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Stars keep up heat on top two
NBL Conference: Solent 98 Kingston 79
Solent shook off injuries to defeat Kingston 98-79 on Saturday to keep up their pressure on the top two in the Conference. The hosts were without Alan Cunningham and Duane Laight who were both injured while John Bynum was suffering with a heavy cold. Mark Scott again came into the squad for his second appearance of the season. Kingston included ex-Solent Star Masai Ujiri for his first game.
The game started with Solent playing at full pace hitting two early three pointers through Marlin Capers and Bynum. Kingston were caught cold in the early stages and found it difficult to score against the man to man defence of the Solent team. The home side, on the other hand, revelled in playing against the mainly zone defence offered by Kingston. By the seventh minute Solent led 21 - 7 with Capers having grabbed 11 of those points. Solent did not take their foot off the pedal and were comfortably ahead (34 - 19) at the quarter.
The second quarter was more even and Kingston were able to profit from missed Solent shots which were then turned into fast breaks against a Solent team that was playing with no recognised guard. Many Kingston points came from 2 on 1 and similar situations with the other Solent players stranded upcourt. The rotation of Solent players meant that they were unable to establish the rhythm of the first quarter. Although they increased their lead it was only by two points to go in 59 - 42 ahead at half time.
In a low scoring third quarter, Solent were unable to maintain their earlier momentum. Solent's build ups were laborious and gave the Kingston team ample time to set their defence. Kingston's change to man to man defence paid dividends as Solent were unable to work easy shooting chances. After scoring 27 points in the first half Capers was only able to add two more in the third quarter and briefly left the game when he turned his ankle.
Two three pointers in the fourth minute of the last quarter brought Kingston to within nine points (80 - 71) of the Solent total. It seemed that the psychological advantage was with the chasing team as Solent looked anything but confident at that stage. However, with Mark Scott now on court and playing a steadying influence, Bynum made several telling drives that caused panic in the Kingston defence. With Dimitry La Croix and Trevor Donaldson harrying the Kingston team and Nic OHarabe strong on the boards, Solent once again established their superiority and pulled away from the Kingston score to win by 19 points.
Plymouth Raiders 84 Reading Rockets 69
Reading Rockets faltered at the final quarter hurdle after a brave showing against Plymouth, Dave Titmuss' side punished for a catalogue of unforced errors which handed the Raiders a 84-69 win.
"We let ourselves down badly in the last quarter having matched Plymouth in the previous three quarters without finding our best form" commented a disappointed Titmuss.
Plymouth's American star and season top scorer Todd Cetnar opened the scoring with a long three pointer and Rockets Damon Cooper replied with a nice jump shot for two. Play was rather disjointed in the opening
minutes due to some pedantic refereeing which was typified by a bewildering travel call against Ted Smith. John Hodds showed strength and determination around the basket as usual and was fouled twice by the
resolute Plymouth defense. Unfortunately he only managed to convert one from four at the line. Matt Johnson came on and made an immediate impression with some good defensive hussle and a great drive to the basket for two. However Plymouth didn't miss much and had built a 14-7 lead with three minutes remaining. Rockets produced moments of brilliance one being a patient multiple passing move which resulted in Cooper scoring two on the 24 second buzzer. Plymouth ended the quarter with a 23-15 advantage in a scrappy and difficult quarter for Rockets.Smith showed great determination to start the scoring in the second quarter but the unlucky Evan York missed his second attempted three pointer in a row. Ian Durrant with his silky smooth shooting style scored a nice two and Matt Eames missed an easy lay up. Washington scored two from under the basket whilst the Rockets bench called for more effort on rebounding as Plymouth picked up any loose possession. Johnson produced a superb block which led to a Hodds two point score and that prompted a Plymouth Time Out at 33-27 in their favour with just over three minutes remaining. Ted Smith scored a brilliant three pointer on the resumption and this was followed by some great defense by Rockets. The quarter ended on a high for Rockets as Johnson for two and then Cooper with three on the buzzer cut Rockets deficit to just two points at 37-35.
Rockets took the lead for the first time in the game at the start of the third quarter courtesy of a Cooper three pointer but it was short lived as Rockets failed to score on their next three offenses and Plymouth took full advantage. David Washington came up with two consecutive two point jump shots but Rockets missed another easy lay up and Coach Titmuss called a time out as Plymouth opened a lead 48-42. After Rockets were penalised for yet another travel Washington came up with two plays that earned him and the team five points. He quickly followed this with the shot of the game right from the corner of the court for another two. Johnson and Durrant helped to reduce the deficit to one point at 53-52 and Kelly scored two after a great pass from Johnson for Rockets to take a 55-54 lead with 18 seconds left. Johnson finished the quarter scoring one from two at the line for Rockets to lead 56-54 going into the final quarter.
Washington tapped in for two after Matt Johnsons shot rimmed out but MJ made amends with a strong lay up moments later. Plymouth ran out of time on their next offense but this seemed to spur them on and moments later they leveled the score at 60-60. Rockets squandered possession and Plymouth took full advantage opening up a four point lead. But Rockets fought back through Hodds with a determined two from under the basket to make the score 67-65 Plymouth. Ted Smith was then quite inexplicably called for a travel violation and this signaled the turning point in the game and the start of a series of errors from Rockets either surrendering possession or missing straight forward scoring opportunities. Plymouth gratefully took a 78-65 lead and Rockets faded badly in the final moments allowing Plymouth a 84-69 victory.
Team Captain Johnson was equally displeased "They were there for the taking but we lost our shape and control in the last three minutes and Plymouth capitalised accordingly".
NBL Division One: Hull Icebergs 114 Cardiff Clippers 71
The Hull Icebergs extended Cardiff Clippers losing streak to five with a comfortable win over a five-man Welsh side.
Hull started quickly with a 4-0 run in the first minute and extended their lead to 12-6 with 5.30 left. The Clippers did hit a three pointer of their own to trail by 5 at l6-11 with 4.20 left. John Brignall was rebounding well and a three pointer from Karl Seamarks put the Home team up 14-11 with 3.45 to go in the Quarter. Cardiff trying to slow the game down took a timeout trailing 19-13 with 2.22 left, but it back-fired for them as a 6-0 run by the Icebergs put them up 27-15 with only 1.00 to go. Cardiff did score the last points of the quarter and trailed 27-18.
Another 4-0 run at the start of the second put Hull up 31-18 and it already looked bleak for the Welsh team. The Home team could have extended their lead further had they not had trouble finishing off plays and when Cardiff took a timeout to catch their breath they were trailing 39-24 with 4.29 left. A 4-0 run of their own brought the score to 41-28 with 3.30 remaining. That momentum was short lived and the Icebergs lead 50-36 at the half.
Hull had probably been reminded of the North London game when a big lead was lost, but another 4-0 run at the start of the second half made sure that that would not be repeated. Another three from Seamarks had them up 57-39 with 7.40 left. Cardiff came back with a three of their own to trail 57-44 with 6.50 left. The Icebergs then turned up the heat on their tiring opponents and a 10-3 burst forced Cardiff to call a timeout, but this had no effect as Hull went on a 4-0 run. Another Hull spurt increased their lead to 79-50 with 1.22 left. Tarryn Algar finished the Quarter off with two at the buzzer to take Hull into a 85-52 lead.
To their credit Hull stayed focused and started with a 7-0 tear in the opening 2.00. A three from Cardiff only inspired the Icebergs on another 4-0 run to lead 96-55 with 6.21 left. Player/Coach Kevin Penny then decided to rest some of his Starters and to his pleasure the back-up players carried on the good work. Cardiff never gave up and a 4-0 run and two three pointers in the last 3.00 increased their points tally and gave them encouragement for their long journey home. This, however, was Hull's day and Algar finished the game off with a three with 3 seconds remaining much to the delight of the home crowd.
Derbyshire Arrows 96 Oxford Devils 71
The Derbyshire Arrows led magnificently by Garnet Gayle moved to the top of the Division on the back of their most impressive performance of the season, deposing the leaders the Oxford Devils by 96–71 in front of a large crowd at the Queens Park Sports Centre. The Arrows now lead the Division with a 7–1 record.
It was vintage Arrows in the first quarter, player-coach Gayle and the unstoppable Simon Bevington, made holes in the Devils defense, building up a decisive 24–8 advantage at the end of the quarter.
The Devils with Milnes particularly effective began the second quarter strongly, but the arrival of Waite and the defense of King saw the Arrows respond as the Arrows fought back to take the quarter 22–21, for a 46 – 29 interval lead.
The Arrows third quarter performance was thrilling, outstanding passing saw “3 pointers” for Ellmer & “dunks” for Bevington 0 eventual leading scorer with 31 - as the home side began to turn the heat up on the Devils. With only Alexander responding for the visitors the Arrows were in exhibition mode as the quarter eventually ended with them leading 78–50.
The Arrows began the fourth quarter with Tilly Hackett nailing a yet another Arrows “3 pointer” as the Arrows consolidated their position in the game. Coach Gayle was able to retire to the bench with 22 points and 11 rebounds as Arrows Juniors Joel Mills and Tom O’Sullivan saw some action the latter striking from the free throw line to cap a triumphant day.
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