Around The EBL – Week 3

Entering week 3 of the EBL regular season, there is still no place for league action for EBL Division 1 & 2 teams as the top tier teams again took part in National Trophy competition on Saturday.

The Manchester Magic took home a solid away victory from the Essex leopards as they won 68-82 to leave them in second place in Pool 1, while topping the pool with a 4-0 record are the Reading Rockets who beat the Medway Park Crusaders 75-96 to all but mathematically secure their place in the next stage of the competition. The other result in pool 1 was the Bradford Dragons 65-64 win against the Tees Valley Mohawks with Dan Foley scoring 27 points for the home side!

In pool 2 it was Tom Adorian’s turn to steal the show with a huge output of 23 points and 16 rebounds in Hemel Storm’s 73-83 win away to Team Northumbria, while the Bristol Academy Flyers suffered their fourth consecutive defeat in the competition losing to the Westminster Warriors 66-64. Leeds Carnegie on the other hand, went 3-0 in the National Trophy with Jack Stannard and Branimir Mikulic combining for 51 points in the 96-84 win over the Leicester Warriors.

Another round of Patron’s Cup action was played out on Saturday for EBL Division 2 teams with the Derby Trailblazers inflicting a crippling 116-43 defeat on London Utd, while Ipswich Basketball handled their business well at home to beat the Mansfield Giants 84-68. Home court advantage meant nothing for the Loughborough Student Riders as they couldn’t defeat the Westminster Warriors who ran out eventual winners by a scoreline of 50-59. Elsewhere there were victories for the Huddersfield Heat who chalked up a 76-66 victory against London Westside, and the Worcester Wolves who won away at Killamarsh Derbyshire Arrows 58-74.

The National Cup returned for the 2^nd round and the Westminster Warriors followed up their 50-76 win from Tuesday night against the Bracknell Cobras by moving forward again in the competition with a 71-62 win over the LSBU Topcats on Sunday. Captain and fan favourite Greg Streete lead the Bristol Academy Flyers into the 3^rd round with 26 points in the 83-56 win over the Worcester Wolves, while Colin Dockrell was the driving force behind Ipswich’s 103-67 drubbing of the Oxford Hoops finishing with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

In the West Yorkshire derby between the Bradford Dragons and Huddersfield Heat it was two Spaniards in Miguel Molina and Orlando Camil, who scored 50 points between them for the D2 heat to knock off the D1 Dragons with a 69-78 victory. Another upset followed as the D3 Northants Thunder (who are bulldozing through everyone so far) took out the D2 Killamarsh Derbyshire Arrows with an 88-91 away win. There were expected wins elsewhere for the Essex Leopards 72-45 against Barking Abbey and for Leeds Carnegie 85-66 againts D3 Stockport Falcons.

27 points from ex-BBL guard Steven Gayle couldn’t stop the Tees Valley Mohawks taking down the Rossendale Raptors 68-81, while the Reading Rockets comfortably defeat BC Medelynas London to advance to the next round. Newham NASSA Neptunes also advanced along with the Derby Trailblazers by beating London Westside and Sheffield Sabres respectively.

The result of the weekend, however, came down in Plymouth as last season’s EBL Division 3 Playoff Champions (still in D3!) Plymouth Marjon inflicted a 67-64 defeat on the D1 Worthing thunder with Mark Gillbard (Playoff MVP) driving his team home with 25 points.

EBL Division 3 & 4 teams also saw a taste of league action this weekend as many teams are no longer participating in the National Cup.

First to EBL Division 3 North where Steven Gayle scored an incredible 41 points (half his teams points) in an 82-74 victory for the Rossendale Raptors over the Sefton Stars. That tally means that this weekend alone, Steven Gayle scored 68 points in competitive action, having averaged 37.25 ppg last season.

Elsewhere in the North, there were victories for the new boys Northants Thunder 97-56 over the Sheffield Sabres to go top of the conference, and Derby Trailblazers II who doubled Tees Valley Mohawks II’s score with a 45-92 victory. 28 points from former England Junior international Josh Houghton lead the Stockport Falcons to 59-78 away win against the Nottingham Hoods for their first league win of the season.

Ex-BBL and England international guard Jason Swaine scored 22 points in both his sides games this weekend, however Leeds Carnegie II could only grab one win as they lost 91-54 to the Birmingham A’s on Saturday before claiming the scalp of the Tees Valley Mohawks II on Sunday with a 93-31 victory.

Another veteran stole the show in the game between the Birmingham Mets and the Sheffield Saints. Although his team ended up narrowly losing 71-69, Garnett Gayle racked up 25 points for the Saints at nearly 50 years old (the guy can hoop!).

In the Southern Conference there were strange scenes in Cardiff as the game between the Cardiff Met Archers and Barking Abbey had to be postponed as one of the Barking Abbey players broke a backboard on a dunk in warm-ups – it’s a long way to travel to have a game postponed!

Elsewhere there was a win for last year’s D4 South West Champions the Bracknell Cobras who defeated the Hackney White Heat 80-64, while the London Greenhouse Pioneers defeated Team Solent 67-74. The Solent Kestrels on the other hand took home a 42-54 away win from the Oxford Hoops.

Starting in the Northern Conference of EBL Division 4, a potential 1^st and 2^nd place game took place as the Mersey Tigers took on the Hull Wasps. Former GB U20 Raheem May Thompson and Ben Hudson combined for 50 points as the Tigers beat the Wasps 86-72 to go top of the North. Elsehwere for the Teeside Lions it was the effort by their three top scorers that brought home the win as Alvaro Pontes, Jay Nascimento and 19 year old Chris Jordinson combined for 79 of the Lions 85 points in the 85-75 victory over the Sefton Stars II.

There were losses for both Leeds teams as the Tigers went down 50-64 against Newcastle Eagles II while Leeds Allerton High Carnegie were defeated 44-85 by the Kingston Panthers in the Panthers first ever EBL game.

In the Midlands Conference the Newcastle Under Lyme College Knights grabbed a 71-61 victory over Sporting Club Albion with Jones getting 30 points in the win. The Shropshire Warriors defeated the Derby Trailblazers III by a scoreline of 74-65, while the Birmingham Mets II went down 68-77 to Leicester Warriors II.

BC Medelynas London went joint top of the South East Conference with a 54-85 win over the Southend Scorpions along with Peckham Pride taking down the Maidstone Warriors 67-48. Elsewhere in the group saw the College of West Anglia Fury secure a home victory against the Brentwood Fire, while the Medway Park Crusaders II suffered a heavy defeat away at the Greenwich Titans by a scoreline of 72-25. The Cambridge Cats snatched a win from London Westside II winning 64-69, and the Ware Rebels brought home a 64-98 victory from London United – Harefield Academy.

Finally, in the Midlands South West Conference, the Southampton Uni Sharks had a mixed weekend going down 58-65 on Saturday to the Swindon Shock before picking up the 55-64 win on Sunday away at the Woking Blackhawk Flyers.  There were wins elsewhere for the Middlesex LTBC as they beat Reading Rockets II by 40-83, and the Hertfordshire Warriors who narrowly defeated the Milton Keynes Mustangs 68-66.

Oaklands College defeated the Woking Blackhawk Flyers 76-71, while the Bristol Storm took a 69-62 victory from the Cardiff Capitals. Oxford Brookes, however, put themselves atop the Conference with an 81-88 away victory against the Bristol Academy Flyers II.

Did you get to any games? Thoughts on how the season is shaping up so far?