intense because its winner would be named division champion. The game saw the lead change hands many times as the two sides vied for dominance.

The Crusaders came out of the blocks the strongest overwhelming the Towers, taking a 10-2 lead with a number of easy scores on fast breaks. However East Kent could not maintain their early momentum and they gave away a succession of fouls letting Towers back into the game after hitting seven foul shots. This allowed Towers to close the gap with the quarter ending 20-16 in East Kent’s favour.

East Kent’s confidence wavered at the start of the second as Towers scored the opening six points of the quarter. The Towers took the lead and Crusaders were only kept in the game on the back of an excellent performance from Walter Moyse who almost single-handedly kept Crusaders in the game at this point. The Towers maintained a slim lead until late in the half when Robbie Parker hit back-to-back three pointers to put Crusaders up 37-31 at the break. Parker was Crusaders joint top scorer on the night with 16 points with five three pointers.

The third quarter started extremely badly for East Kent as they were held scoreless for the opening six minutes of the second half. In response the Towers notched up 13 points and were able to retake the lead 44-37. Things were looking bleak for the Crusaders until Moyse ended Crusaders dry spell with a key three point play. However, things quickly got worse for the Crusaders when James Parker, Pete Adkins and Moyse all committed their fourth foul of the game in quick succession and had to sit on the bench.

Mike Webber described the situation Crusaders found themselves in, “We had lost our point guard and both our big men in foul trouble, in the past we have struggled in situations like this but tonight everyone stood up to be counted.” He added, “We’re all really ecstatic with the result.”

With both of Crusaders post players out of the game, the Crusaders were forced to adapt with Lee Butters being forced to play out of position. Butters and Webber both stuck to the task well and scores from Parker, Butters and Webber gave East Kent a slender one point lead going into the final quarter, 49-48.

The fourth quarter saw the lead change hands once more as Towers opened up the scoring. Crusaders’ captain Paul Jessop hit two three pointers and Robbie Parker hit yet another to level the scores before Crusaders took a narrow 60-56 lead.

The Crusaders then upped the intensity in defence and were able to shut out the Towers offence at the key moment of the match. The Towers were held to a mere five points in the final 5 minutes of the game and hit only one field goal in this time. East Kent were able retain the ball excellently and Butters was on hand to score the last few points to give Crusaders the hard won victory.

After the game Butters said, “This win is not just for the players it’s for everyone involved with the club as well.”

The victory ensures that the Crusaders will now be able to play all their play off fixtures from home until the play off final, which takes place on Sunday, 9 April in Bath. They will face the 4^th place team from the South West division (to be determined this weekend) in the opening round.

Crusaders next game will be the play offs first round on the 11^th at Canterbury High School Body and Mind.

w/e 19/02/06

A disastrous first half saw the East Kent Crusaders drop their third league game of the season, losing 79-77 to the Hackney White Heat.

The Crusaders entered the game short handed with Canadian centre Walter Moyse and starting point guard James Parker both unavailable. The holes left by Moyse and Parker showed early as the Crusaders were extremely hesitant out of the blocks as the White Heat jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead.

East Kent soon settled down with young Ryan Richards scoring 4 points to draw the teams level. Soon after, consecutive 3 pointers by Paul Jessop pushed the Crusaders out to a slim lead with the first quarter ending with Hackney trailing 19-18.

The second quarter saw East Kent struggling with only big men Pete Adkins and Richards finding the basket with any consistency. After trading baskets for most of the quarter, the White Heat surged ahead with a 13-0 run late in the half. The teams entered the dressing room with Hackney leading 42-33.

Hackney's momentum continued to open the second half, and as they forced East Kent into numerous turnovers and bad shots, the lead stretched to 56-39. Finally, the Crusaders were able to ratchet up their trademark hard nosed defence as they began to frustrate Hackney and held them without a field goal for 3 minutes. After a series of transition scores had cut the lead to 9, Jay Gifford hit a key 3 pointer and 2 foul shots off a technical foul to pull East Kent within 4.

The Crusaders continued their strong play to open the fourth as they scored the opening 6 points of the quarter to retake the lead. After Hackney recovered to take the lead, Lee Butters hit a crucial basket to level it up on back to back possessions. However, East Kent then turned the ball over a couple of times, allowing the White Heat to take a 5 point lead.

As East Kent began fouling to stop the clock, Hackney struggled to hit their foul shots with the lead shrinking to only 1. After Hackney made 1 out of 2 foul shots with 7 seconds on the clock, the Crusaders pushed the ball down the court, getting an open 3 point look for James Harris. However, the final shot rimmed out as Hackney escaped with the victory.

Pete Adkins led the Crusaders efforts with a 20 point, 12 rebound effort. Coach Jesse Sazant said, "Pete really stepped up with some key plays today but unfortunately we weren't consistent enough as a team for 40 minutes. We got caught playing only about 15 minutes of the quality of basketball we expect."

Captain Paul Jessop added, "It was an up and down game that we were never consistently in. We seemed to lack our rhythm today. We know we can play much better and we'll be out to prove that next week."

w/e 12/02/06

Cardiff Clippers 68-67 Solent Stars II

Solent went into this game needing to win to keep their playoff hopes alive, but were cruelly denied as the Cardiff player- coach Chris Horrocks scored a very difficult shot along the baseline with 13 seconds to go, this left Solent, never having been behind in the game, trailing by one point, 68-67.

Alex Byrne drove the ball up court and fed Steve Davison who put up a shot and it rolled twice around the ring and out. Game over.

Solent had with only 7 players as first Ian Manley, ill, and then James Chubb family bereavement, withdrew, joining Chris Watson on the sidelines with an injured ankle.

Solent started brightly with Mike Peel and Craig Teesdale in the backcourt reading the game well. Carl Duke had epitomised the effort with a very hard worked put back and some really tough defence as he closed down the dangerous shooter Jones. Solent scored quite easily off their set plays and looked very comfortable at both ends of the court. They led 17-12 at the quarter with everyone contributing, which was rounded off by a Gary Beale 3 –pointer.

When Cardiff threatened Solent went on 10-point spree without Cardiff scoring as Steve Davison found his range, with Peel finding his passes inside with accuracy.
At the start of the third quarter Byrne let loose a big three-pointer and then Solent extended their lead to 39-26 thanks to several good shots from John Titcombe. But Coach Mick Byrne left the 1-3-1-zone defence on too long and danger man Jones found his range and hit 4 three-pointers to drag Cardiff back into the game. Then Steve Davison went on a scoring spree of his own, hitting 11 points in a row so Solent went into the last quarter leading by 7.

When Solent snuffed out the threat from Jones by playing a box and 1 on him, Horrocks the Cardiff player coach came into his own hitting 8 points and moving to play inside where he scored the winning basket.

Scorers: Teesdale 8, Peel 6, Beale 5, Davison 25,Titcombe 14, Duke 3, Byrne 6.

The East Kent Crusaders crushed the Reading Rockets II 112-71 on Saturday, making up for their defeat to Eastside in their last league game.

An understrength Rockets side were out gunned from the opening minutes and struggled to live with the Crusaders attacking flair and defensive intensity.

The game started with East Kent going on a 6-0 run sparked by Crusaders 14 year old England under 16's international Ryan Richards.

Rockets recovered to 8-5 with some good attacking play but they were then on the wrong end of a 19-0 run as Crusaders tightened the screw on Reading. The first quarter ended 29-9 with Reading seemingly out of the game at this early stage.

The Crusaders continued where they left off in second quarter with 8-0 and 11-2 runs sparked by Steve Findley and Walter Moyse. Crusaders were already up 50-15 five minutes into the second quarter. To their credit, Reading staged a mini revival in the final minutes of the second half as Crusaders intensity dropped, winning the last five minutes 18-8. The half finished 58-33 to East Kent.

Crusaders returned to the floor in the third quarter reinvigorated, immediately going on an 19-5 run. Lee Butters was instrumental in this with a number of steals leading to easy lay ups for the Crusaders. The third quarter finished with Crusaders up 88-51.

The fourth quarter saw an increasingly tired looking Reading struggle to contain a rampaging Crusaders offence. East Kent began the final quarter in little mood for mercy hitting Reading with a 9-3 run with Findley once again at the heart of things for the Crusaders. James Harris wrapped the game up with a couple of late three pointers in the dying minutes of the game. The game finished with Crusaders comfortable victors 112-71.

On the night, Butters scored 21 points, hitting 9 of the 10 shots he attempted on the evening as well as doing excellent work in defence with 8 rebounds and five steals. Findley was Crusaders second highest scorer on the night with 19 points hitting 8 of the 13 shots he attempted.

Moyse was also on top form for East Kent and brought the crowd to its feet with a powerful dunk in the third quarter. After the game he said: “The win felt good, we knew they only had eight players so we needed to make them run and get tired.” He added “We are really excited about going to the finals in Manchester as there will be lots of fans and hopefully it will be a good time.”

After the game Crusaders coach Jesse Sazant said: “I'm really pleased, we needed to get the loss out of our system and we did that tonight, I'm impressed by how well the whole team stepped up especially Steve and Lee.”

Turner flies high to hand it to Arrows

Arrows ii 64 Worcester ii 59

Sometimes you do not win pretty, you just win and that was the story behind the Arrows ii victory over Worcester; in a scrappy game of missed opportunities the Arrows dug in to win by 64 – 59. Andy Turner produced a match wining return of 12 points and an incredible 31 rebounds for the Arrows.

The Arrows began in excellent fashion and with a good mixture of tough defence and solid offence moved into a 19 – 5 advantage, Worcester responded but the Arrows led 19 – 11 as the quarter closed.

Inexplicably the Arrows suddenly began to struggle offensively and despite the remarkable rebounding of Andy Turner, the Arrows shots did not drop, while Worcester took advantage of several Arrows turnovers to lead 27 – 25 at the interval.

Coach Andrew Purnell was active at the interval and it was Tilly Hackett and Pete Olusoga, well supported by the clever play of Andrew Broughton who led an Arrows rally that saw them retake the lead by wining the quarter 25 – 18 and an overall lead of 50 – 45. This was an advantage the Arrows were to hold onto to the end of a tense 4^th quarter tied 14 – 14, in which the Arrows Hackett and Olusoga showed no nerves to see their side home 64 – 59.

Scorers; Hackett 22, Olusoga 14, Turner 12, Law 6, Szafraniec 4, Andrew 2, Broughton 2, Platten 2.

w/e 05/02/06

WILDCATS BOOST PLAY-OFF HOPES

Durham Wildcats (24, 48, 71) 98

Univ. of Teesside (Mohawks II) (13, 23, 29) 46

Durham Wildcats boosted their chances of qualifying for the end of season play-offs with a comprehensive home victory over University of Teesside at Spennymoor Leisure Centre on Saturday.

The visitors, who are the “nursery” team for EBL Division 1 outfit Teesside Mohawks, had had a confidence-boosting win over Wildcats’ top-four rivals Bradford Maroons the week before, but the young Durham team wasted no time in stamping their authority on the game.

A 24-14 first quarter put the Wildcats in charge, with Ian Hewitt, Mark Elderkin and Paul Elderkin all hitting a 3-pointer, while Jon Palmer, making his home debut after signing from Teesside, made an early impression with five points.

There was no let-up for the visitors after the first break, as a combination of active defence and well-worked offence continued to stretch the Wildcats’ lead. Palmer continued to frustrate Teesside with his rebounding and subtle ball-movement, while Dave Wintersgill picked up the scoring with nine points in the quarter.

By the end of the half, the home side enjoyed a 25 point advantage, 48-23, and, with coach Dave Elderkin having already given all ten players a good run on court, every member of the Durham team had recorded points.

The third quarter was even more emphatic, as the Durham defence restricted their increasingly frustrated opponents to just six points (coming from two long-range efforts, as the Wildcats dominated the defensive key).

The tenacious defence, and frequent steals, set up numerous fast-break opportunities, with Hewitt pouring in ten points in the quarter. Paul Elderkin added seven as the Wildcats took their lead out to 71-29.

The fourth quarter was pretty much a formality, as the enthusiastic home crowd watched their team cruise to a comfortable victory. Paul Elderkin brought the fans to their feet as he drained no less than five 3-pointers in the period, for a game-high 26 points, and the spectators’only disappointment was that the Wildcats just missed posting their first 3-figure score of the season.

Durham scorers: Paul Elderkin 26; Ian Hewitt 19; Jon Palmer 14; Dave Wintersgill 12; Mark Elderkin 8; Paul Graham 6; Nick Cockman 6; Andrew Knox 4; Ian Bunnett 2; Adam Ballard 1.

Teesside scorers: Carl Colmer 12; Anthony Robinson 10; Lee Norton 6; Tyrone Thomas 4; Stuart Meek 3; Arnold Katumba 4; Hyjin Laynkoy 3; Michael Thompson 2; Michael James 2.

With Huddersfield slipping to defeat at Northumbria, Durham climbed back into the top four, while Bradford Dragons are now effectively out of the play-off race, after losing at leaders Manchester.

The key game is now the visit of Bradford Maroons to Spennymoor Leisure Centre, on Saturday 18^th February, but in the meantime the Wildcats can afford no slip-ups when they visit near-neighbours Wear Valley Warriors this coming Saturday.

The East Kent Crusaders fell to their first defeat since October on Saturday, narrowly losing out to the Eastside Eagles 59-62.

The defeat throws the EBL Division 3 South East wide open, although crucially Crusaders can still win the title with victory this week against Reading Rockets II and by then defeating London Towers II by at least three points (date to be confirmed still).

Eastside came out the more aggressive of the two sides and lead 6-2 early in the match. Robbie Parker then hit a couple of shots for the Crusaders to give East Kent a one point lead at 8-7. However, the Crusaders then gave away a number of turnovers and found themselves trailing 15-11 at the end of the quarter.

The second quarter saw something of a stalemate between the two sides with the game swinging backwards and forwards. The Crusaders were struggling to stop Eastside and were kept in the game only by an inspired Lee Butters performance. Nevertheless Crusaders came off at half time down 29-33.

The third quarter saw a reinvigorated performance from East Kent who scored the first six points of the quarter. Canadian Walter Moyse did the damage for Crusaders single-handedly scoring their first nine points in the quarter. But even with this impressive effort Crusaders still found themselves trailing by five points, going into the final quarter, 46-41 behind.

The fourth quarter saw scintillating performances from both James Parker and Moyse as East Kent looked to take the game away from Eastside with an 11-3 run; giving them a narrow three point lead. The two sides then traded baskets before brothers James and Robbie Parker both fouled out within a minute of each other.

Eastside took advantage of this to draw the game level with less than a minute on the clock. Crusaders then gave up a series of fouls and Eastside made no mistake from the free throw line and putting themselves three points up with seconds left on the clock. Paul Jessop had the opportunity to level the game with a on the buzzer three pointer but missed, giving Eastside the three point victory.

Walter Moyse who top scored for Crusaders on the night with twenty five points said Eastside probably deserved their victory : “We went through a couple of times tonight when we couldn’t score and missed a couple of shots we would usually hit.”

After the game Crusaders Coach Jesse Sazant took the opportunity to praise Eastside for their performance; “It’s a disappointing result for us but credit to Eastside for taking the game to us defensively.”

w/e 29/01/06

Gloucestershire Giants 81-100 Solent II

Solent played only one of their new signings in Steve Davison and had first team player Paul Silcox returning after long term injury. Solent were missing Ian Manley, exams at University, and Alex Byrne injured.

Mike Peel stepped up to a starting place and scored a 3 pointer to start the scoring. He also took his opportunity with relish and style leading the team with confidence, only spoiling it with silly fouls in the last quarter.

Solent started with confidence and built up an early lead of 16-8 before Watson picked up his second foul and left the floor. Silcox came on for Watson and Davison came in for his first taste of 3^rd Division Basketball. James Chubb replaced Titcombe and the rhythm went out of the side and The Giants came back Solent 19-16 at the end of the quarter.

The second quarter was again very even but Solent having trouble scoring since Jon Rumsey left the side in November, scored 31 points, 16 to Silcox and Davison between them. Gary Beale was prominent in defence and he converted two steals into points. But they could not shake off the dogged Giants, whose Maclean always was on hand to drive to the basket he scored 32 points in the game.

50-40 became 71-51 at the end of the third after a very even third quarter only Titcombe 8, Silcox 9 and Davison 4 hit point for Solent, but the re-introduction of Watson invigorated Solent team and although he didn’t score he kept the team’s concentration level up.

In the last quarter Peel picked up two silly fouls to bring him onto foul number 4 and this disrupted the flow for a while but Carl Duke and Craig Teesdale held the backcourt together. Teesdale with some good defence splitting passes for assists.

Solent opened up what looked like a match winning lead of 16 points but once again a spirited rally from Gloucester brought the gap back to 85-77 but a quick time out and some changes saw the come back quelled and Solent ran away with the game.

Teesdale 6, Peel 11, Peale 4, Titcombe 20, Chubb 2, Silcox 25, Davison 27, Duke 4 and Watson (Captain.)

Next week Solent are against local rivals Bognor Pirates at Fleming Park 6pm.

The East Kent Crusaders defeated the Brixton Topcats 83-57, gaining a play-off spot in the process.

East Kent’s tough defence was the difference between the two sides in a game which started with little to choose between the two teams.

The Crusaders began the game well with some excellent inside play from Walter Moyse and Pete Adkins putting their side up 11-2. However Brixton quickly raised their game defensively and took the game to Crusaders with an 11-0 run which put Brixton up by four. Robbie Parker came to Crusaders rescue with an 8-3 swing pushing his side narrowly ahead as the quarter ended 21-20 in the Kent side’s favour. Robbie’s brother, James, was also fine form throughout the game, setting up numerous scoring opportunities.

Adkins hit Brixton with another couple of inside baskets as the Crusaders pulled ahead of Brixton with an 11-0 run early in the second. But, once again Crusaders let their intensity slip, allowing Brixton to close to within three with some excellent outside shooting. With the game in the balance East Kent looked to star post player Walter Moyse who scored seven out of eight points in an 8-0 run taking Crusaders ahead 46-35 at half time.

Moyse said: “Before this game we almost haven’t played for a month because of the games that had been cut off so it took us a quarter to get going.” He continued. “Once we started taking care of the ball things got a lot better.”

In the third quarter the Crusaders’ defence took control and succeeded in stopping the Topcats from scoring a field goal for eight minutes. This allowed East Kent to pull away with a 17-2 run, with Pete Ayling scoring eight in the quarter. The third quarter ended 69-43 with Brixton effectively out of the game.

The fourth quarter passed uneventfully with Crusaders defence well and truly on top of Brixton, allowing only 3 field goals all quarter as the East Kent side cruised home for a 26 point victory, the game finishing 83-57.

After the game Crusaders coach Jesse Sazant said: “We have been frustrated at having games called off over the last few weeks and tonight really help to get that out of our system,” He said “Our interior defence was excellent tonight with Walter and Pete causing them lots of problems.”

Arrows II clinch vital win as Turner stars

City Of Sheffield Arrows II 70 (21, 36, 54) Turner 17; Hackett 11; Olusoga/Law 9

South Nott' College Wildcats 60 ( 8, 23, 35) Hall 24; Michaelides 15; Knight 6

The Arrows battled bravely against a committed Notts team who pressed for the whole game in an attempt to restrict the Arrows offensive game. Andy Turner had his best game for the Club to date with 17 points but this was a victory for team – spirit in a must win game for both sides.

The Arrows began brightly with al 5 starters registering points as they moved into an early 15 – 4 advantage. Tilly Hackett was at the heart of the Arrows success both in offence and defence, as the Arrows reached the quarter ahead decisively at 21 – 8. This gave the Arrows a lead that they never lost in the game.

The teams shared the second quarter 15 – 15, Hall was prominent for the visitors, driving to the basket and giving himself free – throw attempts while the Arrows had more balanced scoring from Szafraniec, Hackett, Andrew and Loftus to reach the interval still leading 36 – 23.

The Arrows turned on the power in the third quarter and Turner began to cut through the Notts defence, well supported by Platten. Notts responded with baskets from Knight, Hall and Michaelides but the Arrows led 54 – 35 going into the final quarter.

Notts rallied in the final quarter with Hall and Michaelides leading the scoring, however the Arrows were not to be denied and hung on to the end. The introduction of Joel Mills brought some stability to the possession play as the Arrows won 70 – 60.

Scorers; Turner 17, Hackett 11, Law 9, Olusoga 9, Platten 7, Szafraniec 6, Andrew 5, Broughton 4, Loftus 2.

w/e 22/01/06

The East Kent Crusaders game with London Towers II, a crunch game that could decide the Division 3 South East Title, was abandoned due to unsafe flooring.

The Crusaders were up 30-22 in the second quarter when the referee abandoned the game after noticing that a wooden tile under one of the baskets had become loose and was potentially dangerous.

It is a particularly frustrating result for Crusaders as they had started to pull away from Towers thanks mostly to Walter Moyse who had scored 14 points, including a couple of stylish dunks.

At the time of writing the match is going before England Basketball who will either decide to replay the game, restart it at the point it was abandoned or award the match to the Crusaders.

East Kent’s next match is at home against the Brixton Topcats this weekend. The Topcats are currently middle of the table having won five of their eleven games this season. The Crusaders in comparison are top of the table with a 10-1 record.

Brixton is without star player Marcus Knight who recently joined BBL outfit Leicester Riders. In the two team’s last meeting, which Crusaders won 89-77, Knight chalked up 19 points in the opening six minutes of the game on his way to 43 n the night. Needless to say his departure comes as something of a relief to Crusaders coach Jesse Sazant.

The Topcats have become known for developing some exceptionally talented individuals over the years including Loul Deng who was recently signed to the Chicago Bulls.

The Crusaders will be without guard James Harris who is still recovering from a knee injury.

The action starts at Canterbury Body and Mind at 5:15 with Crusaders Under 16’s facing off against their arch rivals the Sevenoaks Suns before the main men’s game tips off at 7:30.

w/e 15/01/06

The East Kent Crusaders improved their league leading record to 10-1 due to a forfeit victory over the PAWS London Capitals II. The Capitals contacted East Kent to tell them that they had got stuck in traffic and would arrive around tip-off time. However, despite numerous attempts to contact Capitals no further word had been heard 30 minutes after the scheduled tip-off time. At this point the referees decided to call the game and award it to the Crusaders.

Coach Jesse Sazant stated, "This isn't the way anyone wants to win games. We apologise to all our supporters who turned up and appreciate their support. We now need to focus our energy on a key game against Towers next week."

w/e 18/12/05

East Kent Crusaders rounded of their last game of the season with a comfortable 111-62 victory away to bottom of the league Richmond College.

Despite a slow start, the Crusaders were never truly troubled by an outclassed Richmond, who remain winless in the league. East Kent is now 9-1 in the league and remain undefeated away from home.

The Crusaders cruised to victory with forward Pete Adkins having an extremely impressive game, top scoring with 33 points and dominating the game in the fourth quarter especially. After the game Adkins said, “Richmond are far from the strongest team in our league but it’s always nice to get top scorer.”

To their credit Richmond started the game the stronger team and helped by some sloppy Crusaders defence were ahead 11-7 early in the game. However a hat trick of three pointers from Crusaders captain Paul Jessop quickly gave the Crusaders the upper hand as they went on a 19-1 run to end the 1^st quarter 30-16 ahead.

Things rapidly got worse for Richmond in the second quarter as Crusaders went on another 8-2 run with Crusader’s England under 16’s international Ryan Richards hitting a couple of baskets.

Another 7-0 run, with Walter Moyse scoring two baskets effectively ended the game as a competition with East Kent 45-21 ahead. Although Richmond were able to respond slightly they were still over twenty points behind by the end of the half, which finished 57-31.

The Crusaders piled on the pain in the third quarter with Robbie Parker and Adkins combining to propel East Kent on 19-2 run that lasted for the first six minutes of the quarter. By the end of the quarter they were 86-40 ahead making the rest of the game purely academic.

With the game safe East Kent rested all their starting players to allow other players to gain more playing time. The fourth quarter was dominated by Adkins who ran a tired Richmond team ragged with a series of post moves, strong offensive rebounds and transition lay-ups.

With Adkins scoring 11 of the Crusaders first 13 points in the quarter East Kent cruised home to a 111-62 point victory to end the game.

Joining Adkins among the top scorers were Jessop (19 points, including five 3 pointers), Parker (16) and Moyse (14).

Speaking after the game Crusaders coach Jesse Sazant praised Adkins’ performance. "This was a good way to end the first part of our schedule and sets us up well for the break. Pete really stepped up today and had a breakout game."

Arrows ii in storming finish to slay the Bulls

Arrows ii 89 Bedford Bulls 71

The Arrows produced an incredible 20 – 3 finish in the final 3 minutes of this game to record a vital victory over the Bedford Bulls by 89 – 71. Chris Law led all scorers in the game with 28 points.

There was no hint of the drama to come as both teams slugged it out in the opening quarter of this match. The Arrows led 5 – 0 in the early going but the Bulls through Richardson responded to take the Bulls ahead 7 – 5. The Arrows were struggling to find the basket on a regular basis although James Kelly, Chris Law and Pete Olusoga joined Tilly Hackett as scorers despite trailing 15 – 17.

The Arrows traded baskets in the second quarter with Pawel Szafraniec prominent, keeping close to the Bulls through good free – throw shooting, which off set the “3 pointers” of the Bull’s Toms. The Arrows reached the interval trailing 34 – 38.

The third quarter continued in the same way as the Arrows seemed reluctant to use their strength in depth and the starters gathered themselves for the final quarter with the Arrows still trailing 52 – 57 and the Bulls looking to be in some slight control of the game.

The Bulls started the final quarter the stronger and led 62 – 52, however far from folding the Arrows seemed to get a second wind as Andy Turner and Pawel Szafreniec began to score and with less than 3 minutes to go the Arrows took the lead at 69 – 68. From this point the Arrows seemed everywhere and finished the game with a 20 – 3 run. Their defence stiffened while their offence was unstoppable; “3 pointers” from Law and Hackett, points from Olusoga, Turner and Szafreniec and the game was won.

Scorers; Law 28, Hackett 15,Olusoga 13, Szafreniec 12, Turner 10, Loftus 3, Kelly 2, Broughton 2

w/e 11/12/05

Bognor Pirates 59 – Taunton Tigers 67

Bognor failed to build on last weeks victory in their last home game in 2005, going down 59 – 67 to Taunton Tigers on Saturday night at the Arena.

Oli Roche showed the form that made him Pirates top scorer last year, backing his man down to score the first points of the game. Gore and Sparrowhawk added another two baskets as the Pirates raced into a early 7-0 lead before Taunton finally got on the scoresheet with a three from Andrews. More good work from Bunten, Gore and Roche opened up a 10 point lead at the end of the first quarter for the Pirates.

Shotton scored his first basket of the night to open in the scoring in the second quarter, before Tauton hit back with 7 unanswered points. Bognor replied with back to back threes from Sparrowhawk then Bunten to give an 11 point cushion to the Pirates. Taunton finally got their offence going in the last five minutes of the quarter and outscored Bognor 12 – 2 before Robbie Stapely made a strong cut to the basket, got fouled, and made the free throw to finish the Pirates scoring for the quarter. One last free throw for Taunton made the score 38 – 35 in favour of the Pirates.

Andrews made another three for Taunton at the start of the third before Wilson and Shotton opened the scoring for Bognor. Two more baskets for Taunton and a free throw by Shotton meant the Pirates were up by just one point with six minutes remaining in the quarter. This would be the last time they were in the lead. Taunton used a press to good effect with Bognor turning the ball over and unable to score for almost four minutes as the Tigers gained an nine point advantage. Late baskets and free throws from Gore and Sparrowhawk pulled the deficit to four as the game entered the final quarter.

The final quarter was a scrappy affair, we both teams only making three field goals each as the defence from both sides intensified. Taunton started the quarter the strongest, moving into a 60 – 49 lead with less than five minutes to play. At this point Bognor were always playing catch up, and although they went on a late 9 – 1 surge to make it a four point game with a minute to play, Taunton held on and made four of their last six free throws to win by eight.

Scorers: Bunten 12, Gore 11, Stapely 8, Sparrowhawk 8, Shotton 8, Roche 8, Wilson 2, Barnes 2, Haynes

The Pirates next home again is against Taunton Tigers again, this time in the quarter finals of the men’s national shield at the Arena on the 7^th January at 7.00pm. Visit www.bognorpirates.co.uk for more details.

The East Kent Crusaders survived a second half collapse to scrape a narrow 63-61 victory over league rivals Westside at Canterbury High on Saturday.

East Kent’s defence really stole the show in a low scoring game that was seemingly played at a pace more suited to their opponents. The game was an intense defensive battle with neither side scoring highly. Crusaders, one of the highest scoring teams in the league, managed to score only 15 points in the entire second half.

The Crusaders got off to a slow start and were behind before a James Harris three pointer sparked a run of seven straight points that gave them the lead. After a couple of Westside baskets, East Kent hit another seven points culminating with another 3 points from James Harris, giving the Crusaders a healthy 24-18 lead by the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter the Crusaders further pressed home their advantage with another seven point scoring spree. But before East Kent could get too comfortable, Westside hit back, feeding off a number of turnovers and offensive rebounds to get back to within five points. Stung into action, Lee Butters and Walter Moyse combined with some excellent play scoring the final ten points of the quarter giving East Kent a comfortable 48-34 half time lead.

The Crusaders opened the second half on fire, hitting three straight three pointers to propel themselves to a twenty point lead. However, they seemed to run out of steam just after the burst. According to Crusaders forward Lee Butters, his team seemed to lose intensity in defence as their offence stalled. Westside scored 12 unanswered points and were beginning to regain their confidence before a Robbie Parker basket late in the quarter stopped the run.

“We seemed to lose direction in offence,” said Lee Butters (who scored 12 points, grabbed five rebounds and made 4 steals on the night). “But even though we were making mistakes we never lost our passion to win.”

The Crusaders entered the final quarter with a 59-51 lead. However, anyone expecting a comfortable finish to the game would be blown out of their seat by the nail biting climax to the game to come.

The Crusaders did not register a point for the first five minutes of the quarter, Westside however were unable to capitalise on Crusaders offensive impotence scoring only five points during this period.

Finally the Crusaders were given the opportunity to register their first few points of the quarter with a couple of free throws, duly converted by Robbie Parker.

Westside responded with five quick points to come within one point, 61-60. Neither team managed to score for the next few minutes as the two teams defences cancelled each other out. East Kent held Westside to only 30% shooting throughout the whole game with Walter Moyse being the Crusaders rock in defence. The big Canadian caught a season high 19 rebounds and blocked five of Westside’s shots, crucial with the game being as close as it was.

With the game in the balance Moyse hit a key basket, the Crusaders first in nine minutes, to nudge the lead back to 3 points with two minutes on the clock. Great help defence then held Westside to only a single point in the final 2 minutes. With the score at 63-61, Westside heaved a desperation three pointer form their own half that could have stolen the game in its dying seconds, but as the buzzer rung the basketball gods smiled on Crusaders and the ball hit the rim and bounced clear giving the home team the victory.

Crusaders’ MVP Robbie Parker once again was his team’s top scorer with 16 points in the game.

Speaking after the game Crusaders’ head coach Jesse Sazant seemed happy with his team’s performance despite the nail biting-finish. “We were lucky to get away with this one. The work we’ve been doing on defence really pulled it out for us and we were able to contain their key players again tonight.”

19/11/05

University of Wales in Cardiff 67-61 Solent Stars II

Solent returned to Fleming Park in the early hours of Sunday very disappointed side. They had overcome thick fog both ways of the journey and come to terms at UWIC with the atrocious carpet floor and two tired referees that were refereeing their second game in row.

Southampton’s Gary Beale made his debut in the NBL and made a very impressive debut.

It took Solent a long time to find their feet on the carpet floor and this definitely inhibited their fast break as the floor slowed on the bounce. It was only in the last quarter that Solent came to terms with the court, but having missed 16 free throws in the game and 6 in the last quarter they could have no complaints.

In the first half Solent only scored 27 points and it was to their credit that their defence kept UWIC to 30.

Craig Teesdale and Alex Byrne scored the majority of those points with John Titcombe finding his range in the second.

John Salmon raised the spirits of Solent when he pulled down a long pass from John Rumsey and with an excellent move converted for 2 points with some deft footwork. Neil Kelly was very active in the zone defence and Rumsey kept pulling down the rebounds.

Solent , after a really bad third quarter, came out ready to play in the last. Gary Beale played excellent defence on the UWIC guards. This, for the first time in the game, gave the initiative to Solent.

Titcombe 8 points, Byrne 4, Chris Watson 5 and Beale brought the scores to 62-60. When the tallest man in the game, Priddle, fouled out in the last minute it seemed that Solent could win the game. Cardiff had other ideas and scored their last five points in free shots as Solent chased the game.

Scorers: Titcombe 19, Byrne 13, Watson 8, Teesdale 8, Kelly 4, Beale 4, Rumsey 3 and Salmon 2

Bognor Pirates 75 – Swindon Sonics 51

Bognor returned to winning ways with a 75 – 51 win over bottom of the table Swindon Sonics at the Arena on Saturday night.

With Swindon missing some of their taller players, Bognor quickly utilized their size advantage going inside to Dan Shotton and Martin Gore, both scoring easy points in the paint. With Swindon unable to answer and good pressure defence from Chris Bunten and Kevin Wilson, the Pirates finished the quarter up 20 – 8 and looked in control of the game.

For the first time this season complacency slipped into the Pirates game, allowing Swindon to run their offence and go on a 17 – 4 run. The Sonics moved into a 25 – 24 lead with three minutes left in the half, but this would be the last time they were in front. Coach Sparrowhawk called a time out, changed the defence to a zone and told his players in no uncertain terms they weren’t playing to their potential.

The time out had the desired effect with Bognor scoring the next 19 points over the end of the second and beginning of the third quarter to effectively win the game. Shotton and Gore went to work inside again, this time freeing up the shooters who began to find their range. Two 3’s in a row from Sparrowhawk followed by two quick baskets from rebounds by Tom Cousins gave Bognor a comfortable 56 – 33 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Rob Stapely started the fourth quarter with two baseline jump shots to increase the lead. A small revival from Swindon who managed to claw back 8 points was quickly halted by again going inside. The Pirates finished the game with three 3 pointers, including 2 from their 6’10” centre Martin Gore to finish victorious 75 – 51.

Scorers: Gore 24 & 12 rbs, Shotton 15 rbs, Sparrowhawk 9, Stapely 6, Moncrieff 4, Wilson 4, Cousins 4, Barnes 2, Davies 2, Bunten 2

Bognor’s’ next home game is on Saturday 3^rd December v PAWS London Capitals II in the second round of the Men’s Shield. Tip off at 7pm at The Arena. For more details visit www.bognorpirates.co.uk

WILDCATS WIN AT LEAGUE LEADERS

Bradford Maroons 62; Durham Wildcats 66

Durham Wildcats recorded their fourth league win in a row, and moved into the top four of EBL Division 3 North (and into the play-off places) with a stunning four-point victory at leaders Bradford Maroons.

Despite the absence of veteran point guard Jon Paul Heron, who was unable to travel, the Wildcats began confidently, with their half-court man to man defence producing steals and rebounds that set up fast-break opportunities. The starting five of Paul Graham, Mark Elderkin, Paul Elderkin, Dave Wintersgill and Craig Stamp established an early lead at 2-12.

The Maroons were kept scoreless for 6 minutes before Bradford made two substitutions, but the visitors still finished the quarter leading 10-18.

Early in the Second Quarter Craig Stamp picked up two quick fouls and Paul Graham suffered a dead leg, so coach Dave Elderkin put his team into a 2-3 zone, while he ran his substitutes. With Paul Elderkin playing well on the offensive boards the Wildcats had edged further away, to 27-38, at the half.

With the starting five reintroduced in the third, the half-court man-to-man defence continued to cause Bradford problems, as did the domination of the defensive boards by Stamp and Wintersgill, and Durham went into the final quarter with a 37-51 lead.

Bradford switched to an extended 2-3 zone, which took the visitors out of their rhythm, and the Maroons began to find their shooting range at the offensive end.

Wintersgill and Paul Elderkin continued to produce some good inside play, to keep Durham ahead and with about 5 minutes to go they still led by eight.

Then Ruben Malek took control of the game for home side, and virtually single-handedly brought the score to within 3, inside the final 30 seconds.

With more than 24 seconds remaining, Durham had to take a shot, and when that missed Dut Malek had the chance to tie the game as he launched a three-point attempt, with 8 seconds left.

Desperately defending the shot, Paul Graham fouled, and left the game on five fouls. More importantly, Malek stepped to the free-throw line, with three shots to take the game into overtime.

He sunk the first, but when he missed the second Bradford’s best chance was to regain offensive possession, and not surprisingly the third shot also came off the ring.

Craig Stamp took a huge defensive rebound for the visitors, and his outlet pass found Paul Elderkin, who was promptly fouled as Bradford had to stop the clock. Elderkin hit his two free throws, and, just as in the Men’s Shield encounter between these two teams, three weeks previously, the Wildcats had clinched the game from the line in the dying seconds.

Paul Elderkin and Dave Wintersgill led all scorers in the game with 17 apiece, with Craig Stamp adding 7.

The Wildcats now face next Saturday’s trip with greater confidence, when they visit the only unbeaten team in the division, Manchester Magic II, tipping off at 4.00pm at the Amaechi Basketball Centre.

The East Kent Crusaders beat the Hackney White Heat 96-91 in a tense hard fought encounter at Canterbury High School on Saturday. The win was the Crusaders’ fifth straight.

A packed house at Body and Mind saw the Crusaders take on the White Heat in the highest scoring game East Kent have played this season.

The game was very physical from start to finish with Crusaders showing great composure at the end of the game to see off a highly athletic Hackney team.

The Crusaders started the game strongly with a couple of three pointers from Crusaders captain Paul Jessop followed by another from Max Hurst to take them to an early 13-4 lead. But then Hackney hit back with a trio of three pointers of their own pulling back to within four points of Crusaders.

Lee Butters secured Crusaders lead with a late basket to give Crusaders the lead 25-19 at the end of the first quarter.

The White Heat took the initiative in the second quarter scoring 6 straight points to tie the game up. But just when things seemed Hackneys way bad discipline got the better of them, as technical fouls on one of their players and then the coach allowed the Crusaders to go on a 12-0 run.

The White Heat finally stopped the run and responded quickly forcing Crusaders into poor decisions and going on their own 12-4 run in reply. Crusaders fought back and by halftime they were ahead 47-41.

The Crusaders seemed to run out of steam in the third with Hackney feasting on the turnovers served up by Crusaders to go on a 17-4 run. Late in the quarter a Max Hurst 3 pointer righted things momentarily.

The number of fouls committed by Crusaders could have made their situation much worse but for some poor shooting on Hackney’s part. Hackney’s coach, Richard Fergus, was then ejected from the game following his second technical foul. Oddly Fergus had been arguing with the referee about a foul committed by one of his players at a time when his team’s foul count was far lower than Crusader’s.

Paul Jessop hit both foul shots but the Crusaders were still behind 66-69 at the end of the third quarter.

Recently East Kent Crusaders have made fourth quarter comebacks a specialty and this game was to prove no different. Lee Butters started the scoring with the opening 2 baskets of the quarter as the whole team’s intensity seemed to increase.

Robbie Parker then began to show why he is the Crusader’s MVP scoring 8 straight points, including a couple of 3 pointers, as the Crusaders clawed back Hackney’s lead. On their next possession a Paul Jessop three pointer restored parity.

Pete Adkins then got on the scoreboard at a key moment to keep Crusaders in the game before Parker scored again to give Crusaders the lead, which they were to keep until the end of the game. Butters made a three point play to stretch the lead to 90-85. Hackney scored a key 3 pointer to keep themselves in the game before a couple of baskets from Parker and Jessop gave Crusaders the victory.

One of the key factors in Crusaders favour in the fourth quarter was their superiority at getting to rebounds as they outrebounded their opponents 12-1 in the fourth quarter.

Parker led all scorers with 28 points on the night. Butters added 13 and Moyse 8 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.

Paul Jessop was on fine form all evening scoring 23 points, hitting all 6 of his free throws as well as snatching 6 rebounds. After the game he said he was proud of the way his team performed on the night. “We played well in the fourth quarter, we managed to stay calm when we went behind and we played excellently in defence.”

Jesse Sazant was also well pleased with his team’s performance saying; "This was a really important win for us. We showed a lot of character in the fourth and made the key plays when it mattered."

Crusaders are now 7-1 half way through the season, having played each team once. Their nearest rivals are Westside (5-2) London Towers II and Eastside (both 4-2.) Crusaders will now have a have a week off before their crunch match with London Towers II, the only team so far this year to beat Crusaders in league play The 2^nd round National Shield game takes place on the 3^rd December at Body and Mind, Canterbury High.

12/11/05

The East Kent Crusaders defeated league strugglers Reading Rockets II in convincing style, 100-60 on Sunday.

The Crusaders 100% away record remains intact and although they will not be surprised by the result, as Rockets are without a win this season, they will be well pleased with the gutsy manner of their victory.

It was another team basketball victory for Crusaders with seven players reaching double figures for scoring, led by Robbie Parker with 24, Walter Moyse with 15 and Lee Butters with 12.

Crusaders began the game slowly and fell behind Reading 6-4 with five minutes of the opening quarter gone. Crusaders, stung into action, then went on a 12-1 run and were up 16-7 by the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter Reading recovered slightly before a series of baskets from Robbie Parker gave Crusaders a 16 point lead. Pete Ayling and Max Hurst also got on the score sheet with a number of crucial jump shots, as the half ended 48-25 in East Kent’s favour.

Things didn’t get any better for Reading in the third quarter as Crusaders began to tighten the screw. Lee Butters, who trudged off the court grumpily after a slow first half, began the second half in fine form grabbing a number of rebounds and scoring readily.

“I calmed down a lot in the second half and I seemed to play a lot better,” said Lee Butters, who had been involved with a minor fracas with one of Reading’s players in the first half.