RAF Careers - Click here for Info

NBL   Men Conference Men Division One Men Division Two NBL Trophy   Women Conference Women Division One                 Schedules Men Conference Division One National Trophy Division Two North Division Two South Women Conference Division Two North Division Two South   More..    Profiles Archive Search Features Hang-Time The News Wire   Interactive Betting Zone Book Store  Auctions News by Email  Frequently Asked Questions    Britball.com Front

Reading knock Plymouth off top             Round-Up Reading Rockets 108 Plymouth Raiders 91 The Rockets produced their best performance of the season to defeat National Conference League leaders Plymouth Raiders in a high octane and high class encounter at the Rivermead. A delighted Head Coach Dave Titmuss praised his players "That was an outstanding performance by anyone's standards and proves that we are capable of competing at the highest level. Plymouth are a very well drilled and athletically dynamic team but we overwhelmed them with our intensity, desire, work rate and application."  Reading's success, although very much a team effort, was assisted by a barnstorming performance from Captain Ted Smith who not only top scored with 30 points but lead by example with his commitment and work rate. Coach Titmuss started with a slightly unfamiliar line up matching Smith, Williams and Cooper with Bristol and Rich. To begin with Rockets looked somewhat lethargic and Plymouth took full advantage taking an early 5-2 lead. Rockets only success out of three offensive drives came courtesy of Smith driving strongly to the basket for a lay up. The early stutter prompted a Rockets time out and on the resumption Damon Cooper leveled the scores with a big three pointer. Cooper scored  another two points with a lay up on a fast break and then a baffled and bemused Titmuss received a technical foul.  The hosts failed to convert possession into points and allowed Plymouth to draw ahead 17-12 with just over two minutes remaining. Although seemingly stuck in first gear Rockets stayed in contention thanks to a Smith finger roll after a great assist by Lloyd Gardner and then Smith was fouled driving to the basket and he made both shots from the line. A Plymouth lead of 23-18 at the end of the quarter was a fair reflection of their superiority. The welcome appearance of Matt Johnson on court just after the start of the second quarter signaled a transformation in Rockets play as his inspirational defense and gutsy determination seemed to disrupt the Plymouth flow. This combined with the hugely talented Jermaine Williams maintaining his superb form turned the game. Williams scored seven points in quick succession and this together with two from the line from Gardner after an unsportsmanlike foul was given against Plymouth's Gavin Love, gave Rockets a 29-26 lead. Rockets total defense with double teaming, switching markers and team help, frustrated the Plymouth players who simply couldn't find a way through.  Johnson and Smith maintained Rockets advantage from open play and Gardner and Williams made sure from the line giving them a 55-45 half time lead. John Hodds was in the thick of the action at the start of the third quarter and he turned cleverly under the basket to make two. Great defense by Rockets denied Plymouth any points in the opening two and a half minutes whilst the home team courtesy of Williams 2, Cooper 2 and Gardner 3 extended the lead to 64-45. Plymouth frustration and perhaps a little tiredness caused them to commit a series of fouls which disrupted the flow of the game and only served to give Rockets easy points as they missed very few from the line. Rockets continued to move the ball incisively and create openings patiently and no better example came than when after a multi passing move Johnson made a jump shot as the 24 second buzzer sounded. Johnson bulldozed his way to the basket for two more and the dynamic Cooper showed marvelous control making a finger roll at lightening speed. Gardner's two from two at the line gave Rockets an 85-67 lead going into the final quarter.  The difference between the Rockets of today and the Rockets teams of the past is that today's team are able to maintain a higher level of intensity for much longer periods of the game, and this was really apparent in the final quarter. Being the League leaders one expected Plymouth to come out fighting for the final ten minutes, and so they did, but Rockets were equal to whatever was thrown at them as Smith made two from two at the line to take his tally to a game-best 30 and close out the tie. Manchester Magic: 86  Sutton Pumas: 93 The Pumas had a very poor  start to the season and went out and recruited two North Americans to boost their squad and they proved crucial in this hard-fought mid-table encounter in the NBL Conference.It looks like being a real dog-fight this year to get into the play-offs and the dogs were starting to bark, and occasionally to bite on Saturday evening at the Amaechi Basktball Centre. It turned out to be a much closer game than the final result might suggest. With a minute to go, the scores were level at  84-84. Paul Mundy-Castle scored a cool 3 pointer for the Pumas with 46 seconds to go, Marlin Capers added 2 points from the line and the game was over. Up until then, the game could have gone either way and the home fans were confident their team would edge it, after keeping a few points ahead of their opponents for most of the game. Both sides had started confidently, with the Magic’s two big young players, Haris Charalambous and John Shaw, taking the ball to the basket in a much more aggressive and deteremined way than they have shown before. They ended the quarter 23-17 to the good and started the second quarter well, in spite of some nice touches by the Pumas. The game then deteriorated into a scrappy stalemate as both teams made errors and gave the ball away. It was during this time that the Pumas slowly got back into the game, with the scores level, 34-34 with 3 minutes to go. The Magic recovered their poise, led by Sergio Lara-Bercial and they ended the half up by 43-39. It was Samit Nuriyev’s turn to shine for the Magic at the start of the 3rd quarter, as he and Jacob Molina took the game to the Pumas. They responded with some energetic offence and some robust, sometimes over-robust, defence and, despite some excellent play by Steven Gayle and Haris Charalambous, they held the Magic to a lead of 65-63 at the end of the quarter. The last quarter showed the value of the Pumas' investment in Greg Hendricks, when he ran the game and scored freely in the last few minutes, as the Magic held on to their slender lead until the last minute. This was a very disappointing loss for the Magic and not exactly a sparkling win for the Pumas, but a result which could have a big significance at the end of the season.  Some very good plusses came out of the game for coach Jeff Jones, notably a much more effective inside game from his two big men, with John Shaw at last giving a performance to match his talents. Their offensive rebounds beat the Pumas’ by 21-12. Haris Charalambous produced the excellent numbers of 16 points and 12 rebounds and Wayne Mulgrave, not shooting at his best, compensated with plenty of determinationa and 9 rebounds. Since the Magic came into the National League and the Conference, the fans have hoped to see this kind of intensity under the boards and this performance gives plenty of hope for the future in this crucial aspect of the game. They know they now have the firepower to beat any team in the Conference and they should travel to Teesside at the weekend with plenty of confidence, putting this slightly freakish result behind them.   Division One: London United 85 Westminster Warriors 90 London United faced local rivals Westminster Warriors on Saturdays evening after coming off a shock defeat away to Hull last weekend. The United side who lie 2nd in the NBL Division One to Derbyshire Arrows needed a win to keep them in touch with the league leaders who they face in a potential title decider next weekend in Derbyshire. However warriors had a different view of the proceedings after starting in a physical manner, stamping their own style of play on the game and showing the referees that that was how they were going to compete throughout. That lead the referees to adjust to a more physical game and allow the contact constantly pressed on the point guards Steve Vear and Tom Hull. Although the London coaches were not happy with the constant hands on approach by Warriors it was not outside of the rules as far as the refs were concerned and the Warriors worked tirelessly to keep up the physical challenge on London. At the first quarter the game was level at 17 a piece with Deppisch and Hockey scoring for London and Fontaine and Bernard hitting there field goal attempts for Warriors. Warriors took a 6 point half time lead after good spread scoring from their whole team, whilst Walid Mumuni racked up 11 quarter points for London. In the second half the game stayed close throughout and with London Pete Deppisch failing to find his touch again the United team struggled to score some easy lay-ups and free throw attempts which contributed to their downfall. Warriors continued to pressurise the London Guards and force them out of the usual smooth flowing offence whilst they scored scrappy baskets underneath the boards. Warriors captain Ogidan stepped his game up in the last quarter scoring 12 points to take the Warriors into a 9 point lead however with a minute to run Donal Hockey scored two quick three pointers for London bringing them back into the game at 83-86. London needed to foul to send warriors to the free throw line with 17 seconds to go, however the referee allowed an advantage to Warriors after Tom Hull grabbed the Warriors guard allowing them to progress down court and score an easy uncontested lay-up. That brought an end to a very physical game, which saw Westminster beat United again this season and sending the home team away in frustration. Mumuni tops scored for London with 26 whilst Deppisch had 17 and Hockey 16. It appeared that from this loss United would have no chance of catching league leaders Derbyshire to the top spot. On Sunday incredibly Derbyshire lost to Hull by seven points after overtime giving the United troops a glimmer of hope for next weeks clash in Derby. Coaches Majewski and Schiller said “ its all very well us being able to catch Derbyshire but if we continue to play as we have done in the last two games, we will have no chance of getting a result next week. We have a lot of work to get through this week in training to be able to match Derbyshire and repeat our win against them earlier in the season.”     Click here to discuss this story

 

Copyright Britball. Download is subject to Britball's Terms and Conditions