w/e 18/12/05 London United played a double header weekend to finish 2005. On Saturday they faced a fairly straight forward task of travelling to Kings Lynn in the EBL Division One league race and came out fairly comfortable victors at 80-91 after leading the game by 30 points. Pete Deppisch top scored with 29, Santa Ataha 28 and Walid Mumuni chipped in with 17.
Teesside Mohawks
70 (18,35,58) Errol Seaman led the Big Cats' scoring for the fist time since joining the club in the summer, as he finished with 22 points. The visitors had to do without Troy Selvey for long periods of the game due to foul trouble, but the Sacramento-born centre still added 16 points, with point-guard Demetrice Williams scoring 18. 7' 6" giant Neil Fingleton opened the scoring for Mohawks, and their lead was doubled through Harold Apanzo, but once Leopards were off the mark through Seaman they were quickly in their stride. Four points from Williams gave Leopards the lead with 7:12 on the clock, and the visitors were never to trail again. However, they saw Selvey sit down just after Williams had given them lead after he picked up his second foul of the game on Fingleton. Seaman and Williams scored four apiece as the Big Cats score nine unanswered points, and coach Jon Burnell was able to give nine of his 11-player roster court time in the period as they reached the first break with an eight point lead. Brian Moore became the tenth Leopard to play in the opening minute of the second period, and quarter proved to be an even one as Leopards just shaded it 19-17 to taken a ten point lead into the locker room as Seaman added six points to his first period tally of ten. Mohawks managed to reduce the Leopards' lead to seven by the midway point of the third period, but with Moore and Sam Salter both sinking treys in a 10-2 run, the Big Cats looked to have sewn the game up as they took a 65-47 lead. However, Teesside hit back with a 10-2 run of their own to go into the final break trailing by nine. After sitting out the whole of the third period, Selvey marked his return to the action with the first score of the fourth. An 8-0 run midway through the period effectively sealed things for the Big Cats, but there was still time for recent signing James Warwick to convert an "and-one" before Ed Gregory wrapped things up with a buzzer-beating three to send the Leopards home happy. Leopards: E Seaman 22, D Williams 18, T Selvey 16, S Salter 12, S Ogunjimi 9, D Jones 6, B Moore 3, E Gregory 3, J Warwick 3, M Eames 2, R Lloyd. Leopards return to action on Saturday January 7 with a trip to Solent Stars. SOLENT STARS 84 (16, 32, 58) SHEFFIELD ARROWS 117 (27, 53, 84) This away defeat at Sheffield Arrows completed a miserable year for the Solent Stars men's first team. Cruelly denied the services of starting five player, Clayton Milner, who was delayed through work commitments, Solent's team was no match for a confident Sheffield team whose two American players punished Solent throughout. It was the Americans, Brown and Kain, who were responsible for all but five of Sheffield's opening quarter total of 27 points. Solent, on the other hand struggled to make any impact with their shooting even when left with clear cut chances. Mark Jackson was one of the main culprits only notching four first half points. He was not alone, however, because it was four minutes into the game before anyone was able to add to Jackson's two opening points, By then, the Sheffield scoring duo had established a 12 - 2 lead. David Butterworth briefly gave the team hope with nine points in the next three minutes, one score coming from a Ryan Payne steal. The quarter was typified for Solent when Anthony Rutter missed yet another Solent opportunity with seconds remaining . The rebound was taken by Sheffield who sent a long ball downcourt for yet another easy score. The Solent players still went about their task playing some enterprising basketball, demonstrating well-rehearsed practice moves, but the final shots were sadly lacking and allowed the bigger home team to move further ahead. With Jackson unable to score in the quarter Marc Steutel, Rutter and Payne were left to assist the regular scoring of Butterworth, but it was never going to be enough to threaten the Sheffield total in the quarter, half of which was scored by the American imports. Finally, Solent found some shooting form at the beginning of the second half. Steutel opened with a three pointer and Solent fought back to reduce the home team's lead to thirteen points (50 - 63) by the fifth minute. The scoring then dried up and Solent were only able to add eight more points whilst Sheffield rattled in twenty-one before the end of the quarter. With both teams in the team foul situation in the final quarter there were 17 visits to the free throw line in the last four minutes. Thirteen of those were for Sheffield. The home team benefited for some of those shots from the frustration shown by Payne and Marsh as they tried their hardest to stem the flow of Sheffield points. Coach Steve Chant needed all his numerically small squad to score but with Chris Sheldrick and Ollie Marsh unable to contribute any points from open play and Will Zoppellini only scoring with the last shot of the match, it was asking too much of the other players to keep Solent in the game. "We really missed Clayton's presence, which upset the balance of the team," said Steve Chant. Solent now have a three week break during which they will try to augment their squad ahead of January 7th's match at Fleming Park against Essex and Herts Leopards (8pm). SCORERS; David Butterworth 33 Mark Jackson 18 Marc Steutel 13 Anthony Rutter 8 Ryan Payne 7 Ollie Marsh 3 Will Zoppellini 2 Arrows shoot down Stars in points blitz Arrows 117 London Capitals 84 The City of Sheffield Arrows served up a spectacular display of basketball to shoot down the challenge of the Solent Stars, as they scored an impressive 117 – 84 win over the Solent Stars. Noah Brown once again led all scorers in the game with 37, but he was well supported by Tucker Kain 19 and Jamie Davidson 19. The Arrows started quickly with Tucker Kain moving the Arrows effortlessly into a 9 – 0 lead. Noah Brown was prominent in much of the early action as the game flowed from end to end, he combined with Tucker Kain for 22 points, while David Butterworth responded with 9 for the Stars who trailed 27 – 16 as the quarter closed. The second quarter followed much the same pattern as the first as the game flowed at a pace. Once again Tucker Kain, Noah Brown took the eye but they were well supported by Jamie Davidson who caught the eye with his shooting and general athleticism. David Butterworth and mark Jackson were the standout players for the Stars but the Arrows led comfortably 53 – 32 at the interval. The second half was very entertaining with the teams trading baskets, again Butterworth and Jackson were the outstanding players for Solent well supported by Steutel, however it was the Arrows with Noah Brown and Garnet Gayle combining for over 20 assists, which unleashed Guy Renton, Danny Richards, David Passmore and James Sutton as the Arrows remained in control to run out 117 – 84 winners. Scorers; Brown 37, Kain 19, Davidson 19, Renton 12, Richards 10, Gayle 6, Passmore 6, Sutton 6, Anderson 2. This win leaves the Arrows in contention for honours going into the New Year with a 7 – 2 record. Rockets 102 Nottingham 71 Though minus the services of point guard Lloyd Gardner, injured at training on Thursday, Rockets took control of this game from the 5th minute when they began a 20 - 0 run ( inc 3 Tonkovich dunks) to overcome a spirited Nottingham as Rockets led 52 - 34 at half time. Coach Titmuss gave his younger players much court time and experience and they rewarded his faith in them by scoring well ( Rich Clark 11 pts and Simon Kearney 10 pts) as Rockets overwhelmed a gallant Nottingham to win comfortably by 102 pts to 71. Top scorers for Rockets were Tonkovich 22, Harrison 19 and Kelly 13. Rockets now go into the break undefeated in the League and with the National Trophy semi final in the New Year. w/e 11/12/05 Coventry Crusaders (40) 89 – Worcester Wolves (44) 86 Crusaders Finally Break Up the Wolf PackThis was one of the most memorable games in Crusaders' 13 year history. Crusaders broke another of their long-term habits and beat Worcester Wolves for the first time ever. That wasn’t in itself what made it the most memorable game, however. It was the dramatic way in which it all unfolded that made it an unforgettable game by all those who were fortunate enough to be there. Scoring first were the Wolves, a quick basket soon followed by another. Those were answered by two baskets by Crusaders, and that was to be the pattern of the first quarter. Crusaders would make a short run, and Worcester would catch up with them by hitting five 3 pointers compared to Crusaders three. By the first interval, the score was 23-23 and everyone was on the edge of the seat with the anticipation of which way the game would turn next. The Wolves opened the second quarter almost identically to the way they started the game, with several quick baskets, jumping out with the early lead. They were able to maintain that lead throughout the period, although Crusaders kept them in sight and within reach with the help of Twierdzinski’s scoring. It was ex-Crusader Matt Collins and Ty Shaw who kept the Wolves ahead in the game for Worcester, and allowed them to go into the dressing room at half time up 40-44. The third quarter, once again, began with several quick baskets by Wolves and Crusaders were suddenly down by 11 points. Half way through the period, Crusaders were trailing by 16 points, and it looked like Wolves would be going home with the win like they have done so many times before. Crusaders started fighting back, however, with four consecutive 3 pointers coming from four different players. Wolves could be excused for not being able to decide who they should double team. By the time the quarter ended the Wolves still led, but the Crusaders had started their comeback. The last period began with a three pointer by Crusaders Sam Oatman, cutting Worcester’s lead to just 5 points. Worcester missed several of their shots, while Crusaders scored two more 3 pointers. By this time the Crusaders supporters were sensing that big things were about to happen, and the volume level of the crowd’s noise just continued to rise. Seven minutes into the quarter Oatman hit yet another three pointer putting Crusaders back in the lead and the home supporters went crazy. The Wolves and Crusaders then traded baskets for a couple more minutes, with Crusaders just managing to stay ahead of the Wolves. In the final minute with the score 83-82 to Crusaders, Worcester’s Shaw went to the free throw line for two shots. Missing them both, play resulted in Oatman being given the same opportunity. Oatman made both of his, giving Crusaders a three point margin. With time running down, Shaw then came down and went almost uncontested, up for a slam dunk, and cut their deficit to just one point. Wolves knew they had to score again, so a quick foul on Scott Neely sent him to the free throw line. Neely missed one and made one, bringing the score to 86-84. Wolves had to get a shot off quickly, and Urbonavicius did not disappoint them, sinking a long-range two pointer with only four seconds remaining on the clock, and tying the ball game. Worcester’s supporters delight was short lived, however. Dip Donaldson in-bounded the ball to Neely who took a few dribbles down court toward Crusaders end and then launched a shot from well behind the half court line. The shot looked like a magnet was guiding it straight to the backboard and in, as the buzzer sounded. Result: 89-86 Crusaders. The Coventry Sports Centre has not witnessed a game like it in a very long time. The crowd went wild, the players went wild, the place erupted in total basketball-mania! It was a terrific performance by a team who is finding their way back to the top. Crusaders next home game – and the last one in 2005, will be this coming Saturday versus another top team, Worthing Thunder. Tip off is 7:30, and tickets are available on the door. Crusaders Scorers: Donaldson 6, Hamlet 15, Neely 19, Oatman 23, Twierdzinski 26 Worcester Wolves Scorers: Clarke 2, Potts 2, Chiverton 7, Harper 11, Urbonavicius 16, Collins 16, Shaw 32
Essex & Herts Leopards 84 (18,48,66) SAM Salter's best offensive performance of the season was not enough to prevent the Big Cats slipping to defeat at the Brentwood Centre, on Sunday. Salter led the Leopards scoring for the first time with 24 points, but a disappointing final period saw Thunder return to the south coast with the EBL points. The Big Cats' big men again suffered from foul trouble in an entertaining game in front of the new-look Leopards' largest ever home crowd. The home side started strongly as a pair of Salter threes and a trey from Demetrice Williams saw them open a 13-4 lead. However, Thunder hit back with 12 straight points, before Troy Selvey broke the run off a Steve Ogunjimi assist. With Williams picking up two fouls, only Selvey was able to get on the scoresheet during the final three minutes of the period, and the visitors went into the first break with a five point lead. The second quarter proved to be Leopards' strongest period of the game, and Salter and Errol Seaman each scored ten points, as they outscored Worthing 30-22 to lead by three at half-time. A Salter try levelled the score at 25 after two minutes, but four points from Pat Bates and Steve Gayle helped the helped Worthing score 12 unanswered points. Seaman broke the run, and Leopards finished the half strongly with Seaman adding a further four points and Williams converting an "and-one" opportunity to send Leopards into the locker room with the lead. A tight third period saw both Seaman and Troy Selvey pick up their fourth fouls, but with Steve Ogunjimi and Salter both draining from long range, and Williams collecting half of his team-high ten rebounds, the Leopards went into the final break with a one point deficit. Worthing opened the final period with an 8-2 run as Roger Lloyd missed a pair of free-throws. Coach Jon Burnell brought Selvey and Ogunjimi, who were both in foul trouble, back into the action, and three points from Seaman plus Salter's sixth trey of the game saw the lead cut to five. However, that was as close as the Big Cats came, as Selvey fouled out with 1:49 remaining. Williams and Ogunjimi did manage to convert their free-throws, which was an improvement after Leopards had scored just ten from their 19 shots from the charity stripe prior to that, but with Aldredo Ott scoring ten of his 13 points in the final period Leopards slipped to their first home league loss of the season. Leopards: S Salter 24, D Williams 18, T Selvey 16, E Seaman 15, S Ogunjimi 9, R Lloyd 2, M Eames, D Jones, B Moore, E Gregory (DNP), J Warwick (DNP) Magic Wade too Strong for Stars. Solent Stars: 85 – 106 Manchester Magic Magic extended their winning run to seven games on Saturday with a workmanlike performance on the road at Southampton. A close first quarter was shaded by the Magic by 28-25 with both Matt Hogarth and Wade Henninger causing the Stars problems. Butterworth, the Stars forward scored enough points to keep them close. It took a little time for the Magic to hit the right notes in the second quarter, but when they did, they extended their lead to 13 points by the half time break. The third quarter saw all the Magic’s points come from Henninger and Hogarth, as the whole Magic team continued to be sound in attack and defence. By the end of the quarter, the game was well won, but then it was noticeable that they took their foot off the pedal in the last quarter. This allowed the Stars to shine, as they reduced the deficit to 21 points. The last game of the year, at home against Worcester Wolves on Saturday 17th Dec., should be a real test for the Magic. Two previous meetings this season have left them with heavy defeats, but the Magic have greatly improved since then. It should be an exciting game. Tip-off is at 7.30 p.m. and all are welcome. Top Scorers. Magic. Wade Henninger: 32 Matt Hogarth: 26 Del Herriman: 11 Stars. Butterworth: 23 Marsh: 17 Payne: 13
London Capitals
73 (24,41,48) A DOMINANT second half performance saw the Big Cats record their first away league win of the season, on Saturday. Led by fine performances from American duo Demetrice Williams and Troy Selvey, Jon Burnell's side took control during the third period to run out comfortable winners. Selvey finished as top scorer with 28 points and ten rebounds, while Williams racked up a fine 25 points and an incredible 14 boards. A single Selvey free-throw gave Leopards the lead after six seconds, but that was as good as it got in first period for the visitors as they produced a sluggish performance. Capitals, who went into the game bottom of the table, saw their lead grow to nine with two minutes of the period after a basket from American K Robins, and it took another drive to the basket from Williams to cut the hosts' lead to seven at the first break. Gariba opened the second with a lay-up to take the lead back to nine, but a Brian Moore three launched a steady comeback for the Big Cats. The home side clearly could not cope with the electrifying pace of Williams and five straight points from the point guard saw Capitals' lead cut to one before acting coach Milek Jivens called a time-out.
The move worked as Capitals went on a 6-0 run, but four
successful Selvey free-throws plus an "and-one" from Steve Ogunjimi tied the
score at 38. A Robins free-throw and a Gariba dunk took the lead out to
three as Errol Seaman was forced to sit down on three fouls, but his
replacement Roger Lloyd put his name on the scoresheet in the dying seconds
to send the Whatever Burnell said during the break clearly worked as Leopards opened the second half with a 20-2 run to take control of the game. Selvey launched the run with five straight points, before Sam Salter sunk a three-pointer off Williams' assist. Williams was next in the act with three consecutive baskets, before put-backs from Ogunjimi and Matt Eames, plus a Williams lay-up gave Leopards a 60-43 lead at the midway point of the period. Coach Burnell was able to rest his starting five during the final three minutes of the period, but the visitors stretched their lead with an "and-one" from Moore and steal and dunk from Lloyd as they went into the final break with a 22-point lead. To be fair to the home side, they did not go down without a fight, and an incredible four point play from the impressive McCue as he drained a three as he was knocked over by Williams, saw them score ten unanswered points, with Nyako and Blaszckyk also hitting treys. The run was ended with four successful Selvey free-throws, and the visitors never looked in trouble again.
Salter ended a disappointing shooting night with seven
points in three minutes, while James Warwick scored his first points for the
Big Cats as they wrapped up their third league win of the season. Worthing Thunder 105 (31, 54, 76) Steve Gayle 31; Pat Bates 22; Alfredo Ott 22 Reading Rockets 111 (23, 45, 83) Paul Tonkovich 33; Rich Wellings 33; EJ Harrison 26 Thunder’s lack of bench depth ultimately cost them victory in a close fought encounter against a Reading team led by Richard Wellings who dominated from 3-point range. Both teams were hampered by the loss of key players; Reading had lost Tomas Kersis to an injury and Thunder without two key players, Nick O’Harabe and Rani Malik. It was the home team who were to comprehensively dominate the early stages as they extended their lead into double figures at 18-8 as Reading struggled to adjust to Thunder’s zone defence. The visitors kept themselves in with a shout however largely due to the three-point shooting of Richard Wellings. With Thunder dominating in the paint the first period closed out 31-23. Reading rallied in the second period to close the margin to just 1 point at 33-32 but Thunder’s Steven Gayle was seemingly unstoppable with 12 second quarter points to see Thunder extend their lead to a 9 point margin at half time 54-45 up. The third period was to prove the turning point of the game with Thunder’s Jon Woods harshly adjudged for offensive fouls in quick succession and his frustration evident as he incurred a technical and fouled out. With Woods out of the game Thunder struggled to contain Reading’s Paul Tonkavich with only Pat Bates providing any height in the paint. More treys from Wellings further hampered Thunder’s cause and they finished 7 points behind at 76-83. Both teams were evenly matched for much of the final period but the final body blow came for Thunder who lost Bates to his fifth foul late in the 4th period. Thunder went as much as 10 behind but thanks to some die-hard resistance from their much smaller players were able to keep the margin respectable and at the close following a Steven Gayle trey finished valiant 105-111 losers. SOLENT STARS 85 (25, 44, 59) MANCHESTER MAGIC 106 (28, 57, 84) Just five league wins for the valued home supporters in a calendar year is the miserable truth as they witnessed Solent Stars first team being outclassed by current league leaders Manchester Magic, in the Division One game at Fleming Park. Solent gave the ball away too easily at the start of the game, but soon settled down to play some enterprising basketball that made a mockery of the nine league places separating the teams. David Butterworth contributed three three pointers (taking him passed the 300 point total for the season so far) to level the score at 17 all in the sixth minute. Manchester did not allow Solent to take the lead as Matt Hogarth supplied two quick three point shots of his own. All of Solent's starting five, Butterworth, Mark Jackson, Ryan Payne, Marc Steutel and Clayton Milner contributed to the scoring as Solent strove to keep pace with Manchester. The home team rather lost its way at the beginning of the second quarter after Chris Sheldrick failed with a simple lay-up that could have set them on their way. A succession of misses and turnovers by his colleagues allowed Manchester to forge ahead to take a ten point lead. Solent felt that they were at the receiving end of some over-fussy refereeing decisions and it was Ollie Marsh who, untypically, reacted after one decision to gain himself a technical foul. So fired up was Marsh that he single-handily scored Solent's next seven points to bring his team within three points of the Manchester total. With Solent in team foul trouble, Manchester went to the free throw line for a succession of shots that allowed them to increase their lead to a comfortable 13 point margin at half time. Manchester demonstrated their superiority as Solent tired in the third quarter and piled on the points, aided by several mistakes by the home team that ceded the ball too many times to the opposition. With Manchester coach, Jeff Jones, giving all his players court-time, Solent were able to regain the initiative in the final quarter (which they won 26 - 22). Marsh eventually fouled out and was also charged with a second technical foul. The final time-out with Manchester leading 101 - 79 had the unusual sight of the winning coach berating the referees demonstrating that perhaps Marsh had a case to make! SCORERS SOLENT David Butterworth 25 Ollie Marsh 17 Ryan Payne 13 Mark Jackson 11 Marc Steutel 10 Clayton Milner 7 Anthony Rutter 2 MANCHESTER Wade Henninger 32 Matt Hogarth 26 Delme Herriman 11 Gavin Smith 9 Matt Williams 8 Eliot Goran 8 Aaron Roberts 4 Steve Towell 3 Michail Papadopoulos 3 Sean McKie 2 Wolves infuriate Kings Lynn Worcester Wolves: 84(24,43,67) (Harper 28, Shaw 22, Urbonavicius 7) Kings Lynn Fury: 61( 8,23,45) (Sheard 26, Stonebridge 17, Bamfield 8) Kings Lynn fury visited Worcester Wolves after a very difficult first half of the season, having played seven games and won only one of them. Worcester meanwhile were buoyant after their decisive win over Worthing the week before. After a tentative start, the difference between the teams was clear, but this did not stop Kings Lynn giving their all right until the final buzzer. Worcester won the tip, but found the basket for the first time on their second offence, with 2 from Ty Shaw. The score remained fairly static for several minutes, but once Worcester turned up the heat, Kings Lynn dropped behind very rapidly. By the time Kings Lynn called their first time out on 5¾ minutes, they were 14-4 down. In the last few minutes of the quarter the home side continued to push hard, with points coming from Rob Clarke, Andy Harper and Valdas Urbonavicius. Kings Lynn struggled to keep up with the pace and fell further behind: the quarter closed 24-8 to Worcester. Worcester’s defence continued to be crippling for the Kings Lynn score as the Wolves managed to defend the visitors out for the full 24 seconds on a number of occasions through the second quarter. Worcester coach Josh Cooprider gave the bench players, including new signing Joseph Ford, some court-time in the following few minutes. They performed well against Fury’s starting players, maintaining a healthy lead and allowing the starting five to rest. The Wolves maintained pressure for the rest of the quarter to extend their lead from the previous quarter to 43-23. Rob Clarke opened the third quarter scoring for Worcester with 2 from the edge of the key. Andy Harper followed this up with a 3 off a feed from Shaw. Worcester maintained a comfortable pace, allowing the visitors to keep in step, but never allowing them to gain too much ground. Half way through the quarter, Worcester led 54-32, a slight increase on their lead at the end of the previous quarter. Ty Shaw was called for a slightly doubtful unsportsmanlike foul giving the visitors free throws and possession. Play continued for the remainder of the quarter much as it had for the preceding minutes, the quarter closing at 67-45 to Worcester. Worcester opened the final quarter of the game with 2 points from Shaw on the 24 second buzzer which he followed up moments later with another close range 2. Kings Lynn continued to battle through the Worcester defence, and though they slipped back a little in the early part of the quarter, they picked up the pace again as the time wore on to regain lost ground. The Furys’ Peacock was given a technical foul on 6 minutes, but Worcester failed to sink the bonuses. Ben Potts closed the game for Worcester with 2 points. Kings Lynn attempted a final abortive offence, but couldn’t find the ring. The game closed 84-61 to Worcester London United comprehensively beat Coventry Crusaders at Brunel Osterley on Saturday evening to get back to winning ways in the National League. After starting very poorly and conceding 31 points in the 1st quarter mainly through poor intensity on defence the Londoners managed to pick themselves up and work for eachother to create turnovers to allow them to get back into the game. It was Coventry's Polish import Twierdzinski who helped them get off to a flyer with 12 1st quarter points as London's Deppisch was much slower to get going. The 2nd quarter saw London keep Coventry to only 8 points with some much more intense defensive work as Deppisch finally found his shooting touch with three long range threes. United managed 24 of their own to take a half time lead of 48-39. Inevitably Coventry faded with only a small bench relying heavily on their starting unit and in the 3rd quarter United eventually stretched the lead out to 77-65 with Deppisch connecting with another 4 threes and Van Elswyk doing the damage inside the paint. United's depth helped them to continue to pressurise Coventry as the offensive looks became easier for the Londoners with Coventry seriously tiring in the 4th. Deppisch added another 2 threes and Mumuni and Klocek worked tirelessly at the defensive end. United finally sealed a good home victory at 106-86 against a much improved Crusaders team to take the Londoners to a 7-1 winning record. United's scorers: Deppisch 35 (9 threes), Van Elswyk 22, Mumuni 13, Klocek 9, Ataha 9, Reid 8, Machynia 8, Quashie 2, Long 2. Coventry Crusaders: Hamlet 34, Twierdzinski 23, Oatman 9, Neely 9. w/e 04/12/05 SOLENT STARS 84 (22, 45, 65) COVENTRY CRUSADERS 88 (14, 42, 68) Solent Stars coach, Steve Chant, was the first to admit that his team had missed a golden opportunity of a league win when they lost to a depleted Coventry Crusaders team at Fleming Park. Some disjointed early moves by Solent were finally overcome by Clayton Milner, who caught the eye with rebounds at each end, twice following up to score with second chances after misses by his team mates. David Butterworth could make little impact in the first quarter but the Solent team were able to take an eleven point advantage (22 - 11) into the first time-out called by Coventry in the ninth minute. Solent were unable to add to their score in the rest of the period but Coventry's Jeremiah Hamlet landed a three pointer for the visitors. It was the same player who scored five more such shots in the second quarter and kept Coventry in the game. They were helped by the Solent players who, time and time again, looked to be building a big lead, only to 'freeze' in their shooting and let Coventry back in the game. One such period was ended when coach Chant brought Anthony Rutter and Ollie Marsh into the game and they responded by adding the next ten points before they too dried up in their point scoring. Hamlet's 29 first half points were sufficient to keep the Coventry deficit to just three points at the half time interval. Once again with a bright opening to the second half the home team looked to be forging ahead as they led 55 - 44 after the second minute. Then the scoring stopped for Solent and Coventry caught up. In the seventh minute Solent again had gained a lead (65 - 55) but it was Coventry who scored thirteen points in the last three minutes of the quarter to lead 65 - 68. After Hamlet's first half exertions he was able to add only two points in the second half, but 21 points in the half by American Sam Oatman meant that he had taken on the scoring role. Solent fought back in the final quarter with points from Mark Jackson, Rutter and Marsh to lead by four points early on but once Coventry had got their noses ahead with four minutes remaining, Solent lacked any cohesion. A series of poor shots and losses of possession gave them no chance of pulling back the few points by which they trailed. Next week's opponents, Manchester Magic, will give Solent an even sterner test (Fleming Park, December 10th, 8pm). SCORERS SOLENT David Butterworth 21 Mark Jackson 18 Clayton Milner 13 Anthony Rutter 11 Ollie Marsh 10 Marc Steutel 6 Ryan Payne 5 COVENTRY Jeremiah Hamlet 31 Sam Oatman 27 Marcien Twierdzinski 19 Dip Donaldson 9 Andrew Laventure 2 Worthing Thunder 130 - London United 117 London United travelled to South Coast rivals Worthing Thunder on Sunday afternoon with the intention of maintaining their 100% league record after Worthing had lost theirs the night before at Worcester. United who are place top of the English Basketball League were without injured point guard Santa Ataha and shooting guard Peter Knetchel. United's Robert Klocek made the first basket of the game with a lay up as Worthing's guard Steven Gayle opened the scoring for the home team from the foul line and from then on in was magnificent on offence. United struggled to match up with Worthing's guards as they managed to shoot an incredibly high percentage from the field as Worthing broke out to an 11 point lead at 33-22 by the 1st quarter's end. Deppisch had found his range early on with two three's along with Walid Mumuni with two of his own for the London team although it was Gayle and Ott who returned the compliment for the home team with successive long range scores of their own. Worthing stretched their lead out to 15 at the half as Gayle, Ott and Vear did all the damage. United inability to keep pace with the home team, who were obviously motivated to end United's run was their undoing and to the dismay of the London coaches were unable to turn on the defensive heat in any way after the break. That in a nut shell was United's shortfalls as both teams piled on the points in an evenly fought second half. Gayle, Ott and Vear continued to shoot a high percentage for Worthing as United's Jagodka momentarily helped spark United at both ends of the floor. United managed to win the second half battle by 2 points which was not enough to overturn the 15 point lead Worthing had at the half. United's top scorers were Mumuni 25, Reid 24, Deppisch 20, Machnyia 18 and Van Elswyk 14, whilst Worthing's Gayle had a game high 40 points with Ott on 30 and Vear on 29. United now face Coventry Crusaders in the League at Brunel Osterley on Saturday evening at 6pm with tickets available on the door. Matt the Giant Killer. Manchester Magic: 104 Teesside Mohawks: 63 After a shaky start, when they let the Magic build up a 13-4 lead, the Mohawks came back strongly to end the first quarter only 2 points down. The Magic were clearly unsettled by the new Teesside acquisition, the 7’6” centre Neil Fingleton. Although he scored little and rebounded less, throughout the game, his presence was disconcerting to men who are using to being considered big. In the early exchanges, the Magic looked in control, except for a tendency to turn the ball over. Evident in the first quarter, it increased in the second and the Mohawks capitalised well on this generosity to reach half-time only 47-50 down. Matt Hogarth and Del Herriman had kept the Magic in the game by some clever play and good shooting and Aaron Roberts had his best home game of the season. Working at his energetic best and looking as if he is back to shooting form. The second half started with more Magic turnovers and Mohawk points. After 5 minutes, with the scores level at 59-59, an electric fast break by Roberts, finished by Sean McKie, seemed to turn the game. From then it was the Matt Hogarth show, along with his first five colleagues that ended the third quarter 75-59 ahead and the Mohawks looking tired and dispirited. Young Matt Williams had been given the job of marking Fingleton.” It will be good experience for you|” said coach Jeff Jones. He responded by outscoring and outrebounding him. The last quarter saw the Magic cruise into an 84-62 lead after 5 minutes, with Hogarth in great form. Coach Jeff Jones was able to put his bench players on and they restricted their opponents to only 1 more point, while scoring 20 themselves. In the end, it was an easy victory, but the Magic must cut down on their generosity to the opposition, even if Xmas is coming. Their next home game is on the 17th Dec. against Worcester Wolves, who beat them recently in a Cup game. Having won their last 6 games, the Magic are now full of confidence and playing their most emphatic basketball for some time. Tip-off is at 7.30 and all are welcome. Top scorers: Magic: Matt Hogarth: 29 Del Herriman: 26 Matt Williams: 10 Aaron Roberts: 9 Mohawks: James Nicholson: 14 Taner Adu: 13 Eric Malambo: 13 Lee Norton: 10 Magic Recover for Good Win. PAWS London Capitals: 73 Manchester Magic: 78 In a quiet empty gym in North London on Saturday evening, the Magic made a bright start on this visit to the Capital. With 11 points from Eliot Goren and 9 from Matt Hogarth, they shaded the frist quarter 26-24. A lack of concentration and too many turnovers let the PAWS take control of the second quarter and they passed the Magic to lead 44-41 at half-time. The third quarter brought tougher defence from the Magic players and they kept the PAWS down to 13 points as they helped themselves to 21. 11 of these came from the in-form Matt Hogarth to give the Magic a lead of 62-57 going into the last quarter. Although the Magic maintained their 5 point advantage, they had a minor scare when the PAWS reduced their lead to 1 point 74-73 with two 3 pointers. However, aggressive defence and the experience of Hogarth and Del Herriman carried the Magic to victory by 78-73. This season there is a feeling of optimism in the Magic camp and they are closing games down much better than at some times in the past. Top Scorers. Magic: Matt Hogarth: 26 Eliot Goren: 16 Wade Henninger: 15 PAWS: McCue: 21 Robins: 19 Gariba: 13 26/11/05 Del Shoots the Knights Out. Manchester Magic: 101 Nottingham Knights: 72 This game might be remembered for one of the longest successful shots ever seen. In the third quarter, Magic captain, Del Herriman, launched an intended allez-oop pass from just in front of his own basket and scored an amazing 3 points. Naturally he claimed it as an intended shot. Either way, it effectively finished off the game and took the longest shot title from Aaron Roberts, the previous holder. By then, the Magic had a lead of 65-41 and the Knights had lost one of their 8 players on 5 fouls. From the start, they had struggled to contain the height, strength and power of the Magic offence, despite showing plenty of spirit and skill. Stefan Gill, returning to torment his previous team, demonstrated his full repertoire of steals, retrieves and shots to keep the Knights in the game. Also starring for the Knights was Tristan Lawon, who missed his first 4 free throws, but went on to score heavily from open play and from the line. But Magic coach Jeff Jones was able to give his bench players plenty of court time. So much so that it is getting hard tell which his best players are. As last week, Gavin Smith and young Matt Williams made a strong case in the second half for being the big men of choice and junior Devon Bailey, making his debut for the Magic, acquitted himself well. When every one of the 12 players in a team can make a sound contribution, the coach is bound to be a happy man. The next home Magic game is on Sunday, the 5th December and the visitors are the Teesside Mohawks. Tip-off is at 5 p.m. and all are welcome. Top Scorers: Magic: Matt Hogarth: 30 Del Herriman: 19 Matt Williams: 17 Knights: Tristan Lawson: 21 Stefan Gill: 16 Bud Johnson: 13
Reading Rockets 66
(16,32,47,53) LEOPARDS' hopes of striking a physcological blow ahead of Sunday's National Cup final were ended in an over-time thriller at Loddon Valley on Saturday. In a game which saw them outstanding defensive play from both teams, the Big Cats were left to look back on starting guards Demetrice Williams and Sam Salter both fouling out. The visitors did not help themselves, however, scoring just eight of their 19 free-throws, and could have had the game wrapped up before the extra period. For the disappointment of seeing their dismal away form continue, the performance against a side who had comfortably beaten them twice this season, should have given the Big Cats a boost prior to this weeks' showdown at the NIA. An early indication of the trouble to follow came when Errol Seaman picked up his foul of the game after just three minutes, but the home side also suffered as a clearly injured Tomas Kersis managed to collect three fouls in the opening five minutes, and missed most of the game after picking up a second knee injury. A Dave Jones three leveled the score at 7-7 midway through the first period, and six points from Williams helped keep the Big Cats in touch before a late pair of assists from Steve Ogunjimi set up Troy Selvey and Roger Lloyd to send Leopards into the first break with a three point lead. Another Ogunjimi assist saw Seaman extend that lead to five, but a 16-4 burst from the home side, which saw only Selvey score for Leopards during a seven minute spell saw Rockets open a seven point lead, before single points from Seaman and Selvey cut the deficit to five at half-time. Leopards trailed for much of the third period, but eight points from Selvey and six apiece from Williams and Seaman kept them in touch going into the final minute of the quarter when a steal and lay-up from Williams leveled the score. Selvey then scored to give the Big Cats their first lead for 18 minutes before a steal and three-pointer from Brian Moore sent the visitors into the fourth period with a three point lead. The final period of regulation time proved to be a defensive masterclass from both sides. EJ Harrison cut Leopards' lead to one point in the opening minute, but it took over five minutes before either side troubled the scorers again when Selvey scored with a put-back. Richard Wellings cut the Leopards lead back to one with 3:22 remaining, and there was another two minute scoreless spell before Seaman converted one of two foul shots. A traveling call on Ogunjimi with 30 seconds remaining, Paul Tonkovich leveled the score with 12 seconds remaining, and Leopards were unable to score with the final play of the fourth period as the game went into overtime for the first time in their history. Harrison opened the overtime scoring with a single free-throw before Salter sunk at three to put Leopards back in the lead. Harrison again netted to level the score, and Salter became the first Leopard to foul out with 3:30 on the clock. Reading opened a four-point lead as Peder Madsen scored from the foul line and Harrison dropped a three. Back-to-back scored from Seaman, split by a pair of Madsen free-throws, kept Leopards in touch before Williams fouled out. Lloyd Gardener converted both foul shots after Williams' foul, leaving Leopards trailing by four with 23.4 seconds on the clock. Another Jones three cut that margin to one, but Gardner was again perfect from the line as Leopards were forced to foul to stop the clock. With 13.4 seconds remaining, the visitors needed a three to send the game into a second overtime period, but Rockets did well to block the outside shot, with Selvey eventually scoring under the basket to leave his side deflated. Leopards: T Selvey 18, E Seaman 17, D Williams 12, S Salter 7, D Jones 6, B Moore 3, R Lloyd 2, S Ogunjimi, M Eames (DNP), J Warwick (DNP), E Gregory (DNP)
SOLENT
STARS 82 (19, 31, 47) For the third consecutive match a team was able to protect its unbeaten record against Solent Stars. However, this time it was a very close run affair thanks to a Solent fightback that saw them draw level with one minute remaining after trailing at one stage by 27 points. An even first quarter commenced with birthday boy David Butterworth landing an early three pointer. Two more points from Mark Jackson put gave Solent a slender advantage in the fifth minute but Worthing's quick response took them into a lead that they were never to surrender. Missed free throws by Clayton Milner (3) and Marcus Chng (2) allowed the home team to have a two point margin at the end of the first quarter. Despite having his first five players on court, coach Steve Chant, watched his side struggle to find any fluency in their play as they slipped behind in the scoring rate. A run of five unanswered points forced Chant to call a time-out, but then all he could do was watch as no one from the team was able to make any impression on the game. The Solent team looked totally out of sorts as Worthing opened the second half with a salvo of twelve points in the first four minutes to take a 58 -31 lead. Butterworth opened Solent's second half scoring and this was followed by baskets from Marc Steutel, Jackson and Milner to provide a mini-rally from the visitors. Solent then lost Marcus Ch'ng with a reoccurrence of his foot injury, and trailed by 21 points at the end of the quarter. With Ch'ng's departure, Anthony Rutter came off the bench to make an immediate impact as, along with Jackson, he provided Solent with a run of ten quick points to which Worthing had no answer. Ollie Marsh, Chris Sheldrick, Steutel, Jackson and Rutter gave Solent hope and the team was able to draw level at 82 all with one minute remaining. A lapse of concentration left a Worthing player free under the basket to score a simple lay-up whilst Solent themselves were unable to hit the target again. Coach Chant said, after the game, " The team put in a fantastic second half effort to come from behind and almost pulled off an upset in the fourth quarter. We are getting better every week and when we maintain our focus and energy on the defensive end of the court we are very tough to play against. Today we had a mental lapse in the second quarter and it cost us the game." Scorers: Mark Jackson 24 David Butterworth 19 Marc Steutel 13 Ryan Payne 8 Anthony Rutter 7 Clayton Milner 5 Ollie Marsh 4 Chris Sheldrick 2 Worthing Thunder 88 (21, 46, 68) Gayle 30; Bates 16; Ott 15 Solent Stars 82 (19, 31, 47) Jackson 24; Butterworth 18; Steutel 13 Thunder ran out slim victors against a Solent side that they really should have beaten comfortably following a 4th quarter capitulation that almost cost the home side victory. Both teams started the first period at a fast pace but Thunder in particular were guilty of missing too many open shots and lay-ups and despite frequently turning-over their opposition were unable to convert the gains into scoring opportunities. Had they done so then the first quarter margin would have been considerably greater than 2 points at 21-19.
The home team switched into a 2-3 zone for much of the remainder of the match and their opposition had no answer to it. By keeping danger-man David Butterworth marked closely and by exploiting their height advantage, Thunder kept Solent down to just 12 second quarter points and extended their lead to 15 points by the half, the damage being done by Steve Gayle and Pat Bates with 6 apiece in the period. The third period was very similar to the second with Solent still struggling to come to terms with Thunder’s zone. The home team held their opponents scoreless for 4 minutes whilst on a 12-0 run. Former Thunder player Butterworth got his team back in the game and after a small recovery the quarter finished 68-47 with Thunder seemingly comfortable. Despite scoring first in the fourth, Led by Mark Jackson with 15 fourth period points, Solent went blistering out of the tracks, scoring and incredible 13 points without reply in a 2-minute spell. Thunder were complicit in their own downfall and it wasn’t until the 8th minute of the quarter with their 21 point advantage squandered and both teams level at 80 apiece that a long-overdue switch of personnel from the home side proved crucial. With their strongest combination on the court Thunder eked away from the battling Stars and following the fouling out of Solent’s Mark Steutel, ran out nervy victors 88-82. London Utd 106 - Worcester Wolves 97 London Utd pulled out their 6 straight league victory to take them 2 points clear at the top of EBL Division 1 by beating second place Worcester in a close game at Brunel Osterley on Saturday evening. United started slowly as Wolves took an 8-3 lead however London went on a 17 point unanswered run due to Van Elswyk's inside work and Deppisch's shooting. Wolves worked hard to bring themselves back into contention through Ty Shaw's 12 points and by the end of the 1st quarter United maintained their lead by 11 at 32-21. United maintained their lead only until the 6th minute of the quarter as Shaw and Clarkes inside scores gave Wolves a point lead at 38-39.United rallied again as Deppisch nailed another two 3's along with Ataha and they took a lead of 54-47 into the half time break. The second started with Deppisch scoring another 3 as Klocek and Van Elswyk finished off some good team basketball giving United a 16 point lead in the 7th minute however once again Wolves would not lie down and went on a 7 point run to bring them back into touching distance however it was Deppisch again scoring from long distance who gave United the advantage at the end of the 3rd at 79-65. A spirited run at the start of the 4th saw Wolves come back to 2 at 86-84 as Harper and Collins nailed 4 successive 3's giving Deppisch a reason to nail his 10th 3 pointer of the game to push United ahead at 89-84 with 4 minutes remaining. London managed to trade baskets for the remainder of the game as they pulled out a 9 point victory at 106-97. United's top scorers were Deppisch with 39 and 10 three pointers, Peter Van Elswyk with 26 and Santa Ataha with 16. Shaw had 23 and Harper 19 for Wolves. United play away to Worthing next Sunday with the Reading home game being postponed on Saturday. 19/11/05 Matt the Difference in Magic Win. Kingston Wildcats: 63 Manchester Magic: 89 The Wildcats have strengthened up their squad from last season and the Magic were not expecting an easy game. Both sides were evenly matched in the first quarter, with four successful 3 point shots in the first quarter for the Wildcats keeping them well in contention. In the second quarter, coach Jeff Jones started the Magic with the 16 year old Matt Williams and Gavin Smith in the post positions. This was a combination that changed the game. Williams, with assists from Smith, plundered 12 unanswered points that rocked the opposition. This opening onslaught gave the Magic plenty of confidence and they upped their defensive intensity. By doing so, they kept the Wildcats to only 6 points in the quarter, while scoring 27 themselves. At half-time, they led by 47-24. In the second half, the Magic controlled the game, just increasing their lead before the end to run out easy winners. This Saturday, they entertain Nottingham Knights at the Amaechi Basketball Centre. They have beaten the Division newcomers three times already this season, but the last time only in overtime, so the Magic cannot afford to be complacent. Tip-off is at 7.30 and all are welcome. Top Scorers. Magic: Matt Williams: 20 Wade Henninger: 15 Matt Hogarth/Del Herriman: 13 Wildcats: Sudler: 27 Harris: 9 Selsby: 8 SOLENT STARS 71 (22, 28, 50) LONDON UNITED 121 (29, 58, 89) For the second consecutive week, London United scored 121 points and this time the luckless victims were home team, Solent Stars. London opened with a zone defence which Solent were able to penetrate on occasion with skilful use of bounce passes but then were unable to score from inside against the taller defenders. Pete Deppish came into the game and helped London consolidate the lead they were building with two quick three point shots. Earlier Solent had kept pace with the scoring through Ryan Payne, Marcus Ch'ng and David Butterworth and briefly held a 10 - 9 advantage in the fourth minute. Late scores from Clayton Milner and Ch'ng meant that Solent ended the quarter trailing 22 - 29. Whilst neither team could score in the opening minute of the second quarter, London then added 21 points to their total and Solent were only able to add one David Butterworth two point shot in the next seven minutes. During this time Payne, Ch'ng and Marc Steutel all reached three fouls forcing coach Steve Chant to put other players on court. With three of his starting five on the bench, and no Mark Jackson (injury), the coach could only watch as his less-experienced players fought a hopeless battle. Two free throws and a basket from Anthony Rutter were Solent's only scores in a miserable quarter for them. Reverting to the starting five after half time brought Solent more into the game, and they were only outscored by nine points in the third quarter. London continued their three point shooting assault with five of their players combining to score a total of 15 out of 29 attempts against the 4 out of 16 successes for Solent. In the match Solent made nearly the same number of shooting attempts as London from closer range scoring with 29 of their 79 attempts, whilst London landed 45 out of 86 attempts. Such was London's inside domination on defence that two of Solent's tallest players, Steutel and Chris Sheldrick could only manage five shots between them despite extended court time. Eleven points difference separated the scores of the final quarter as London continued to dominate. On the night it became clear that only Solent's David Butterworth, who played the whole game and scored 35 points, could compete at this level against one of the league's top teams. SCORERS; SOLENT David Butterworth 35 Clayton Milner 9 Ollie Marsh 9 Marcus Ch'ng 7 Ryan Payne 6 Anthony Rutter 4 Will Zoppellini 1 LONDON Jacek Jagodka 28 Santa Ataha 18 Pete Deppisch 18 Damien Reid 12 Walid Mumuni 11 Pavel Machnyia 11 Peter Van Elswyck 9 Mark Quashie 6 Robert Kocek 5 Phil Long 2 London United travelled to the South and West Coast this weekend in a gruelling schedule that saw them continue their winning ways in the National League by hammering Solent Stars 121-71 and then travelling on to BBL Club Plymouth Raiders on Sunday to lose in the National Trophy by 67-104. The two games couldn't have been any more different as London absolutely smashed Solent from start to finish. United were stronger in every department and really went for the throats of their Southern counterparts. From the very start of the game they lead as captain Deppisch, Reid and Van Elswyk all found their shooting touch. Jagodka came off the bench to add the spark to score 25 points whilst every one on the United roster played good minutes and got on the scoreboard. 12/11/05 Fury First Div. 1 Win against Wildcats Fury took an early lead in the first three minutes of the first quarter with a slam dunk from Solomon Sheard, which seemed to shake up the Wildcats. After a Fury foul the Wildcats dropped both free shots, but managed to pull themselves together scoring four three pointers . Fury retaliated with two of their own three point baskets but the period ended with Wildcats in the lead 15-24. The second period started with James Bamfield and Matt Ellis both scoring. Wildcats gained a further eight free throws and dropped six of them, if scored it could have put the Wildcats well in the lead. But their shooting was not up to standard. Fury took advantage of the Wildcats weak shooting and ended the first half only one point down, cheered on by the home crowd and the chants of the Fury All Star Cheerleading Squad. The third quarter saw the Wildcats try to increase their very slim lead but Fury kept up with them with some excellent defence and despite Wildcats number 5 Selsby shooting a couple of three pointers Fury kept on their tail finishing the period only 6 points down. The final quarter had the crowd on their feet. Fury had played a tremendous game and there was still more to come. Again Wildcats Selsby took a three point shot in the third minute but Fury were undeterred and retaliated with a three pointer from Dave Peacock immediately afterwards. This was followed by three points from Ayodeji Jegede immediately followed by another three Pointer from James Bamfield and then in the 6th ,inute again Dave Peacock. Fury were flying and the home crowd were right behind them. A foul against James Bamfield and then against Ayodeji Jegede brought Fury to within 3 points. In the ninth minute baskets from Bamfield and Stonbridge took Fury into the lead and in the final seconds a foul against Jegede gave fury a 2 point lead with five seconds on the clock. Wildcats could do nothing but watch the seconds tick away. A fantastic victory for the Fury and the home crown went absolutely wild. Final Score Fury 71 - Wildcats 69 Top Scoreres - S Sheard 22, J Bamfield 16 J Stonebridge 12 , D Peacock 11.
Essex & Herts Leopards 85 (25,52,65) Led by a 29-point haul from Troy Selvey, the Big Cats became the first side to defeat Wolves, after Josh Cooprider's team had opened the season with 11 straight victories. Sam Salter added a season-high 26 points as Leopards led for most of the game - though it was not until the final minute before they sealed victory in a tense game. After scoring the opening points through Andy Harper, Wolves' only other lead came with 2:45 of the first period remaining when Ty Shaw converted two free-throws. Selvey levelled the opening score from the foul-line before putting Leopards ahead, and the lead grew to 7-2 after a Dave Jones trey. Five straight Sam Salter points kept Leopards ahead, but a treys from Harper Lithuanian Valdas Urbonavicius put Wolves into the lead for the second and final time. Selvey again replied before birthday-boy Roger Lloyd increased the lead with a dunk, and the margin was taken out to five at the first break when Demetrice Williams stole the ball and scored with five seconds remaining Slevey scored the first five points on the second period, but with Robert Clarke scoring well at the other end, Wolves were within a point at the midway stage of the period. However, 11 unanswered points from the home put them in charge as Salter added ten points in three minutes, and an Errol Seaman two seconds before the end sent Leopards into the locker room with a 52-39 advantage. Wolves fought back after the break, scoring the first eight points of the second half, before Selvey broke the run, and it took a Salter three-pointer to send the Big Cats into the final period with a 65-61 lead. Leopards opened the fourth quarter with a 10-4 run, despite Steve Ogunjimi continuing to struggle offensively. Ben Potts closed the game with a trey, but Ty Shaw did not help his side's cause when he picked up a technical foul , and four straight points from Salter plus an Ogunjimi two put Leopards 83-75 ahead. A pair of Matt Collins free-throws made in 83-77, but Leopards held their nerve to record a morale-boosting win that should send them into Saturday's clash in a positive mood. Leopards: T Selvey 29, S Salter 26, E Seaman 8, D Jones 8, D Williams 7, S Ogunjimi 4, R Lloyd 4, M Eames (DNP), E Gregory (DNP), B Moore (DNP) LEOPARDS boss Jon Burnell is keeping his feet firmly on the ground after his side became the first team to defeat Worcester Wolves this season. The Big Cats won the dress rehearsal for Saturday's National Cup semi-final 85-79, but Burnell refused to get carried away with the victory: "I've expected us to produce a performance like this for a long time" he said. "The only thing that really impressed me was how we reacted when they put together a run in the third period. "We proved that if you stay doing the things that got you in a good position to start with, you can keep your nose in front." Burnell admitted to being impressed with the Wolves side who had won their first 11 games this season: "They were everything I expected them to be" he said. "They have good balance, their shooting guard Harper was sharp, and I was very impressed with him. "Winning on Sunday probably makes it harder for us in the semi-final, as they will have something to prove this week." Burnell had praise for his centre Troy Selvey , and was pleased with the way his side bounced back after losing at Manchester on Saturday. "I'm proud of how Troy played at the weekend, he's started to produce the kind of form we know he's capable of. It's no drama losing at Coventry, it's tough to win at places like that. It's different to going to places like Coventry and not winning there." Magic Wobble but Win. Manchester Magic: 93 Essex and Herts Leopards: 81 The Leopards outfit have made quite a name for themselves since they joined this Division of the EBBA. And they opened thia game strongly, especially with Troy Selvey signalling his intention of causing the Magic all sorts of problems from close in.. After a productive spell very early on, Wade Henninger went to the Magic’s bench, but soon returned to see his fellow-American Eliot Goren ease his team into a 6 point lead at the end of the quarter. With coach Jeff Jones’ second string playing most of the second quarter, the Magic were still looking in control, despite leading by only 3 points at half-time. By good defence, strong running and good inside shooting , the Leopards had a good third quarter and they were 1 point ahead going into the last. In the last quarter, the home fans were wondering if Jones had miscalculated, as the Leopards came back strongly to lead by 3 with 8 minutes to go. Young Matt Williams had an excellent game for the Magic, defending well and always managing to be in the right place at the right time. The whole Magic team played with plenty of enthusiasm and commitment throughout the game to subdue very dangerous opponents. As the Leopards got into serious foul trouble, their challenge faded and the Magic ended the game as comfortable winners. The Magic have now managed to beat two very strong teams in succession and the fans’ expectations are high. They will have to wait until Saturday, 26th November, for the next home game, when the visitors are Nottingham Knights. Magic top Scorers: Matt Hogarth: 26 Eliot Goren: 21 Wade Henninger: 16 Delme Herriman: 8 Worthing Thunder 93 (16, 45, 60) Bates 16; Woods 16; Ott 14 PAWS London Capitals 72 (22, 38, 53) Robbins 20; N'doye 17; Garriba 12 A patchy performance from Worthing Thunder saw them eventually run out victors by a comfortable 21-point margin against an improved London Capitals side. Thunder started well in the first period with points from Alfredo Ott and Nick Oharabe to lead 7-0. Their opponents were soon back on track and outscored the home team with a 14-2 run as Thunder were complicit in their own downfall. The home team had switched to an outside shooting game and abandoned their previously successful inside game and it cost them dearly. The introduction of centre Pat Bates stabilised things for Thunder and re-established an inside presence but the damage had already been done and they finished the period 16-22 adrift. Thunder’s big men dominated the first 4 minutes of the second quarter with Bates and Jon Woods combining for all of Thunder’s points in a 12-0 run. This time it was Capitals’ turn to re-adjust their game plan and in very similar fashion to the first period they were able to do so through Josh Tackie and Keena Robins Jr. who scored their next 11 points but the damage had been done and Thunder closed the quarter with a 7 point advantage. The third period was to prove a dire affair for both teams with neither able to exert any advantage. Capitals closed the margin to 2 points but Thunder pulled away with buckets from Vear, Bates and Oharabe. Free throws from Thunder guards Steve Gayle and Steve Vear extended the lead into double figures but a late burst from Robins Jr and N’doye for the visitors saw the margin return to 7 points at the close of an unremarkable quarter. Thunder broke away from their visitors midway in the final period following back-to-back treys from Rani Malik. They held their nerve to outscore their opponents 13-3 allowing the home coach to introduce his bench for the last couple of minutes. With Capitals losing both big men, Blaszczyk and Nydoye to foul trouble Thunder won comfortably down the stretch 93-72, largely thanks to a 33-19 last period. London United extended their league winning ways to 4-0 after crushing a young Teesside team at Brunel Osterley on Saturday evening. Teesside started the brighter of the two teams and took an early lead of 12-7 however it was United captain Pete Deppisch who fired the London team back into the game with 3 three pointers in a row as United finished the quarter 27 -22 leaders. United then increased the tempo of the game and applied a press to force errors from the Mohawks guards giving easy scores to the United transition offence. By the half United lead by 18 at 48 -30. United then kept their high tempo game up as they continued to pressurise the Teesside guards giving the whole United roster time to play and to score easy baskets. Robert Klocek had the crowd and the United bench on their feet as he pulled out an incredible explosive dunk over two Mohawks defenders and continued to impress as his confidence grew and he hit his open jump shots to help United extend the lead to 83-56 at the end of the 3rd quarter. The game was all but over for Teesside and to their credit they continued to battle to the last. London finished easy victors at 121-86 with every United player getting on the scoresheet and 7 of the ten players getting over double figures. Pete Deppisch finished with game high 27 hitting 7 three pointers. London roster and scorers: Deppisch 27, Klocek 17, Jagodka 13, Quashi 11, Machynia 11, Ataha 10, Reid 10, Mumuni 8, Long 7, Van Elswyk 6, Coach: Schiller United now face a tough weekend ahead as they travel to Solent in the league on Saturday and then to Plymouth the next day in the BBL trophy. SOLENT STARS 76 (9, 29, 49) WORCESTER WOLVES 93 (19, 46, 72) Worcester Wolves extended this season's unbeaten run to twelve games at the expense of a Solent Stars team that showed a distinct improvement over last September's National Trophy defeat against the same team. In that game Solent only mustered 45 points, and at the end of the first quarter in this league Division One game at Worcester, it looked as if history could be repeating itself. Solent had an early opportunity to take the lead but twelve missed points at the very outset meant that the home team, who were guilty of poor shots themselves, were able to stay just ahead of Solent in the first five minutes which only yielded six points in the game. Whereas Worcester were able then to hit the target more frequently, Solent continued to miss chances and only put nine points on the board in the first quarter. The match scoring rate increased in the second quarter, and it was the home team who posted the majority of the points (27 - 20) in the period. Solent were indebted to David Butterworth eventually finding his long range form to sink consecutive three pointers when Solent trailed 18 - 35 in the fifth minute. Marc Steutel was battling at both ends of the court to try and overcome the lack of 6' 8" Paul Davies who made himself unavailable for the game. Australian Marcus Ch'ng returned after a five game absence, but Solent coach, Steve Chant, used him sparingly after Ch'ng seemed to suffer a recurrence of his foot injury. The third quarter was very even as Solent continued their plucky display against Worcester's height advantage although they could do little to stop American Ty Shaw's strong inside play. Clayton Milner began to score some baskets from inside the defence and took some important defensive rebounds also. A few turnovers cost Solent more points, but they only lost the quarter by four points. Worcester used the last five minutes of the game to give some of their less experienced players a run out. Solent, despite their tiredness, continued to battle hard, shading the quarter by four points. Ollie Marsh came off the bench in the quarter to score nine of his eleven points and helped overcome the fact that Marc Steutel fouled out with five minutes remaining. Solent must now prepare for a home game (Saturday, Fleming Park, 8pm) against another of the league's contending teams, London United. Scorers: Clayton Milner 19 David Butterworth 17 Mark Jackson 12 Ollie Marsh 11 Marc Steutel 7 Ryan Payne 6 Marcus Ch'ng 2 Anthony Rutter 2 Worcester leave Stars out in the cold Worcester Wolves: 93(19,46,70) (Clarke 18, Harper/Urbonavicius 17, Shaw 16) Solent Stars 76( 9,29,49) (Milner 19, Butterworth 17, Jackson 12) Worcester faced the Solent Stars at home in the league after a very successful away game at Teesside the week before. Worcester’s record against Solent had been strong so far in the season, and despite the cold hall at Worcester, they prevailed again to continue their unbeaten run. Solent won the tip, but Matt Collins stole the ball for Worcester, feeding through Ty Shaw to Andy Harper for a long 2 to begin the scoring. Solent replied 3 minutes later with 2. The rate of scoring was very slow with quite low hit rates on both sides, possibly due to the very cold hall. However, towards the midpoint of the quarter Worcester began to pick up pace, leading 9-4 after 5¼ minutes of play. Worcester defended Solent out for the full 24 seconds on their last offence of the quarter, then Matt Collins delayed Worcester’s response to ensure Solent had no chance of reply before the buzzer… unfortunately, Danny Williams’ shot was unsuccessful and the quarter ended 19-9. Rob Clarke opened the second quarter with 2 off an assist from Shaw. Danny Williams was fouled on Worcester’s next offence and sunk one of his two shots. Worcester continued with the same pace as in the latter stages of the previous quarter, and Solent struggled to keep up. A number of steals and interceptions by Worcester players did little to assist Solent’s situation. Four minutes into the quarter, the home side led 31-15. Solent gradually caught up with Worcester’s pace, but were unable to overtake them, and the quarter closed 46-29 to Worcester. Solent started the third quarter with possession, but Matt Collins again stole the ball and went on to score a long 2 pointer. Several apparent fouls went uncalled in the first few minutes of the quarter, but this barely affected Worcester’s success at the basket: when the home side called a timeout on 5 minutes, they led 58-41. Solent maintained their pace and success in offence, but were unable to step up sufficiently to close on Worcester. Again, Matt Collins delayed the final offence of the quarter… he shot for 3 which fell slightly short, took his own rebound and shot again and missed. Shaw picked up the rebound, but was too late to beat the buzzer. Solent had by now slipped slightly further behind, leaving the home side with a lead of 70-49 going into the final quarter. The final quarter opened with a foul on Rob Clarke, who sunk both of his bonuses. Shaw added to this a few moments later with 2 of his own. After 3 minutes, Worcester were leading 78-53. Coach Josh Cooprider called the starting-five players off the court for the final seven minutes, giving the backup players a chance to show their skill, and they managed admirably. Mark Steutel of Solent was fouled out after fouling Ross Cooney. Late on in the quarter, Ross Cooney was punched in the face, yet no foul was called by the referees. Rob Clarke sunk a good number of points in the last few minutes of play, powering through the Solent defence to get the Wolves top score for the game. Worcester kept the pressure on for the remainder of the game to win 93-76. 05/11/05 Kingston Wildcats 87 Coventry 81 Wildcats snatched their first victory of the new season in a fantastic match at Kingston College Arena on Saturday. The team came into the game knowing that they could and should have won at Worthing the previous weekend and were determined not to let things slip again. Both teams started poorly finding it difficult to get into any form of rhythm whatsoever. In fact, it took Coventry almost two minutes to score but worryingly Wildcats almost four. It came in the shape of a three from new boy Junior Sudler. His score appeared to be the cue for the rest of team to try their luck from behind the arc, with a distinct lack of success. By contrast, Coventry through their American guard Neely and forward Hamlet found their shooting range as they both hit threes. Neely's scoring touch was much in evidence during the second quarter in which he ominously hit five threes which contributed to his eighteen first half points. Wildcats were struggling to keep up but through sheer tenacity trailed by nine at half time. |