BUCS Basketball Final 8’s Day 1 Recap

Image Credit: Nathan Dainty

The BUCS Basketball Final 8’s tipped off with a bang yesterday, with three of the four games being routs and the defending champs bowing out in the first round. Brief game reports followed by some notes:

Game 1
LSBU vs Northumbria
LSBU came away victorious with a 104-72 rout of Northumbria. After a first quarter that saw them tied at 26, it appeared as though the Northern side were gonna be able to compete. A 28-9 second quarter from LSBU pretty much put an end to that as they cruised to the victory. LSBU were led by 15 points from Avelino Antonio, whilst Mike martin had 13, Karolis Petkus 11 and Dave Ajumobi, Armand Anebo and Damoy Robertson with 10 points each respectively. Toby Hutton led Northumbria with 15 points, whilst Nils Steuber and Justin Hitchman added 11 each.

Game 2
Durham vs Middlesex
As soon as the warmups began, it became pretty evident Middlesex were going to be in for a mauling. A mauling it was, as Durham steamrolled over them 79-44 playing their bench for the majority of the second half. Durham’s big man Paul Nelson led them with 17 points, Kevin Bulger had 13 and ex Northumbria player Chris Pearce had 12. Jamel Felix led Middlesex with 14 points, whilst Visokas had 9.

Game 3
Worcester vs Brunel
Heavily favoured Worcester had no problem dispatching of Brunel, cruising to a 70-37 victory. A scoreless second quarter from Brunel sealed their fate as Worcester went into cruise control for the second half. Worcester were led by Luke Sanders’ 14 points, with Stoukas and Jones adding 8 each. For Brunel, Eni Araba had 6 points, with Matt Carpenter adding 5.

Game 4
Oxford vs Leeds Met
In a day full of easy victories, this was easily the most anticipated matchup. And it proved to be the most entertaining, with the defending champs Leeds Met being knocked out by a hungry Oxford team 85-69. With Stephen Danley going down with an ankle injury with 4 minutes to play in the first half and Leeds Met up two, 34-32, things weren’t looking good for Oxford. Perhaps inspired by the loss of their leader, Oxford went on a 10-0 run to finish the half and went into the break up 42-34. Leeds Met continued to battle back, but were unable to get over the hump. A 20-12 fourth quarter from Oxford sealed their fate. Oxford were led by new addition Will Scott who had 23 points, with Karolis Bauza adding 18, Reed Doucette 16 and Danley 15. Adrian Fenyn led Leeds Met with 22, Zoltan Supola had 17 whilst Albert Margai added 10 points.

Saturday March 19th Schedule
11am Middlesex vs Brunel (5th-8th Place)
1pm Aberdeen vs Chichester (Men’s Trophy Final)
3pm Northumbria vs Leeds Met (5th-8th Place)
5pm LSBU vs Durham (Semi Final)
7pm Worcester vs Oxford (Semi Final)

Notes

• Biggest highlight of the day was a Mike Martin baseline reverse dunk. He threw it down HARD.
• There is a huge drop off in standard after LSBU, Durham, Oxford, Worcester and Leeds Met. Results from Day 1 reflect this (duh.).
• Semi finals today are going to be extremely interesting-my prediction? Going out on a limb, I’m gonna say an LSBU-Oxford final. Though I do think the LSBU-Durham game could go either way.
• LSBU are the deepest team in the tournament with a bench that could start for most teams here. Typical of their style, they just wear teams down-relentless on the offensive boards, spearheaded by Armand Anebo who was straight up beasting the glass vs Northumbria.
• Oxford only had 7 players on the scoresheet, with two of them combining for 3 points and the other 5 having 82 of them-is depth going to be an issue for them?
• I will hold back on commenting properly on the refereeing til after Sunday, but lets just say there is a lot of room for improvement after Day 1.
• For updates throughout today, follow us on Twitter @Hoopsfix, and ‘like’ our Facebook page.

What do you think of the first day of results? Predictions for today? Drop a comment!