Worthing Thunder ensured that they maintained their annual run of reaching a final in every season of their brief League tenure by overcoming Manchester Magic 105 – 90 on the night, winning the play-off semi-final by 199-182 on aggregate.

Both teams started evenly going into the first 4 minutes of the first period. Manchester took advantage of a change in Thunder personnel and some less than tight defending to blow the game wide open with an unanswered 17 point run that took them 25-8 ahead by the 7^th minute of play. With Alfredo Ott strangely out of sorts in the first period, the home side countered through guards Steve Vear and Steve Gayle, who with some deft 3 point shooting, posted all of Thunder’s remaining points in a 13-4 run that saw them close the gap to 21-29 at the end of the period.

The second period saw Thunder finally playing well. Led from the front by captain Vear, playing despite a debilitating virus, Thunder gradually closed the gap on their visitors, eventually overtaking them with 2 Vear frees and a trey from Alfredo Ott, who had finally come to the party in the 7^th minute. Another trey, from Vear this time and Thunder were on a roll, despite back-to-back frees from Troy Sledge, a Pat Bates dunk on the buzzer saw Thunder 59-54 up at the half.

The third period was evenly contested, Manchester got to within 1 point at 64-63 before Thunder moved clear at 70-63. With neither team able to string together any meaningful runs of scoring the only problem for Thunder was that of foul trouble with Gayle, Pat Bates and James Brame all on 4 fouls going into the last period. Thunder extended their lead into double figures at 77-66 but Manchester fought back to close the period 79-71 down.

Despite trying hard the visitors could not get close enough to the home side to challenge the outcome of the match in the final period. The margin hovered at about 8 points and when Alfredo Ott’s 6^th trey of the night moved Thunder into treble figures and sent the home fans wild, the game was up. Despite losing Bates and Brame who fouled out, Thunder held fast to record a 105-90 victory to ensure a place in the final.

Worthing have had an excellent season in the league, with only 3 losses and scoring on average 105 points per game. But they have conceded more than any team that made the play-offs, 90 per game. In contrast, the Magic have the meanest defence in Division 1, giving up only 76 per game but the poorest points- for average of the qualifiers, with 87. Worthing had won by 20 points at home and by only 4 in Manchester. The Magic have 3 new key players. All this helped to bring a full house to the Amaechi Centre, including the usual enthusiastic Worthing fans.

This first leg semi-final play-off game had all the ingredients for a classic game and it did not disappoint. Disregarding the visitors’ big reputation, the Magic got into their scoring game early and were 10 points up after 4 minutes. They held this lead until the end of the first quarter, but only the most optimistic Magic fans thought the Thunder would continue to falter.

Gradually Worthing got their inside offence working and had reduced the gap to 40-47 at the half. The Magic started the second half poorly and it was only some energetic work from Troy Sledge kept them in the game as the Worthing big guns started firing. Steven Gayle had once again returned to his old club to cause them major problems and Alfredo Ott was showing his class in all aspects of the game. Despite this, three 3 point baskets from Geri Major near the end of the quarter kept Worthing down to a 4 point lead.

In the last quarter, things were looking bad for the Magic as they trailed by 80-89 with 3 minutes to go after Matt Hogarth and Sledge had brought them level. Then Del Herriman, Kenny Roberts and Major all stepped up and nearly won the game for the Magic and they ended only 2 points down. They now travel to Worthing for the second leg with an insignificant deficit and all to play for. The game will be on Saturday, the 22^nd April.

Top Scorers: Magic: Troy Sledge: 23 Matt Hogarth: 20 Del Herriman: 16 Geri Major: 14 Kenny Roberts: 9 (7 assists)

The Arrows once again found the Rockets difficult to handle, fading in the final quarter to leave themselves 7 points to make up in the second leg of the semi final, going down 75 – 82. Noah Brown led all scorers with 31 points, confirming his status as the League’s most potent offensive threat, he was well supported by fellow American Tucker Kain (15), James Sutton (12) and Jamie Davidson (10).

The arrows struggled in the first quarter, trailing at one point 21 – 6 as Readings much vaunted overseas group of Harrison, Tonkovitch, Kersis and Madsen, battered the Arrows defence. The Arrows finished with a 10 – 4 run of their own with Richards, Brown and Kain, to trail by 16 – 25.

The Arrows were much more competitive in the second quarter, Noah Brown combining well with Tucker Kain and James Sutton while Harrison, Kersis and Tonkovitch replied for the Rockets who reached the interval leading 48 – 41.

The third quarter was much more free flowing and this favored the Arrows led by Noah Brown who was now combining with the athletic Jamie Davidson for a number of scores which saw the Arrows close the quarter leading remarkably 65 – 62.

The Arrows however did not then score for nearly 7 minutes of the final quarter, strangely it seemed trying to contain the Rockets, this was the case as the Rockets were hardly fluent themselves but a 12 – 0 run in this time gave them a decisive 75 – 65 advantage. In the final 3 minutes the Arrows went back into their attacking mode and cut the deficit to 7 points at 75 – 82.

This margin the Arrows will need to overturn in the second leg played on Sunday 23^rd April if they are to feature in the final.

The Arrows face an uphill task against a team leading 5 – 1 in head to head victories this season, but managing the impossible and the Arrows has historically gone hand in hand.

The Crusaders Play off Championship hope was terminally crushed on Saturday, as they were over-whelmed by the new league champions, Worthing Thunder.

The Crusaders traded baskets with Worthing for most of the first quarter. But with less than two minutes left to play, Thunder’s Patrick Bates was fouled. He made one of his free throws, but then went on to score another five points allowing Worthing a ten point lead at the end of the first period 16-26.

It was a series of calls made early in the second quarter that flavoured the rest of the game for Crusaders. Dip Donaldson who had checked in to try and counter balance Worthing’s inside game, was called for an un-sportsman-like foul when he reached around a player trying to strip the ball from him resulting in the player falling to the floor.

Just as the game got under way Donaldson was called for another intentional foul when he went up for a rebound, and warded him off an opposing player also attempting the rebound behind him. With two such fouls, a player is ejected from the game, so veteran Donaldson could not participate any longer in the game, much to the delight of the jeering Worthing crowd.

Shortly after that Jeremiah Hamlet was given a technical, for all appearances, for clapping his hands, when another call was made. With the game very nearly getting out of all control, it became a guessing game as to what would happen next.

By this time Worthing had been on a 12-0 run, thanks to the many free throws they were awarded, and it was deep into the second minute of play before Hamlet sunk two baskets with Crusaders first points of the quarter. Although Crusaders Marcin Twierdzinski scored nine points in the quarter and Marek Jaremko sunk seven, the Crusaders were struggling to keep the gap between the two sides from widening, and by half time they were down by 18, 40-58.

In the third and fourth quarters the Crusaders would start making a comeback and close the gap to 12-15, but the Worthing team always had an answer and then would surge ahead again.

Jonathan Woods rebounded well for Worthing, giving them many second and third chances to score, and there was usually someone who would score for them.

Crusaders were not hitting their usual high percentages, with a couple players short, and time running out, the rim got harder to find. They played hard until the final buzzer but in the end, Crusaders were over-powered by a very motivated team.

Hamlet had an excellent scoring game, as he has become known for, with 34 points and was top scorer for the game.

It was not the way the Crusaders had planned it, and definitely not the way they wanted to end their season, but on the night there were too many factors that didn’t go their way, and they were beaten by a better team.

“It’s been a good season for us 14 league wins and making it to the quarter finals in the play offs. It was a good stepping-stone going from last place in 2004-05 to qualifying this season.

With potentially the majority of the team returning next season, we will have a lot to build on with players already in place. We also hope to bring up some of the young players from our development programme.

It was a great help to us that Kehinde Roberts, Marek Jaremko, and Dominik Gorgol joined the team half way through the season. I was sorry not to have Sam Oatman for the last couple of games, but it was a good opportunity for Jaremko to play against those top placed teams and boost his confidence.

Of course it is disappointing to lose against a team who has been one of the top teams all season. It wasn’t lucky they did so well. Their goal on the night was not to lose, and ours was to upset their position.

Obviously it just wasn’t going to be on the day. They got the home court advantage being the higher seeded team, and that always helps.

Overall it was a good experience for us to build on. Our goal this year was to improve, to keep on progressively getting better. Winning a championship is a process.”

Crusaders scorers: Baynes Clarke 5, Neely 6, Jaremko 11, Twierdzinski 12, Roberts 16, Hamlet 34

Worthing scorers: Burns 2, Ugbana 2, Vear 5, Brame 6, Malik 10, Bates 16, Woods 17, Gayle 21, Ott 24

LEOPARDS' season ended in disappointment as they produced a poor performance to crash out of the play-offs at the quarter-final stage.

Against a side they had beaten comfortably in the away league game and taken to overtime the previous week, Jon Burnell's team never really got going and trailed for from the third possession of the game.

The Big Cats weren't helped by technical fouls on the stroke of half-time for top scorer James Warwick and coach Jon Burnell, just as they appeared to have fought their way back into the game, but they did not help themselves with some woeful free-throw shooting - finishing with only 11 points from 24 foul shots.

After Troy Selvey had won the tip, Sam Salter opened the scoring with a three-pointer, but that proved to be Leopards' only lead of the game as EBL Division One's top scorer Noah Brown answered with a pair of threes. After Guy Renton had made it 8-2 to the hosts, Selvey reduced the arrears, but set the scene by missing four foul shots as the Big Cats reached the first break 24-10 down as Arrows player-coach Garnet Gayle added five late points.

Scores from Steve Ogunjimi, making his comeback after a two-month lay-off with a knee injury, and Warwick cut the lead to ten during the opening minutes of the second half, and after Adrian Anderson had replied, Salter took it down to single figures with another trey. Warwick, who celebrated his 21st birthday last week, proved to be Leopards' main offensive threat despite being in foul trouble for most of the game, and seven straight points from him saw the lead cut to seven with a minute remaining in the first half.

An Anderson basket followed by a single free-throw from Gayle took it back up to ten before Dave Jones drained a buzzer beating three to send Leopards into the locker room trailing by seven.

However Warwick was penalised for touching the ball after it had gone through the hoop, despite the fact that there was no time left on the clock, and in the ensuing furore Burnell also picked up a T.

The second half started with Brown draining three of the foul technical free-throws, and although Salter replied with this third trey of the evening, Arrows went on a 7-0 run capped by a Tucker Kain three to take a 14-point lead. Despite a successful "and-one" from Selvey, the Big Cats were never again able to get Arrows' lead down to single figures. Jones drained another three, but despite four late points from Errol Seaman, a Brown three sent Arrows into the final break with a comfortable 19-point lead.

There never looked any real chance of Leopards mounting a fourth period recovery, despite Warwick taking his tally to 20, and unlike Arrow, coach Burnell gave his younger players some valuable experience.

Fifteen-year-old Michael Jarvis produced a perfect assist for Ed Gregory to score Leopards' final points of the season as they finished the campaign in disappointing style, but still had the considerable consolation of a National Cup triumph and a much improved league record to look back on.

Leopards: J Warwick 20, E Seaman 12, T Selvey 12, S Salter 9, D Jones 6, S Ogunjimi 5, T Christie 2, E Gregory 2, R Lloyd, M Eames, M Jarvis.

The form book said the Wolves would win easily, the smart money was on the Magic, with their new players and their new dynamism. As the game went on, it was too close to call, but both sets of fans in the noisy capacity crowd enjoyed an excellent contest, with plenty of skill and well-organised play.

The Magic started the more confidently, on the back of their unbroken sequence of seven victories and were 22 – 15 ahead at the end of the first quarter. The Wolves’ shooting machine was cranked up after the break, with Andy Harper in particular getting gasps of approval from all the crowd for his apparently infallible bombs. The result was a 2 point lead at the half for the Wolves, 37-35.

With two key Magic players, Troy Sledge and Kenny Roberts, on the bench for much of the third quarter, the Wolves took control of the game and went into the last quarter 61-54 ahead.

The home fans had given the home town boy Ben Potts a warm reception when he made his first appearance on court, but joy turned to grief when he promptly scored from long range.

Despite the best efforts of the Magic, the Wolves kept up the pressure in the last quarter, being level 64-64 after 4 minutes, but then Magic coach Jeff Joneswas able to bring back his still-fresh starting five and the Wolves started to look a little tired. Only a little, but enough for the Magic to power down the strength for a well-earned win. Bad news for future opponents of the Magic is that neither Matt Williams nor Geri Major scored a point, despite both playing well. But neither needed to.

Worthing Thunder successfully negotiated their way into the play-off quarterfinals with a comprehensive if unspectacular 103-84 defeat of Coventry Crusaders on Saturday.

The home side started well in the first quarter and following some deft three-point shooting from Alfredo Ott and Steve Gayle, they were soon 13-8 ahead. Crusader’s Jeremiah Hamlet was almost single-handedly leading the charge for his team with 9 of their 16 first period points, but even this was eclipsed by Thunder’s Pat Bates who scored the last 6 points of the period following a Kehinde Robert trey, to rack up 10 points personal in the first quarter and see his team hold a 26-16 lead.

The second period started badly for Coventry, having subbed in veteran player/coach Dip Donaldson to match up with Bates, the visitors were soon without his presence as he picked up successive “unsportsmanlike” fouls and fouled out of the match after only 2 minutes of the second period had expired! Thunder took full advantage of Crusader’s woes to extend their lead to as many as 20 points at 52-32 before a late fight-back ensured a 58-40 half-time score line.

The visitors came out of the locker room at half time with a renewed vigour and 5 minutes into the quarter had reduced the lead to just 10 points as Thunder were forced to take a hasty timeout. Thunder re-grouped and an 8-1 run ensured that a clear margin was re-established, indeed following back-to-back treys from Vear and Woods, the period finished with Thunder holding a 21-point advantage at 80-59.

Coventry again hit back at the start of the fourth, an 8-0 run narrowed the margin to 13 but this was as close as they could get. Despite losing Jon Woods to his fifth foul, late in the 4^th, Thunder ran the bench wisely and Coventry were unable to find a way back. For Hamlet it was a case of “close – but no cigar” as his 10 final period points were unable to make much difference to the result. Alfredo Ott’s free throws seeing them into treble figures and Thunder ran out comfortable victors 103-84.

The Arrows once again depleted, this time with Passmore and Elland missing and with Kain carrying an injury, out played the Leopards and in the end ran out comfortable winners by 93 – 69 to move into the Post season Semi Finals against the Reading Rockets. Noah Brown led all scorers in the game with 32 points but he was well supported by Jamie Davidson who hit 17.

In a tense and physical opening the Arrows led 11 – 9, however a 13 – 1 run to close the quarter in which Noah Brown and Garnet Gayle were prominent saw the Arrows ahead 24 – 10.

The game was turning into a battle between Troy Selvey and Errol Seamon for the Leopards who were successful in the paint against the quicker perimeter play of the Arrows epitomized by the work of Noah Brown and Adrian Anderson. The game reached the interval with David Jones hitting a “3 pointer” close to the buzzer but in the frantic finale Leopards were hit with 2 technical fouls. The interval score was 38 – 31 in the Arrows favor.

The third quarter belonged to the Arrows, Tucker Kain defied injury to hit some clutch baskets while the mercurial Brown and the inspirational Jamie Davidson took the game away from the Leopards although James Warwick was productive. The Arrows closed the quarter ahead 69 – 50, a lead they never looked likely to relinquish.

The Arrows controlled the tempo through the final quarter with Noah Brown feeding Adrian Anderson for a well taken basket. The Arrows saw out the game at 93 – 69.

Scorers; Brown 32, Davidson 17, Kain 11, Anderson 11, Gayle 10, Richards 5, Renton 4, Sutton 3.

This victory secures the Arrows a place in the Semi Final against the Reading Rockets over 2 legs. The first leg will be on Saturday 8^th April at the English Institute of Sport at 6pm, with the return leg at Reading on the 22^nd/23^rd April.

This was a vital game for the Magic, needing to win to give themselves the chance of a home first tie in the play-offs, against a revitalised Crusaders team who had beaten them heavily earlier in the season.

Having beaten the Magic by 25 points on their home court, the Crusaders opened confidently, using their shock and awe strategy of shooting the lights out. But the Magic were equal to it this time and nice 3 pointers from Kenny Roberts and Geri Major helped to give the home team a 4 point lead at the end of the first quarter.

Some energetic offence from Troy Sledge, Roberts and Major, backed up by Matt Hogarth and the rest of the Magic squad saw them move into a 14 point lead at the half. Jeremiah Hamlet, one of the tallest guards in the game, was scoring freely for the Crusaders, especially from the line, where he ended the game with an excellent 12 of 13. Magic coach Jeff Jones’ cunning plan of having Sean McKie guarding him soon lost its element of surprise, but meant the Magic were able to deny him the ball to some extent.

The Achilles heel of the Crusaders’ game became evident in the third quarter, as the starters tired and their bench players struggled. Player-Coach Dip Donaldson had to play half the game. Jones was able to bring on plenty of fresh legs, as his team cut loose to lead by 84-55 going into the last period. With the Magic bench seeing out the last quarter, the Crusaders made one last effort to get back into the game, but in vain. A full house of home fans really enjoyed this display of high-class shooting by the visitors and the committed and intense team effort from the Magic. On this form, their best at home of the season, they need fear no one in the play-offs. With the pleasing symmetry much loved by fans of the numbers in sport, the Magic won by 27 points, thereby winning the two-game match- up whichever way you look at it. The results from other games at the weekend confirm that the Magic will start the play-offs with a sudden death home tie against Worcester Wolves this weekend. Tip-off on Saturday is at 7.30 p.m. at the Amaechi Basketball Centre.

Top scorers: Magic: Matt Hogarth: 20 Troy Sledge/Kenny Roberts: 18 Geri Major: 17

Crusaders: Jeremiah Hamlet: 28 Marek Twierdzinski: 22 Dip Donaldson/Scott Neely: 6

The 2005-06 season drew to a close this weekend with dramatic wins and losses around the league, as teams jostled into place for next weekend’s championship quarter-finals.

Coventry Crusaders, who have lingered between 7^th and 8^th place over the past couple of months, needed a win to finish 7^th place, but didn’t manage to pull it off. The outcome of the game wasn’t too much in question after the first sparkling quarter for Crusaders, as they slumped to a heavy loss against Manchester Magic.

Magic was first on the scoreboard with Hogarth’s basket and quickly followed up by G. Smith’s early contribution.

Hamlet responded for Crusaders, with Twierdzinski’s three quickly followed by another basket, giving Crusaders an early one-point lead. During the first quarter the two sides traded baskets and everything stayed close and tight as they weighed each other up.

At the end of the first quarter Crusaders were down by four, 18-22, and things were looking pretty good.

From there on out the Crusaders form deteriorated, however. Playing without starting point guard Sam Oatman for the first time this season, was always going to be an adjustment that Crusaders knew all week they would have to make, but practically it was more difficult than expected.

Manchester continued shooting very well. In fact their shooting in the second period was even sharper than it had been to start off with, whereas Crusaders, looking a bit jaded, found it difficult to keep up.

The Magic scored a massive 32 points to Crusaders 17 in that quarter. Sledge hit 11 points for Manchester, giving the biggest single contribution, and Crusaders just didn’t seem to have the will power to do anything about it.

By half time they were down 40-54, and Manchester, who had shot a very high 74% from inside the arc, were riding high.

The third quarter did not improve for Crusaders, as Scott Neely had to sit out the second half nursing one of his legs. In the meanwhile Magic continued their onslaught with another 30 points.

Crusaders dismal 3^rd quarter and 15 points meant they were down 55-84 going into the final period.

Hamlet and Twierdzinski had good on-form games for the Crusaders, but alone, they could not carry the team against Magic’s determination and drive. Although Crusaders managed to pull themselves together a little for that final period it was way too late to make up the losses, and they coasted to the end of the game.

It was not the way they wanted to end the season, and they will have a lot of regrouping and focusing to do this week as they prepare to meet Worthing Thunder, Division One League Champions, in the quarter final on the south coast next weekend.

Crusaders scorers: Baynes Clarke 1, Spare 2, Gorgol 3, Roberts 3, Jaremko 5, Donaldson 6, Neely 6, Twierdzinski 22, Hamlet 28

Magic scorers: Papadoupolos 2, Nosewicz 2, Slater 2, McKie 3, Williams 6, Smith 7, Shaw 8, Major 17, Sledge 18, Roberts 18, Hogarth 20

The Wolves, still reeling from a defeat at Kingston yesterday, took a few minutes to gather themselves before making this a titanic battle against second placed Reading Rockets at the University of Worcester.

Early fire from the Rockets took them into a 9-1 lead in the first two minutes. Good play from Matt Collins at point guard, with three assists in the latter part of the quarter, steadied the home side, who were able to close the gap to five points at the first break with baskets from Potts, Shaw and Urbonavicius.

Urbonavicius set up Collins for a 3-pointer early in the second period and battle commenced! Ty Shaw faired better this time against the visitors’ American forward Tonkovich, combining a block with a steal to dispossess the Rockets’ big man. Collins sank both shots gifted by a technical foul called on Peder Madsen, which also took the visitors into foul trouble. Collins made a lay up on the buzzer to reduce the deficit to 41-44 going into half time.

The home side came back fired up. Collins sunk another two free shots from a Harrison technical for something he said. Shaw blocked another Tonkovich shot then stole from the big man. The Wolves led by 55-50 after 5 minutes. Harper assisted Collins, who sunk a 3-pointer; then Harper made two consecutive jump shots to add 4 to his tally. Urbonavicius buried a shot from well beyond the arc leaving the visitors unable to respond with only 4 seconds remaining. The score stood at 69-61 and the noise from both sets of fans was deafening.

Urbonavicius drove in and slammed to the delight of the home crowd and Shaw blocked another Tonkovich shot. Collins lobbed a pass to Shaw who gathered it and slammed to another huge cheer. Chiverton attempted a slam of his own but was fouled by Harrison in the process. Harrison fouled Harper, who was attempting a long range shot, and then the Wolves’ shooting guard coolly stepped up and sunk all three free throws. With a minute remaining the score stood at 86-85, but poor ball handling by the Wolves saw them forced to foul to regain possession and the visitors made all six bonus shots to take the game by 91-86.

Essex & Herts Leopards 90 (16,40,68)
London United 82 (18,43,61)
A SUPERB team performance saw Leopards collect their 17^th EBL Division One victory of the season.

Dave Jones led the Big Cats' scoring with 23 points, and both Errol Seaman and Troy Selvey collected double-doubles as Jon Burnell's team recorded their third win of the season against local rivals United.

The short-handed Leopards, already without four senior guards, lost stand-in point guard Sam Salter with 14 minutes remaining but up stepped 15-year-old Michael Jarvis to produce a controlled performance on his debut as he led Leopards to victory.

In front of their biggest crowd of the season, Leopards started well with Seaman and Selvey each scoring four points as they took an 8-2 lead. However, a 12-2 run saw United hit back before James Warwick broke the run with a three-pointer, and a lay-up from Warwick sent Leopards into the first break trailing by only two.

Warwick continued his scoring run to level the score at the start of the second period before former Leopard Pete Deppisch and Jones exchanged three-point scores. Five points from both Warwick and Selvey plus a score from Seaman saw Leopards take a 35-28 lead, before a pair of missed throws from Roger Lloyd saw him take the rebound and feed Seaman to extend the lead by two. Once again, however, United hit back, and the visitors closed out the half with a 12-3 run to go into the locker room 43-40 ahead.

Santa Ataha opened the second half scoring for London, but a pair of threes from Jones helped level the score at 13 midway through the period. With four minutes of the third period remaining, and Leopards having opened a four point lead thanks to scores Selvey and Warwick, Salter was caught by an elbow while going for a rebound, and was forced to leave the game covered in blood with a deep cut under his eye.

At that point Burnell threw caution to the win and introduced junior player Jarvis, who had only practiced once with the first team, into the fray, and he quickly adapted to the pace of the game. Despite seven straight points from United's top scorer Jacek Jagodka, three baskets from Seaman and two from Warwick kept the Big Cats in front, and they reached the final break with a 68-61 lead after outscoring the visitors 28-18 in the third period.

That lead was extended to 11 with a pair of Seaman baskets to open the fourth period, but United appeared to have taken control of the game as Leopards went on a four minute scoring drought. Pavel Machynia scored eight of the visitors’ points as they drained 16 unanswered points to take a 76-72 lead with four minutes remaining. Two of the points came from the free-throw line as coach Burnell was given a technical foul after Jarvis appeared to be fouled by two United players.

The run was finally broken by a Jones three, and the Welsh international quickly drained his fifth effort from the Land of Plenty before adding a pair of free throws to put Leopards into a 80-76. Jagodka replied with a lay-up, but a pair of Seaman free-throws kept the Big Cays in front, before three points from Ataha split by a Selvey dunk saw Leopards lead by one going into the final 80 seconds.

That was as close as the visitors came, despite Jones and Selvey only scoring four points from eight free-throws as United were forced to foul to stop the clock, and the Big Cats went on for a deserved, if unlikely, victory.

Leopards: D Jones 23, E Seaman 22, T Selvey 20, J Warwick 20, R Lloyd 3, M Eames 2, S Salter, T Christie, M Jarvis, E Gregory (DNP)

After qualifying for the play offs a couple of few weeks ago Coach Dip Donaldson decided he wanted to use the last few games of the 2005-06 season as preparation for the play offs.

“ We think we will play Reading or Worthing in the1st round so playing in both of those teams in the league in the last few weeks has been good for our team to see them and try to figure out a way to beat them. It’s a big task to beat one of the top two teams but it is great to have the challenge.”

This weekend saw the Crusaders go down and lose at Reading 97 – 80 after leading in the 1^st quarter being tied at half time. Reading made some good half time adjustment to take the lead in the 3^rd quarter and not look back.

Crusaders 3^rd quarter turned into a scoring nightmare for them, while fouls allowed Rocket’s Tonkovich to go to the free throw line and score six free throws.

Rockets continued their onslaught throughout the quarter, and Crusaders never did recover their first half momentum.

“We had some mistakes as a team that cost us dearly in the second half, but we are still learning a lot from the top teams. We still have a way to go, but I like our chances in a one game play-off,” said Donaldson.

Crusaders Scorers: Donaldson 3, Jaremko 4, Spare 5, Neely 7, Twierdzinski 7, Roberts 9, Oatman 14, Hamlet 31

Readings Scorers: Madsen 2, Wellings 7, Cook 10, Kelly 13, Tonkovich 16, Kersis 22, Harrison 27

Coventry Crusaders (49) 108 – King’s Lynn Fury (42) 67

Sunday returned to winning ways as the Crusaders controlled the second half with some fine team play that saw all ten players score as they finished the last home game with a win.

Crusaders opened quarter was a shooting clinic by Jeremiah Hamlet, as he took long range shots, and post moves to score an incredible 19 points including five 3 pointers.

King’s Lynn couldn’t be shaken off as the Fury continued to fight back and make good headway- not allowing itself to fall too far behind.

It wasn’t until the second half that Crusaders started pulling away. Even then, Sam Oatman got the worse end of an accidental brushing with a Rockets player, sidelining himself with a potentially serious finger injury that has yet to be diagnosed.

As the game progressed Crusaders momentum just kept flowing, and they increased their lead to 108-67 by the end, keeping the Fury to a dismal 10 points in the last quarter.

The Crusaders will only be at home again, if they win the first round of the play-offs. The Crusaders travel to Manchester for the final league game of the season next Saturday.

A win could see the Crusaders finish in 7^th place. Whatever the result the Crusaders want to be ready for the play-off game that will be played on the road.

“We need to keep working hard in training to be at our best for the weekend.”

Crusaders Scorers: Spare 2, Laventure 2, Gorgol 5, Baynes Clarke 8, Neely 11, Twierdzinski 12, Mareko 12, Roberts 19, Hamlet 37.

Fury Scorers: Hutcherson 2, Peacock 5, Bamfield 12, Luong 13, Pilkington 17, Stonebridge 18

Needing to win this game to ensure a home tie in the play-offs, the Magic started confidently and moved smoothly into a 9 point lead at the end of the first quarter. Using their height advantage under both baskets, United cut back into this lead in the second quarter, leaving them behind by only 5 points at half-time.

So far they had relied on their inside game, but after the interval, the Londoners started scoring from long range and put the Magic under some stress. Playing with the increased intensity which has marked their game since the arrival of Troy Sledge, Kenny Roberts and Geri Major, the Magic came back and continued to put severe pressure on the United team all over the court. As they did so, they also turned the ball over much more than was good for their fans’ nerves. They were usually punished by United’s Santa Ataha making easy lay-ups, but, fortunately for the Magic, they were also on the receiving end of a number of United turnovers. Major gave another demonstration of his cool shooting, to help the Magic to keep ahead and, with a quarter to go, the Magic held a 10 point lead and were looking for a comfortable win. United had other ideas.

A powerful run from United saw them make up the gap and take a 1 point lead with 5 minutes left and things were looking bleak for the Magic. This is when you need your star players to step up and Troy Sledge, Matt Hogarth and Kenny Roberts all used their skill, drive and enthusiasm to reassert the Magic’s authority and win the game.

The Magic’s last game of the regular season is this Saturday, the 25^th March at the Amaechi Centre. Visitors are the season’s surprise team Coventry, with a tip-off at 7.30 p.m. All are welcome.

After a heavy loss to Sheffield at EIS the day before, Worcester faced Essex and Herts Leopards at home. If the crowd were expecting a lacklustre performance from the Wolves, they were proved very wrong indeed as the home team performed excellently against the Leopards. As time wore on, the Leopards ran out of steam allowing the Wolves to pull cleanly ahead for a comfortable win.

Worcester’s game opened with a slam from Valdas Urbonavicius following an assist from Matt Collins. Urbonavicius followed this with 2 successful free throws having been fouled on his way to the basket. The Lithuanian continued his scoring streak with another slam on Worcester’s next offence, but by now the visitors had caught up, the Wolves trailing by 11-10 after 5 minutes of play. Urbonavicius added to his account with 3 following a Worcester time-out. The two teams remained close throughout the remainder of the quarter with a free throw from Andy Harper giving Worcester a single-point edge at the end of the quarter: 21-20.

After 15 seconds of play in the second quarter, the Leopards’ Moore suffered a knee injury. After a few minutes delay, he left the court and did not rejoin play for the remainder of the game. As play recommenced, Worcester maintained their narrow lead with a strong team performance against a fast-paced opposition. After 5½ minutes, the score lay at 32-25. Coach Josh Cooprider gave some of the bench players a run during the remainder of the quarter. Ben Potts scored 3 points followed by another 3 from Urbonavicius moments later. Joshua Oladimeji kept Essex’s Salter in check, giving him no room for manoeuvre. Matt Collins attempted a final shot on the buzzer but this was unsuccessful, leaving the score level at 43-43 at half time.

Worcester opened the third quarter strongly with points from Ty Shaw, Matt Collins, Colin Chiverton and Andy Harper, but this was not enough to break away from the visitors who kept closely in touch, just 58-56 behind after 6 minutes of play. However, as the quarter progressed, the Leopards began to tire visibly and gradually fell behind. In the next two minutes they dropped back by another 8 points to 68-58. They failed to score for the remainder of the quarter and after a last-ditch 2 points from Matt Collins, Worcester led by a comfortable 73-58.

The final quarter saw Worcester continue to play at an incredibly fast pace whilst the visitors struggled to keep up and began to make mistakes and commit more fouls. The Leopards gained a little ground in the early minutes of the quarter, but as time went on, they again began to fall further and further behind. After 3½ minutes, they trailed by 82-64. Andy Harper continued to add to his points haul with another 2 impressive three pointers then an additional 2 points in the dying seconds of the game. Ty Shaw was fouled quite heavily whilst shooting with seconds remaining, but failed to sink his bonuses. The final points of the game came from the Leopards, but this was far from enough to gain victory for them, the final score being 93-74 to Worcester.

Mick Donovan was impressed with the way in which the team performed: “After the recent performances we needed a response from the players tonight and that was what we got. This was certainly the Wolves of earlier in the season. It is the perfect launch-pad for the challenge in the next seven days.”

Kings Lynn were always going to struggle against high scoring Worthing Thunder on their home court and when they turned up without 6’ 9” Solomon Sheard (Visa expired) the game was up.

Kings Lynn lost the opening quarter 40-20 and the outcome of the game was virtually decided.

It was also to prove their best period as they were contained to 15, 13 and 16 in subsequent quarters while Thunder had 31, 50 and 31 with the bench on for much of the second and fourth quarters.

Thunder shot 73% (46 from 63) two pointers and 53% (17 from 32) treys, pulled down 64 rebounds and dished 40 assists. The 8 blocks were the icing on the cake.

Five Thunder players scored 20+ and seven players had double figures. Although not in the top 3 scorers Jonathan Woods had 10 of 13 for his 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Steve Vear shot 83% from the floor (including 5 treys) and dished 7 assists, Pat Bates was 89% for his 22 points plus 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 blocks and Alfredo Ott who top scored with 27 points also had 12 rebounds, 4 steals and 8 assists. All of these players played for less than 30 minutes.

This had not been a case of just going out there and scoring. The large crowd had been treated to a spectacular display of every aspect of the game.

The Arrows dominated the Wolves from start to finish, they showed greater hunger and offensive power to win comfortably by 92 – 65. The Arrows perimeter threat of Brown (23), Kain (22) and Davidson (21) combined for 66 points with Davidson perfect with all 5 of his “3 point” attempts.

The Arrows were determined from the start and although they led only 8 – 7, Tucker Kain then inspired a 16 – 7 tear to see the Arrows lead 24 – 14 at the end of the quarter. The Arrows continued to pour it on in the second quarter and a “3 pointer” from Davidson moved the Arrows further ahead at 42 – 22, Harper and Shaw hit back for Worcester but the Arrows arrived at the interval with the score at 49 – 33.

The Wolves staged a brief revival in the third quarter to close to 63 – 51, but any hopes of a comeback were snuffed out by the shooting of Davidson and the constant threat of Brown. The Arrows finished the game with a crushing “alley – oop dunk” from James Sutton.

Scorers; Brown 23, Kain 22, Davidson 21, Gayle 12, Richards 5, Renton 4, Anderson 3, Sutton 2.

w/e 12/03/06

London United entertained newly promoted Kings Lynn on Saturday and title chasers Reading Rockets on Sunday at Brunel Osterley.

In a lack lustre performance on Saturday London won by a 24 point margin against a battling Kings Lynn team that have improved vastly as the season has gone on. United finished victors at 85-61 with Pete Deppisch nailing 20 and Santa Ataha 17. Kings Lynn made a close game of it up until the 4th quarter when United pulled away with some slick passing and shooting.

Sundays game against Reading was a must win game for Reading, having to win all of their remaining fixtures to keep the league in their sites with Worthing Thunder currently setting the pace.

United started well taking a 6 point lead through 3 fast breaks from Walid Mumuni, although Madsen nailed a 3 pointer to keep Rockets close.

United managed to keep the lead throughout the first quarter as Deppisch nailed two successive long range shots giving United an 18-14 spread.

It was apparent that this was going to be a close game with United determined to show their worth after a disappointing run in to the season and their work rate at the defensive end was notched up a gear from recent performances. Robert Klocek was keeping Rockets scoring guard Thomas Kersis at bay with some aggressive defending, and Readings inside players were finding it hard to get space against the United big men Reid, Van Elswyk and Quashie.

Reading worked hard in the 2nd quarter to keep the game close and United managed to keep the lead throughout by 2 or 3 points until the final minute of the half when Readings Lloyd Gardner put his team in front by one point, however on London's last offence Damian Reid made a strong inside move to give United a 1 point margin at the half at 38-37.

The third quarter was another close affair with Damian Reid stepping up for London with a huge "dunk" and some great hustle on the offensive boards. His 7 points helped United stay in front until the last few seconds of the quarter as Readings American guard EJ Harrison hit a 3 pointer to tie the game at 59-59.

In the final quarter Reading started the brighter with Sandell going to the basket and Wellings going to the foul line stretching the lead to 59-62. Then London's Santa Ataha beat EJ Harrison off the dribble to score a lay-up. Kersis nailed a three pointer for Reading as Deppisch replied at the other end for the home team. Then after some great team defence Reid and Ataha added another two baskets to change the lead in London favour at 68-65 with 5 minutes remaining.

The lead swung again after Kersis and Harrison scored for Reading off of United's turnovers although Klocek scored a breakaway basket with 3 minutes remaining to bring United to within 2 at 70-72.

It looked like the nail in United's coffin with less than 2 minutes on the clock as Wellings and Kersis scored lay-ups through United's defence.

With 1 minute on the clock and scores at 74-78 to Reading, Damian Reid was fouled under the basket to shoot and miss both his free shots, Reading then missed their field goal attempt and United came down court and made a great lay-up from Klocek to bring United to within 2 at 76-78 and 35 seconds remaining.

Reading failed to score again on their last offence and with 8 seconds on the score clock Santa Ataha raced up court to deliver a pass to Damian Reid who stepped out to the top of the three point arc to nail a buzzer beating three to win the game for United at 79-78.

Reading fans, loud throughout the game, were stunned as they were pipped at the post by the hard working United and could now be overtaken by Worthing to win the league.

United's coaches and players were all ecstatic to win the game stating "We have been on the end of quite a few like that in the past two seasons, and its a great feeling to have the luck fall on our side for a change!"

This win helps United to climb up the table to 7th place and with a play-off spot already secured will help boost team morale going into three very hard games over the next two weeks before the pay-offs start.

United will play at Manchester on Saturday evening and then return to Osterley for their last home game of the season against Sheffield Arrows on Sunday 19th March tip off at 4pm, tickets available on the door.

United's scorers: Deppisch 22, Reid 16, Ataha 12, Klocek 10, Mumuni 8, Van Elswyk 8, Quashie 3.

Essex & Herts Leopards 92 (24,51,77)

Teesside Mohawks 85 (25,44,68)

SAM Salter led a depleted Leopards side to victory with a 19 haul as the Big Cats chalked up their 16^th league win of the season, at Brentwood on Saturday.

With Steve Ogunjimi injured, captain Matt Eames unwell and Gregory representing his university in the BUSA finals, coach Jon Burnell was forced to name himself on the teamsheet this season.

However Burnell did not need to join the action as his side produced a solid performance to withstand a late Mohawks fight-back.

Dave Jones and Salter got Leopards off to a good start with three-pointers, but with Eric Milambo scoring ten points during the period, the home side were forced to chase the Middlesborough team for most of the first quarter.

Facing 7' 6" centre Neil Fingleton, the Big Cats were always going to struggle on the inside, but James Warwick forced the giant to pick up his second foul a minute before the first break, and Warwick's two successful free-throws sent Leopards into the second period trailing by just one point.

Back-to-back scores from Troy Selvey and another three from Jones helped Leopards into a 31-29 lead three minutes into the second period, and Roger Lloyd's dunk on Fingleton maintained that advantage.

The former North Carolina college player was clearly frustrated with inability to stop Leopards penetrating the visitors' defence, and after collecting his third foul - again on Warwick - he then picked up a technical foul for dissent.

It wasn't all good news for Leopards, however, as Warwick and Salter missed
both sets of free-throws.

Lloyd, easily the Big Cats weakest player at the charity stripe, showed them how to do it, and with Warwick hitting six points down the stretch and Salter five, Leopards went into the locker room at half-time with a 51-44 advantage.

A put-back from Errol Seaman and three points from Warwick extended that advantage to ten, and treys from Jones and Salter increased that margin to 13 at the midway stage of the half.

The visitors hit back with eight unanswered points before Salter ended the run with another long range effort, and four points from Selvey plus a steal and basket from Brian Moore sent the Big Cats into the final break with a nine point advantage.

Three-pointers from Teesside's Michael Gayle and J Nicholson cut that lead to five in the two minutes of the fourth period before Seaman halted the run.

Five Salter points in an 8-0 Leopards run effectively sewed things up at the midway point in the quarter, with the home side leading 87-78. Although the visitors outscored the Big Cats 8-3 in the closing stages, three points from veteran Moore wrapped things up to send the large Brentwood crowd home happy.

Leopards: S Salter 19, E Seaman 17, J Warwick 17, T Selvey 13, D Jones 11, B Moore 8, R Lloyd 7, T Christie, J Burnell (DNP)

Worthing Thunder 110 (28, 44, 75) Gayle 29; Vear 26; Woods 22

Coventry Crusaders 94 (19, 43, 63) Hamlett 20; Roberts 19; Oatman 14

After last weekend’s successes, a strangely subdued Thunder turned up at the start of this game and while most of the effective scoring was done by Jonathan Woods inside, the rest seemed content to rain in three pointers with little success apart from a couple from Steve Vear. Thunder always lead in the half by as many as 11 at one stage but Coventry hung in there with some tenacious play and three point shooting. Thunder introduced several bench players in the second quarter and Coventry pulled back to within 1 point at the half.

In the third quarter Thunder sprung into life as Steve Vear, Steven Gayle and Alfredo Ott hit 7 straight three pointers to extend the lead to double digits and out of Crusader’s reach. To their credit Coventry never threw in the towel, but Thunder were on a roll now and the lead extended to 28 before the bench were introduced, enabling Crusaders to claw back some respectability. Thunder hit 16 of 37 three pointers of which Steve Vear had 7 of 11 and Jonathan Woods pulled down a massive 21 rebounds to go with his 22 points

Worthing Thunder (44) 110 – Coventry Crusaders (43) 94

The Crusaders fell to Worthing Thunder for the second time this season, on Saturday night.

The Thunder was first on the scoreboard with a three pointer from Steve Vear. Crusaders immediate response was two 3 pointers - one from Scott Neely and the other from Jeremiah Hamlet.

Jonathan Woods, one of Worthing’s USA players had a free run, rebounding well, and scoring 11 points in the opening period, while Sam Oatman for Crusaders hit four consecutive baskets for Coventry.

The Thunder was roaring ahead by the end of the first period, already leading by 11, 19-28 Vear and Woods having done most of the damage.

Crusaders started mixing up their defences, and it was just enough to throw the Worthing side out of sync. They missed a few shots, while Crusaders capitalised on their misses, by translating them into Crusader points. Marcin Twierdzinski went on a run for Coventry, hitting three 3 pointers and another basket, as Crusaders cut the Thunder’s lead to just one point by half time.

After the interval, Thunder came back with strength and determination, hitting seven consecutive 3 pointers, whereas Crusaders scoring ability had cooled off considerably. The Worthing team were on a roll, hitting one more three for good measure, before the 3^rd quarter ended with Crusaders trailing 63-75.

Crusaders once again regained their composure during the 4^th quarter, but the damage had been done, and they could not regain the ground they had lost. Although both Hamlet and Kehinde Roberts each scored 10 points in that time, it was not enough to make headway on the deficit they had made for themselves.

Thunder ended the game up by 16, 94-110, and Crusaders face the very real possibility of returning to Worthing in a few weeks time to meet them again in the first round of the play offs. That is, of course, yet to be determined, but with current positions in the league table, that is how it would look.

Player/Coach Dip Donaldson said, “Worthing has one of the best teams in the league – they have proved it all year. It is difficult to play at their place. They are an in-form team. They haven’t lost a game since January. I can’t take anything away from them.”

If Donaldson has doubts about his team’s ability to make it past the first round of the play offs he is keeping them to himself.

Crusaders did a good job of containing Alfredo Ott and Woods to a low 20’s score, but Vear and Steven Gayle were given way too much daylight and made the Crusaders pay for it.

Crusaders have another heavy weekend this week, playing at Reading on Saturday, and at home to Kings Lynn on Sunday afternoon at 3 pm.

Crusaders scorers: Jaremko 5, Donaldson 6, Baynes Clarke 8, Twierdzinski 11, Neely 11, Oatman 14, Roberts 17, Hamlet 22

Worthing’s scorers: Burns 1, Ugbana 4, Bates 8, Ott 20, Woods 22, Vear 26, Gayle 29

KUTI'S SOLENT STARS 84 (23, 37, 57)

After the disappointment of the previous evening's loss to Kings Lynn Fury, the following day Solent Stars travelled to Manchester Magic for a Division One game. Chris Sheldrick was again unavailable as was Anthony Rutter, forcing coach Steve Chant to call up Mike Peel from the second team. Home coach, Jeff Jones, had no such worries with a full bench of twelve players.

In the first half, Solent Stars looked a completely different outfit from the previous evening as they played with confidence and dictated the opening four minutes play to take a 9 - 4 lead with points from John Smith (5), Mark Jackson (3) and Ryan Payne (1). Manchester soon levelled the score, but Solent were able to stay in the game until the final two minutes of the first quarter when a couple of errors cost them dear as the home team took an eight point advantage into the first break.

With Clayton Milner and Smith rebounding the ball to good effect, Solent were able to enjoy more possession than in many matches of late. For once they did not turn the ball over too many times in the quarter and the reward was a share of the points (21 all) during this period of play. Three point successes from Jackson and Payne brought Solent to within four points of Manchester (35 - 39) in the final minute of the half only to concede three quick baskets before Smith completed the scoring in the second quarter.

Inevitably, one game of overtime followed by a long road trip with a depleted squad took its toll. The Solent players were not able to sustain the pressure in defence that they had achieved in the first two periods and Manchester were quick to take advantage. Manchester's captain, Matt Hogarth, sank consecutive three pointers early in the third quarter to open a points gap that Solent were never going to be able to close. Solent began to make errors, giving the ball away 27 times in the game whilst the Manchester total was only 13.

The unlikely named Gergely Major demonstrated Magic's superiority when, in a period of two minutes in the final quarter he sank three undefended three point shots. In all Manchester scored with twelve of their twenty six three point attempts, whereas Solent were exposed as lacking a specialist three point scorer by scoring from only three of their twelve attempts. One consolation for Solent from the game was the fact that they almost matched the home team in rebounds (39 - 45) demonstrating the effort that all the players put into the game, including Ollie Marsh who has played with an injured knee all season and finally had to leave the game in some pain.

Solent must now prepare to meet another high-flying team in Sheffield Arrows (Fleming Park, March 11th, 8pm).

SCORERS John Smith 30 Mark Jackson 16 Clayton Milner 9 Ryan Payne 9 Will Zoppellini 4