2012 BUCS Final 8's Day 3 Recap - Hoopsfix.com

2012 BUCS Final 8’s Day 3 Recap

Worcester 2012 BUCS Basketball Champions
University of Worcester successfully defended their BUCS title on Sunday, defeating University of Durham 88-81 in the final to be named the 2012 BUCS Champions at the EIS, Sheffield.

Tommy Freeman finished with 23 points on his way to being named MVP of the final, which was a re-match of the 2011 title game resulting in exactly the same outcome, as Worcester won their sixth title in nine years. Freeman was joined in double figures by Sherrad Prezzie-Blue (12), Kazlauskas (12), and Aleksas Zimnickas (11). Mario Flaherty led Durham with 26 points before fouling out, Hinnenkamp added 18, and Capocci had 16 with DJ Glavan contributing 10.

Game 1
LSBU vs Oxford (7th/8th place playoff)
There seems to be very few basketball players who could get motivated for a 9am game on a Sunday playing for 7th place. Despite starting that way, as LSBU had just three players in kit warming up with  3 minutes until tip off, it ended up being an extremely competitive encounter with LSBU coming out on top 83-64. Nathan Ashley led LSBU with 27 points, Ave Antonio had 19 points, and Jason Sayers added 10. Oxford were led by Karolis Bauza’s 20 points, Dalwadi had 13.

Game 2
Brunel vs Middlesex (5th/6th place playoff)
Brunel game out running and gunning in the first half to lead throughout, and despite a near monumental fourth quarter collapse, escaped with a 78-75 victory. Louis Sayers once again led Brunel with 26 points, Tom Politi had 13 whilst Daniel Dunscombe joined them in double figures with 10. Jamel Felix finished with 18, Aaron Moseley had 13 and Piper had 12 for Middlesex.

Game 3
Leeds Met Carnegie vs Northumbria (3rd/4th place playoff)

Leeds Met jumped out to a huge lead from the tip and survived a late surge from Northumbria to secure the bronze medal with a 79-69 win. Henry Wilkins and Sean Clifford had 14 each to lead Leeds, with Armand Anebo adding 12. Jack Thompson led the  comeback that came short with 19 points, whilst Siman Stewart added 18 as despite the loss, Northumbria finished with their highest finish ever.

2012 BUCS Basketball Final Standings

1st Worcester
2nd Durham
3rd Leeds Met Carnegie
4th Northumbria
5th Brunel
6th Middlesex
7th LSBU
8th Oxford

Women’s Results

LSBU beat Kent 90-60 (7th/8th playoff)
Northumbria beat Edinburgh 84-60 (3rd/4th playoff)
Loughborough beat Oxford 88-85 (5th/6th playoff)
Durham beat UWIC 75-38 (Final)

Notes

  • Arguably more highlights on the last day than the two days prior. Carnegie’s Cameron Gypsyn caught a nice two handed lob from Henry Wilkins, Durham had a number of huge blocks on Worcester in the final, whilst Brunel & LSBU were getting in on the act in the morning as well.
  • LSBU’s Ave Antonio finished as the tournament’s leading scorer at 20.3 points per game through the three games, Brunel’s Louis Sayers was second at 20.0 ppg, with Worcester’s Tommy Freeman rounding out the top three at 19 per game (and a chip!).
  • First year the finals were ticketed and despite the stands being relatively full, I think it was more from other competing teams than actually travelling fans. Shame.
  • A lot of talk from the competitors (players & coaches) about how ridiculous the new format is. Didn’t get a chance to get official comment from BUCS on it, but will chase up an interview this week.
  • Even though the two finalists were probably some of the stronger teams that have competed in the Final 8’s in years, overall the standard was definitely down this year.
  • There seems to be rumours floating around of a BUCS super league being formed, consisting of the “elite” programmes with the money and scholarships to give. It may well be a good idea – I’ve said many times there is no way you can compare the Worcesters’ & Durhams’ to the likes of a Brunel or Middlesex.  A few different people have mentioned it me now now (including ‘Coach’ in the comments below), but whether it ever comes to fruition remains to be seen.
  • For the third year in a row, no-one actually got dunked on over the course of the three days. Courtney Van-Beest and Mario Flaherty both almost put someone on a poster in the final, but Van-Beest hit the back of the rim and Flaherty got fouled and made the lay-up.
  • Funky Town London held it down with style at halftime of the final with a dancing competition, much to the crowd’s delight.
  • You can find the Day 1 recap here and Day 2 recap here.

Did you get to the final day? Thoughts? 

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