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Teesside re-acquainted with treble top
NBL CONFERENCE Final
TVL Teesside Mohawks (39, 59, 73, 96, 109) 127 Harrison 38, Swaine 24, Nicholson 19
Solent Stars (20, 49, 70, 96, 109) 117 Bynum 35, Capers 35, Cunningham 29
Teesside are the NBL Conference Champions for 2002, completing their second treble in three seasons. However the Mohawks needed two periods of overtime to shake off the pesky challenge of Solent Stars before emerging with a 127-117 win.
There was naturally no hiding the delight within the camp when the final buzzer sounded on what will surely become widely accepted as one of the all-time great NBL games. “What a feeling. I am absolutely elated, said Hanson. “When Bynum picked up his own rebound I really thought we were in trouble. But when the slam dunk didn’t drop it was saying it was going to be our day, and it was.
“In a championship game you will have shifts of momentum. We had ours early on and Solent had a shift the other way - both teams really made an awesome game of it. And two overtimes? You can’t beat that!”
The south coast outfit had the Championship in their grasp when, at the end of the first period of overtime with the scores level at 109 all, John Bynum rose through a group of closely guarding defenders to seal the game with a trademark slam dunk. The ring bent, the crowd were on their feet, but when the ring sprang back, the ball cannoned up toward the Skydome roof. Teesside were momentarily off the hook as the game then entered a second period of overtime.
No-one set out with more gusto than EJ Harrison. The American point guard tore into the shell-shocked Stars with some scything runs to the basket, earning him the side’s first 8 points of the game.
Clearly inspired, Ralph Bucci, Lijah Perkins and Swaine, with another brace of ‘threes’, joined in the rout to forge into a dream 15 point lead by the fifth minute, with only Bynum and fellow-American Marlin Capers putting up any sort of resistance. The dream looked to be turning into a fairytale just minutes later, when both Bucci and Harrison added ‘threes’ in a 10-2 run that had Solent well and truly on the ropes and Mohawks fans ecstatic at seeing their side 31-10 ahead. But the fun was still only beginning.
Pete Knechtel made it five ‘threes’ for the quarter, and with contributions from Perkins Mohawks were a staggering 23 up before 5 points from Bynum and a basket from Chris St Omer saw that reduced to 19 entering the first break.
A gritty determined second quarter by Solent saw them reduce the deficit by nine points with Marlin Capers especially noticeable as he worked in all areas of the court. Solent were tenacious in defence and Teesside were restricted to just two three point successes for Jason Swaine in the last four minutes of the first half.
By the end of the third period just three points separated the teams. Two three pointers from 21st birthday boy Alan McDonald helped Solent on their way and with 48 year old Alan Cunningham - chasing his ninth championship in Britain - grabbing the defensive rebounds (11 in the game) Solent were able to once again reduce the flow of Teesside points.
A three pointer by Steve Davison at the start of the final quarter followed by four points from Bynum put Solent ahead 77-75 for the first time in the third minute. Thereafter the teams traded
baskets as each sought to open up a lead. Solent's defence was limited because of the foul situation with its key players. Solent were trailing by two points with seven seconds left and had
possession from the side line when coach Mark Scott called a time-out. An inbound ball to Bynum resulted in him driving through a crowded defence to score a lay-up which resulted in a full-time tie
at 96 - 96.Bynum's three pointer followed by two points from Cunningham gave Solent the initiative in the first period of overtime but Teesside were able to respond until the teams were locked at 109 all when Bynum attempted to convert his attempted dunk.
If he had opted for the easy lay up the title was Solent’s. But he did what many players would have done in the same situation, and gone for glory. History will show he failed, sending the game into a second period of overtime.
It was Teesside who were finally able to break the deadlock as Solent tired and Capers, Bynum and Davison all fouled out in the last minute. The game ended fittingly with the ball in the hands of
Cunningham who was the only player to be on court for the full 50 minutes.Teesside's Harrison was voted MVP for his game-high 38 point contribution, while there were also stirring performances from Swaine and Nicholson for Mohawks and Bynum and Capers, who each scored 35, and Cunningham with 29 for Stars.
The retiring Neil Hopper described the match as “a rollercoaster”. “We pulled away and they came back when we had a bad spell, but we stuck in and did hat we had to,” he said.
“There could be no better way to finish my career. The treble was what I had in mind for my last season, so to do it was a perfect end. You couldn’t ask for more than double overtime and the win.”
3rd / 4th Place Play-off
CityBus Raiders Plymouth (17, 42, 71) 89 Cetnar 21, Riley 16, Samuels 15
Manchester Magic (18, 37, 59) 80 St. Kitts 30, Shaw 12, Goodwin 10Plymouth clinched a minor consolation for missing out on the final, defeating Manchester 89-80 in the third-place play-off.
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