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Magic touch lost as Mohawks excel
NBL Conference: Manchester M 85 Teesside 104
Teesside came to this game with an unbeaten record in the Conference and three victories already over the Magic and the Mohawks duly protected their Conference lead with an 85-104 road win. The first quarter saw both teams struggling to score freely, but the Mohawks had a handy lead of 27-21 by the end of it. The second quarter opened well for the Magic, with the youngsters John Shaw and James Jones showing a growing confidence at this level. Wayne Mulgrave levelled the scores at 42-42, but Ralph Bucci replied with an immediate and excellent three-pointer and the Mohawks led 47-42 at the half. Sean McKie had played a big part in the Magic revival, as had Kevin St. Kitts but Matt Hogarth was one of several players on court who had performed below their best, at least in shooting terms. His three point score in the second minute of the third quarter was his first of the game, but the Magic were outgunned in the rest of the quarter by the Mohawks’ shooting machines and they went into the last quarter 59-75 down.
The last quarter opened well enough for the Magic , with john Shaw and James Jones again contributing well, but four minutes into the quarter, Jon Linsley was fouled out of the game for a foul on Bucci, received a technical foul, which had to be transferred to coach Jeff Jones. He was also ejected, others were penalised and the result was ten free throws to the Mohawks, of which they scored eight. The crowd were unhappy, particularly about the delay, but Bucci - who hit a game-high 27 - and his colleagues were pleased to take the free throws, especially as they were their first of the game. From being 12 points down, the Magic were now 20 points in arrears and, with six minutes to go, the game was effectively over.
Inter Basket London 72 Kingston Wildcats 86
Inter Basket entertained Kingston Wildcats in their latest NBL Conference encounter at the Space Centre in Hackney. Inter were looking to build on the previous week's exciting victory over Coventry Crusaders, but lost out 72-86 a much improved Kingston side, who have recently added the experienced Alan Hopper to their line-up.
Again the East London team made a poor start, trailing 7-3 early on, before scores from captain Andrew Bailey and Franck Batimba brought the scores level at 9 apiece. As Kingston got into early foul trouble, with player-coach Solomon Ayinla getting a double technical foul, the visitors were forced to retreat into a zone defence. However excellent shooting from Kingston's Andy Powlesland, with 11 of his side's next 13 points, opened a nine point advantage for his team. The lead stretched to 12 before late baskets from Inter's Grant Ebanja left the score at 19-27 in Wildcats favour at the end of the first quarter.
The second period saw Laurent Irish have his best spell for the home team. He had 9 of his teams first 11 points as they recovered to trail just 30-33 after four minutes of play. But Inter's lack of discipline was only too evident as a succession of bad shot decisions and poor defensive rebounding allowed Kingston to go on a 12-3 run to restore the margin to 12; Ayinla making two big 3-point shots. With the visitors finishing the quarter with a 51-35 advantage the home side had almost self-destructed, conceding an 18-5 deficit over the final 6 minutes of the period; Powlesland already with 23 points to his credit.
However, whatever was said in the changing room at the half-time interval seemed to have the appropriate effect on the home side. The defence that Inter Basket are noted for was finally evident as Kingston were held to just one basket in the first four minutes. With Bailey and Batimba again scoring well the margin was down to eight and the crowd sensing another nail-biting comeback. But the inability to remain composed is not yet within the young London side as they allowed Hopper to make 8 of his side's next 10 points and they restored their advantage to 14. Batimba, with six personal, and Ben Smart again got the margin down to 8, at 57-65 before the Wildcats made the last 7 of the quarter to finish out at 72-57, which
effectively finished the match; Hopper having made three 3-pointers in the period.In the final stanza, Inter could never get within 10 as their outside game was unable to work against the Kingston zone. With Ayinla making another two treys, the match was never in doubt as the Surrey side closed out with a comfortable victory. Batimba 21 and Bailey and Irish 15 led the way for Inter Basket; Powlesland 25, Hopper 18, Whitaker 16 and Ayinla 15 leading a balanced Kingston performance seeing them make 11 three-point shots on the night.
NBL Division One: Derbyshire Arrows 97 Worcester Wolves 68
Derbyshire Arrows turned on the style once again in front of a large and appreciative crowd at the Queens Park Sports Centre, defeating the Worcester Wolves by 97 – 68 to remain on top of Division 1.
The Arrows grabbed the early initiative; a trio of “dunks” from Simon Bevington - leading scorer with 36, “3 pointers” from Ellmer & Davidson saw the home side build a 25 – 12 first quarter advantage.
The Arrows were pleased to welcome Rick Marsh back from injury and he made his present felt straight away with a succession of blocked shots as the Arrows went further ahead at the interval 40 – 25.
The Arrows went on to entertain the large crowd in the second half King, Gayle, Waite & Hackett were all prominent in much of the Arrows good work. Arrows new signing Delroy Gittens was also impressive with his speed and hustle and looks a useful acquisition for the Arrows. The Arrows were in control of the game throughout although Vinsonneau, Chiverton & Livingstone were all impressive for the visitors.
Hull 106 Ware 99
The Hull Icebergs extended their winning streak to three with a hard fought 106-99 victory over high-flying Ware Rebels.
It was Ware who started the quickest in a game that commenced thirty minutes late due to an Official's late arrival. A 7-0 run had them up 7-1 in the first 2.30. Hull fought back and with 5.50 left they trailed 11-9. Two three pointers from the Icebergs Guard Miguel Canelo put them in front 18-13 with 3.32 left. The Rebels then went off on a 6-0 burst of their own to restore the lead at 19-18, but by the end of the first Quarter Hull led again 25-24.
Ware started the second Quarter with a 7-0 run including a three pointer to lead 31-27 with only 2.00 gone by. Hull bounced back with a 9-0 run and went ahead 36-31 with 6.52 left. The Rebels responded again and two more threes had them up 39-38 with 5.36 remaining. A three point play from Karl Seamarks brought Hull back level at 41 with 4.14 to go. A Seamarks three, then a Ware three had the home team up 48-44, before Hull went on a 7-0 tear to lead 55-44. The Rebels connected for another three and at half time trailed 57-50.
Ware came out fast and made a three on their first play. Miguel Canelo connected on a three and the Icebergs led 64-60 with 7.00 left. Another three from the Rebels and they retook the lead at 67-66. The remaining part of the Quarter was dominated by Hull who had a 5-0 and a 10-0 run to lead 83-69.
Hull had a 7-2 run to lead 90-71 with 7.21 left. Hull do, however, have a habit of letting teams back into games and the Rebels saw their chance. An 11-6 run closed the gap to 96-82 with 3.00 left. Then after a 9-2 run, including two threes, it was 98-91 with 1.44 left, and both the players and spectators started to get edgy. Another three from Ware made it 100-96 with 45 seconds left. That was as close as the Rebels got and the Hull guards hit their free throws to run the clock out for the victory.
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