Around the NBL – Week 15

Alan Mousley/Derby Trailblazers

Check out our latest round-up of the action from the NBL this past weekend from Division 1 down to the NBDL as calendar year draws to a close ahead of the festive break.

Division One

Manchester Magic (10-1) ended 2015 at the top of the D1 standings after recording back-to-back wins on the road. Paul Middleton’s side started the weekend with a 74-97 win away at Bradford Dragons (2-9) as Simon Anumba led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points from the bench, while the hosts were led by 23 points from Nick Moore. On Sunday, Alvaro Alarcon-Lizaur then scored 28 points in an 82-93 road win at Reading Rockets (6-3) with Ellis Cooper weighing in with 20 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. The Rockets were paced by D’Montre Edwards’ 27 points, while David Ajumobi had 20 points along with four blocks.

Derby Trailblazers (9-1) kept up the pressure after enjoying a double-winning weekend at home to build some momentum to take into the New Year. They defeated Worthing Thunder (3-7) 94-92 on Saturday as David Watts top scored with 24 points and added 12 rebounds, while brother Dan Watts dished out an astonishing 15 assists to go with 16 points in the win. Thunder were led by Tom Ward’s 29 points as they had led by 10 at half-time, only to be undone late on by Sydney Donaldson’s game-winner. Brendan Okoronkwo filled the stat-sheet for the visitors with 18 points, nine rebounds, six assists and five steals.

On Sunday, the Trailblazers claimed a more comfortable victory after seeing off Tees Valley Mohawks (1-9) 101-64 having made a 30-15 start to the game in the opening period. Dan Watts again led the way with 21 points. Meanwhile, Hemel Storm (8-3) had claimed an important win over Reading to stay in the mix as 25 points from Nik Rhodes led his side to a 98-95 win at home, despite 26 points from Ben Allison.

Essex Leopards (6-5) improved back above .500 after easing past Westminster Warriors (1-10) in the final quarter for a 71-55 victory to occupy the final spot in the top eight heading into the New Year. Ladi Brown shot 6-of-12 from 3-point range in a game-high 22 points to help inflict a tenth defeat in 11 for the visitors. Jon J Johnson had a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double in reply for the Warriors, who remain rock bottom.

Also, there was an overtime win for Leicester Warriors (4-6) as they edged out Tees Valley with a 72-71 triumph on Saturday. Leome Francis led the way with a 19-point haul along with 11 rebounds as the the two teams were evenly matched throughout. For the Mohawks, Scott Hendricks had a game-high 20 points as they suffered the first of two defeats for the weekend.

Division Two

Solent Kestrels (6-2) closed on the front-runners in D2 after beating Ipswich (6-4) 81-69 as Ben Maranan scored 20 points including eight in quick succession at one stage, and Louie Kirkman added a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double in the win with the top three teams not in action.

Meanwhile, Liverpool (4-6) split a weekend double-header as they bounced back from a 76-70 defeat away at East London All Stars (6-4) to beat Brixton Topcats (2-7) 66-70 on the road as David Ulph and Chris Bigley combined for 50 points with 26 and 24 respectively.

Division Three

Doncaster Danum Eagles (9-2) squandered the chance to go into the New Year at the top of D3 North after falling to an 84-74 defeat away at Team Birmingham (3-5). The visitors had an eight-point lead with four minutes to go, but were on the wrong end of a decisive run as Birmingham claimed the spoils.

Sefton Stars (8-5) are a win further back in third after beating Leeds Force Academy (1-8) 99-64 behind 23 points from Alan Duppa and 20 from Chiz Onuora. Elsewhere, Mansfield Giants (6-5) recorded an 80-92 win on the road at Myerscough College (6-5) despite 25 points from Dave Walsh and 24 from Zion Tordoff. Also, 29 points from Pete Olusoga led City of Sheffield Saints (5-6) to an 86-90 win at Birmingham Mets (5-7).

In D3 South, there were just two games this past weekend as Oxford Brookes University (7-5) needed overtime to see off London United (2-6) with a 99-95 victory with Matthew Sofiyani scoring 33 points in the win. Daniel Szatkowksi also netted 33 points, but in a losing effort as United fell short of their third league victory.

Also, Northants Taurus (3-9) ran out convincing 101-64 winners over Loughborough Student Riders II (5-5) with Joe Pinchin scoring a game-high 19 points for the visitors.

NBDL

University of Chester (7-1) returned to the top of the North-West after a strong start helped them to a 64-87 win at Calderdale Explorers (3-5) on Saturday, before beating Tameside (6-2) 73-60 the following day as Phil Brandreth netted 26 points in the win.

In the only game in the South-East, Kings Lynn Fury (5-3) claimed an 89-102 victory on the road over Cambridge Cats (3-5) after producing a strong third quarter.

Sporting Club Albion (6-4) missed out on the chance to go level on points with the top two in the South-West after falling to a 67-76 defeat at home to City of Birmingham (5-6) with Danny Williams scoring 26 points, including 21 in the first half. However, Coventry Tornadoes (7-4) did just that as they joined Cardiff Met Archers (7-2) and Bristol Academy Flyers (7-4) on 14 points with a 57-74 win at Oxford Stealers (3-7). Also, Oxford City (6-5) defeated Swindon Shock (5-5) 75-53 behind a 28-point haul from Marcus Traemmler.

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